Several groups and individuals across India have been using the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005 to gather critical information in their arenas of work and advocacy. When it comes to environment, this effort has been towards accessing information related to environment law, policy and its implementation. RTI as a tool has also been used extensively by many groups to procure information specific to certain projects which have or are likely to have an impact on environment as well as peoples’ livelihoods. While we all have been using this information in research, campaigns and actions, there has also been a need felt that the dissemination of all that has been gathered is systematically located and made available to those with common interests in these subjects.
Kalpavriksh has initiated an effort to collectively manage RTI related environment through a web based clearing house. The idea is for all of us to be able to exchange environment related information collected through the RTI process and avoid duplication in seeking information.As a start, Kalpavriksh has uploaded all the information collected through research projects and campaigns on this website. All data is in raw form (unless it is voluminous, in which case that is mentioned as being available in hard copy in our office). If the information has been processed, that has also been uploaded.
The clearing house can be accessed at http://environment-rti.org/. For more information or contributions, please write to [email protected]
Outreach
The primary purpose of Kalpavriksh’s Advocacy outreach is to act as a information dissemination service to various stakeholder(s) on issues & new developments (legal & otherwise) related to a wide range of issues. One Newsletter centers on the issue of Community Based Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Security. Towards this, a bilingual (English & Hindi) Advocacy and Newsletter (People in Conservation) material is regularly posted to more than 2000 recipient-stakeholders (individuals, groups, organizations etc.). To know more, write to [email protected] email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Another newsletter, disseminated by the Doc center to stakeholders, that centers around Wildlife and Protected Areas, is the Protected Area Update Newsletter. To subscribe to this newsletter write to, Pankaj Sekhsaria, [email protected] email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Library
Kalpavriksh’s has a well-maintained library comprising of a rich and diverse collection of 4407 books, 1542 reports and 15 magazines. These books, reports and magazines are all available for ready reference at the Documentation Centre which is open to the general public from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM on all working days of the week (i.e. Monday – Friday). To know more, write to [email protected]This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Feedback from Readers
The Documentation & Outreach Center likes to reach out to its readers from time to time. In Jan 2011, they reached out to their readers whose responses they have uploaded here. If you would like to respond to the queries they set out please have a look at the Feedback Letter and email your response to [email protected]
Source: RTI Clearing House
Address : http://www.kalpavriksh.org/index.php/environment-development/rti-clearing-house.html
Date Visited: Fri Jan 17 2014 18:55:12 GMT+0100 (CET)
An activity book about the Central Indian forests, its wildlife and its people
https://kalpavriksh.org/our-store/secrets-of-the-jungle/
More about Kalpavriksh >>
Edited by Pankaj Sekhsaria
Frontline Publication (Rs. 499)
Book Synopsis & Endorsement by Amitav Ghosh
Dreams of mega development herald disaster for a highly vulnerable island. Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost and largest landmass in the chain that makes up the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. A Rs.72,000 crore project that is planned for the development of this island will result in ultimately destroying both the island’s delicate rainforest ecosystem and its indigenous people.
In The Great Nicobar Betrayal, Pankaj Sekhsaria, one of the best known chroniclers of contemporary issues in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has compiled articles written by various experts across publications that examine the proposed project from every angle—environmental, geological, impact on local communities, law, due process, and ecology.
These pieces together shed light on the magnitude of the disaster that will be unleashed on this pristine place if the project comes through.
The book is a warning and a catalogue of the manmade catastrophe that lurks on the horizon, one that will destroy more than the tsunami of December 2004 ever did.
An edited collection of short pieces by different writers, annexures and 12 colour plates pictures on the mega infrastructure project being pushed in Great Nicobar Island
Articles by Pankaj Sekhsaria, Aathira Perinchery, Janki Andharia, V Ramesh & Ravinder Dhiman, B Chaudhari, Ishika Ramakrishna, Uday Mondal, Mahi Mankeshwar, Shrishtee Bajpai, S Harikrishnan, Manish Chandi, Ajay Saini, Norma Alvares.
Foreword by: Madhav Gadgil
“Even at a time of accelerating environmental vandalism around the world, what the Indian government is planning in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands stands out for its sheer folly and short-sightedness. As this excellent collection of essays shows in painful detail, these plans are a perfect example of ‘disaster capitalism, in which the government is taking advantage of the displacement of the native Nicobarese by the tsunami of 2004 to make a massive land grab for a completely senseless plan of development.” – Amitav Ghosh
Learn more from Pankaj Sekhsaria on this website and on kalpavriksh.org >>
Kalpavriksh believes that a country can develop meaningfully only when ecological sustainability and social equity are guaranteed, and a sense of respect for, and oneness with nature, and fellow humans is achieved. It is a non-hierarchical organisation and the group takes all decisions after appropriate debate and discussion. – Learn more >>
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Up-to-date reports by Indian experts and journalists
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List of websites covered by this Google custom search engine
Academia.edu (platform for academics to share research papers) – www.academia.edu
Archive.org – https://archive.org
Centre for Science and Environment – https://www.cseindia.org
Current Conservation – https://www.currentconservation.org
Development and Cooperation (D+C) https://www.dandc.eu
Down To Earth (India) – www.downtoearth.org.in
India Environment Portal – www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in
Harnessing Nature Magazine – https://harnessingnature.online
Kalpavriksh Environmental Action Group – https://kalpavriksh.org
Mongabay-India – https://india.mongabay.com
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation – www.mssrf.org
Navdanya (protecting India’s biodiversity based food heritage) – https://navdanya.org
Third World Network (Penang, Malaysia) – https://twn.my
The Shola Trust (nature conservation in the Nilgiri region) – www.thesholatrust.org
WorldCat (“the world’s largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online”) – https://worldcat.org
Research the above issues with the help of Shodhganga: A reservoir of theses from universities all over India, made available under Open Access >>
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