Mari’s conservation efforts get rewarded

K.A. Shaji
Palakkad,  
The Hindu, October 1, 2014 

Mari is a name now synonymous with forest conservation. The 46-year-old Muduga tribal’s contribution to preserving the rich biodiversity of the rainforests of Silent Valley in Palakkad district and to research on its flora and fauna by top scientists in the past three decades have been immense.

This guardian angel of forests started off as a 15-year-old daily wage worker with the Forest Department, working to preserve the sensitive Poochipara-Walakkad region of Silent Valley. His much-longed for desire to become a permanent employee of the department came true on Monday when Mari, who has hardly lower primary-level education, joined the service as a tribal watcher after passing a Public Service Commission (PSC) examination with first rank. His well-wishers in the department have also ensured his continued service for the Silent Valley.

Conservationists across the State remember him as the son of Letchiappan, on whom environmentalists had relied to record the uniqueness of the rainforests in the early 1980s when the movement to save Silent Valley got going.

“The studies the environmentalists did to buttress their argument to save the unique ecosystem of Silent Valley owed quite a lot to Letchiappan, who is unknown except among those who participated actively in the movement,” says N. Baburaj, a senior staff member of the Silent Valley Forest Range Office.

Mari soon followed in his father’s footsteps.

He accompanied scientists and researchers who reached Silent Valley to study its ecosystem.

“He knows more about Silent Valley than any of the forest officers. Every nook and corner of the forests is under his close vigil,” says P.S. Panikker, an environmentalist.

Experts from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Centre, the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, and the Kerala Forest Research Centre have acknowledged Mari’s contribution to conservation.

It was only two years ago that he was presented with a conservation award instituted in memory of former Chief Conservator of Forests N. Madhavan Pillai. The award carried a purse of Rs.1 lakh.

Mari is at present a member of the Kerala State Wildlife Board headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.