Hello,
On paper, the idea of the green credits programme sounds reasonable. Companies can pay the government to afforest “degraded” forest land, and earn green credits for doing so. They can then use these credits later to fulfill their own compensatory afforestation obligations when they use forest land for particular projects.
But experts, and those who live in villages near these green credits sites, say that the programme is deeply flawed. Chief among the flaws is that many sites include lands that the villages have been using for years – when they are fenced off for the programme, locals lose access to them. Further, experts say, the focus on so-called degraded forests carries a risk of massively undervaluing the ecological importance of these sites.
"We had been tracking this policy since 2023, when it was first announced," said Vaishnavi Rathore, who visited Gujarat's Vyara tehsil to report on the programme.
She noted with concern that affected villages in the area were not adequately consulted before the programme was rolled out. "Over three years, we followed the programme from paperwork to communities on the ground – which to me was the most crucial piece of the puzzle," she said. "It was disappointing to see that many people who knew the forests intimately, the species and their uses, did not even realise when and why these forests were taken away from them."
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Ajay Krishnan
Senior Editor

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Why public spaces in India are a minefield for children with intellectual disabilities

Hello,Most of us hardly think twice about the process of taking a journey on a bus, or train or plane. We are familiar with the steps involved and usually navigate them without too much difficulty.To a young person with an intellectual disability, however, these experiences, and others in public spaces, are often confusing and frightening. The sensory stimuli they encounter can overwhelm them, causing them to react in panic.As their families often find, the challenge of keeping the children calm is frequently exacerbated by the fact that public spaces are rarely designed with any thought to the needs of those with these disabilities. Further, many people they encounter in the course of moving through public spaces treat the children with outright hostility."The public has made things harder for them because of which they are confined to their own homes," said Johanna Deeksha, who spoke to parents in several cities who have children with intellectual disabilities. "Nobody was concerned enough to address their children's needs which were not that many – quiet spaces, safer equipment."She added, "If authorities were to make spaces inclusive, I think it would benefit everybody. We cannot abandon parents with children with special needs. We need to see them and hear them."You can read her story here.

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Why many villages oppose a programme that rewards companies that plant trees

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