Tirupati, Jan. 11: The minister for forests and environment, Dr P. Ramachandra Reddy, on Monday said that the department would spend Rs 75 crore by March 2010 as part of the ongoing mechanism to protect the forest cover in the state. Inaugurating the regional conference of the forest department, consisting of the Rayalaseema districts, Nellore and Ongole districts at a private function hall here, Dr Reddy underlined the urgent need to protect the forests from illegal mining activities. He called on the forest personnel, members of the eco-committees and Vana Samrakshana Samitis and the public to immediately bring to the notice of the department as and when they noticed any illegal mining activities in the forest lands. Referring to the endemic red sanders in the region, the minister said that he would pursue with the Centre to include the species into the highly endangered category of Schedule VI of the Forest Protection Act.