A victory for nature lovers

MUNNAR: Environmental activists have won a two-decade-old campaign with the declaration of Kurinjimala Sanctuary in Idukki district.
The Gazette notification issued by the Government covers 3200 hectares of Kurinji habitat as originally proposed. Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has seen to it that the original proposal was adhered to despite pressures.
The area falls in the Survey No. 58/1 of Kottakkamboor village and Survey No. 62 of the Vattavada village in the district.
The notification said that the sanctuary was being constituted for ensuring the long-term protection for the entire biodiversity of the area, especially the `Neelakurinji' (Strobilanthes kunthiana) and its habitat. The Government considered it necessary to declare the area as a sanctuary for protecting its ecological, faunal, floral and geomorphological, natural or zoological wealth and also for providing connectivity between the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and the Anamudi and Pampadum Shola National Parks.
The area, it said, supports animals like elephants, gaur, deer and Nilgiri Tahr. It is also one of the last abodes of the famed Neelakurinji, which blooms once in 12 years.
The area, it added, had been subjected to various types of environmental degradation such as fire, encroachments and grazing, thereby threatening the survival of the flora and fauna of the area.
Activists, who were party for the campaign to save Kurinji, discussed the challenges before the State in protecting the kurinji habitat (shoal forests) at a seminar organised in connection with the neelakurinji festival here on Sunday.
G. Rajkumar of the Save Kurinji Campaign Council said that the conservation of the habitat could not be achieved without mass support. Protection of the pockets of its habitat alone would not ensure their conservation.
K. Kunhikrishnan, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, said that even the branch of a shola tree was an ecosystem. The importance of sholas was not yet being fully grasped by the people.
S. Sankar, scientist at the Kerala Forest Research Institute, suggested that additional areas for conservation should be prioritised immediately. More data needed to be collected for that.
He also suggested that abandoned plantations should be developed as a carbon sink.
C. J. John of Palani Hills Conservation Council said that a lot of lost grasslands could eventually be reclaimed and rebuilt.
However, clearing the areas of plantations, especially wattle, would need time and patience.
R. Ajayan, Assistant Private Secretary to the Forest Minister, called upon environmental activists to participate in the formulation of the forthcoming forest policy by giving their comments.
M. K. Prasad inaugurated the seminar.

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