Landless Kol tribe forest dwellers: Permission required to plant or use trees such as neem, amla and mahua – Uttar Pradesh

Though the Kols are anthropologically tribal, they are recognized as a Scheduled Caste in Uttar Pradesh. Not only has this deprived them of their traditional source of living-the forest, it has largely left them dependant and landless, languishing in silica quarries and sand mines. The Kols mainly inhabit the backward Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand regions bordering … Read more

Publications Division: From art, history, culture, biographies, land and people, flora and fauna, children’s literature, science and technology and Gandhian Literature to work of reference like India

[…] Publications Division is a repository of books and journals highlighting subjects of national importance and India’s rich cultural heritage. Established in 1941, Publications Division has emerged as a premier publishing house of the Government of India, enriching the national knowledge repository in distinctive streams as under: (i) Preserving and showcasing India’s heritage with quality … Read more

A craft workshop for Santal women in Purulia: Determined to overcome poverty – West Bengal

Source: courtesy Ratnaboli Bose, Daricha Foundation (by email, 5 October 2018)

Updates on the Convention on Biodiversity: Conservation to be “connected to livelihood” – Hyderabad biodiversity pledge

Goa villages to document biodiversity PANAJI: Goa has become the second State after Kerala to constitute Biodiversity Management Committees in most of its village panchayats, according to Pradip V. Sarmokadam, Member Secretary, Goa State Biodiversity Board.The move is aimed at forming People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) in villages, which as many as 75 villages are already … Read more

Irula snake-catchers providing venom for producing antivenom – Tamil Nadu

India has one of the highest rates of death from snakebite in the world. There are four species of snakes (of the nearly 300 different species in India) primarily responsible for deaths. The “Big Four” are the cobra (we have four species), krait (we have eight species), saw-scaled viper (two subspecies) and Russell’s viper. All … Read more