Head of the State Forest Department and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) T.M. Manoharan has said that the department will “revert 75,000 hectares of teak plantation in the State to natural forest without much tree felling in these plantations.”
Talking to The Hindu here on Tuesday he said that the 75,000 hectares would not include the teak plantations in wildlife sanctuaries like Parambikulam, where tree felling is banned by the Supreme Court. Mr. Manoharan said that only 20 per cent of the State’s forest could be classified as evergreen forest now. “More areas should come under this category to meet the challenges posed by climate change due to global warming. So, the department will try to create maximum forest cover by protecting the existing ones and by developing more areas,” he added. One third of the Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, that is 90 sq. km, is under teak plantation. When the forest department began clearing teak trees a few years ago, the Supreme Court had ordered against it. So teak trees in Parambikulam cannot be felled, he said.
Teak plantations are ready for felling nearly 60 years after they are planted. In between there is thinning in the plantation, that is removal of a certain percentage of trees every five years, to help the growth of the remaining ones. Conversion of teak plantations to forest land would result in revenue loss. Also, regeneration of forests is a costly process. Hence, the State government would seek Central help in these efforts, Mr. Manoharan said.
The Hindu, November 4th , 2009
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