Greens oppose move to plant teak in forest

E.M. Manoj
KALPETTA,  
The Hindu, June 10, 2015 

A strong protest is brewing against the alleged move of the Forest and Wildlife Department to replant monocrops on two pieces of forestland in the North Wayanad forest division in the district.

The department has prepared nearly 22 hectares of reserve forestland at Irumbu Palam, near Thurunelly, in the Begur forest range and 14.5 hectares at Kunhome in the Mananthavady range for replanting monocrops such as teak and mangium, N. Badusha, president, Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti, has alleged.

Such a move will adversely affect the biodiversity of the district, he said.

Mr. Badusha said monoculture plantation would increase man-animal conflict.

It would also worsen water scarcity and speed up desertification, a phenomena that had begun in villages in the district on the border with Karnataka.

The total forest area of the district, he said, was 1,100 sq km, of which nearly 350 sq km had been planted with monocrops such as teak and eucalyptus after clear felling the natural forest.

Teak wood had been planted on 50,000 hectares of forestland as monoculture in the State, of which 30,000 hectares was in Wayanad, he said.

The unique climate and biodiversity of the land had changed drastically after the planting of monocrops in the forest, E.K. Sakeer Husain, secretary, Green Cross, an environmental organisation, said. It had also increased man-animal conflict in the past two decades.