Publications

Increasing anthropogenic pressures has led to the fragmentation of Asian elephant habitats, affecting their numbers, demography and ranging patterns across their range. Baseline information on the demography and population dynamics of free-ranging Asian elephants is often unavailable. Population monitoring at the landscape level has many constraints, including those of visibility, habitat, terrain and field logistics, among several others. While knowing elephant numbers may be important for managing local populations, demographic parameters and distribution patterns are perhaps more crucial to ascertain long-term trends for conservation.

As part of a SERB-funded research Project, NIAS drafted proposals for a “Sustainable Coal Mining Bill” and an “Environment, Forest, and Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill,” to create a unified, empowered, and inter-disciplinary environmental regulator for coal mines. These proposals were discussed during a virtual stakeholder consultation workshop on September 5, 2020.

The paper analyses the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which is aimed at reducing subsidies and encouraging privatization, especially in the distribution segment of the power sector. The paper argues that the central government must hold off on passing any hasty legislation on the subject and adopt a more scientific and less ideological approach to deal with the travails of the power sector.

This study examines the extent and nature of harvest of non-timber forest products (NTFP) by local human communities residing adjacent to the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in the Upper Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, northeastern India.