In bloom: Forest officials are also encouraging farmers to take up sandalwood farming; (below) an aerial view of the bare land damaged by the felling of the trees
State forest officials have planted more than 1 lakh sandalwood seedlings in the Chamarajnagar area to try and restore balance to the ecosystem
The Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) is trying to ‘undo’ what slain forest bandit-turned-sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, and his associates had done. The forest brigand and his group of men used to cut sandalwood trees on a massive scale for their profits. Now, the Forest Department is busy planting sandalwood plants across Chamarajanagar district. The officials are hopeful that they may have more sandalwood trees in the coming years than what used to be earlier.
During his active years, Veerappan and his associates felled thousands of sandalwood trees in the Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and smuggled it for their personal gain. However, many believed that the smuggling would end with his death. Small-time smugglers who were earlier scared to venture into the forest due to Veerappan’s fear tried to capitalise on his absence by thriving on sandalwood smuggling. The Forest Department had to increase security and surveillance which drastically reduced the illegal felling.
Yedukondalu V, IFS-officer, Deputy Conservator of Forests, MM Hills Wildlife Division told Bangalore Mirror: “Last year, we had planted 1 lakh seedlings in the Chamarajanagar ranges. This year, we are planting around 10,000 seedlings again. Chamarajanagar area is known for naturally growing sandalwood trees and we have a lot of these precious trees due to illegal cutting. So, we are now trying to bring back the past glory.”
Yedukondalu said that the project was taken up under the Sirichandanavana programme with the objective of maintaining and protecting sandal plantations and natural sandal-bearing areas in natural forest. “The scheme provides for rigid protection of the plantation or the sandal-bearing area with strong barricade such as chain-link mesh fence or stone/brick wall, day-and-night watch and ward, soil and moisture conservation work, dibbling of seeds, cultural operations including climber-cutting and canopy-manipulation and fire protection,” he said, adding that forest personnel were trying hard to grow the plants which otherwise could have vanished.
There are a few species of Sandalwood across the globe, but Santalum album is mainly grown here. “We are using germplasm for growth. Apart from this, we also have a sandalwood nursery where we distributed 2 lakh sandalwood seedlings to the local farmers and encouraged them to grow them in their farmlands. Currently, we are planning the plants at Arepalya, Belathur and nearby areas,” he added.
Source:https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/forest-department-is-undoing-the-damage-done-by-veerappan/articleshow/83672290.cms