Conducted over the course of a year in 2017-18, the All Kerala Tiger Monitoring Programme identified a total of 176 individuals, 75 of them within the confines of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) alone, based on camera-trap images. Kerala’s forest cover may be extremely fragmented and prone to recurrent human-animal …
25 hectares of forestland resumed in operation In a joint operation on Monday, the Forests and the Police Department evicted two groups of tribespeople who had allegedly encroached upon 25 hectares of vested forestland at Ayanikkal, Panamthara, Chanadkkunnu and Periya Muppathanju in the Periya range of forest under the North …
A rare tree rediscovered from Kerala 14 years ago is still categorised as Extinct on the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature. The latest version of the list released early this week has described Cynometra beddomeii , “a large tree, which has only ever been recorded from …
Researchers have discovered a new species of badid fish ‘Dario urops' from the Barapole tributary of the Valapattanam river in the Western Ghats. A research team consisting of Ralf Britz from the Natural History Museum, London; Anvar Ali from the Conservation Research Group at St. Albert's College, Kochi; and Siby …
The Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samiti, an environmental organisation, has urged the government to expedite steps to provide land to the landless tribal people in the wake of the ongoing land agitation by various tribal organisations in the district by encroaching upon forest land. Speaking to media persons here, organisation president …
The ongoing agitation for land by tribespeople in Wayanad got an impetus with the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) joining the fray on Tuesday. Close to 150 tribal families erected huts on vested forest areas at Nagamana, Aranappara, and Kagajadi in the Tirunelli grama panchayat, under the North Wayanad forest …
With 80 big cats, the sanctuary has the largest number of tigers in South India after Bandipur The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, known as the habitat of the Asiatic elephant, has become a safe haven for tigers. A recently concluded tiger monitoring conducted by the Forest Department and the WWF-India in …
There is a pertinent need to protect the birds of the Nilgiris by installing nest boxes, feeding and providing them with water, said P.J. Vasanthan, Deputy Director of Medical Services of The Nilgiris. He was speaking on the subject ‘Birds of Nilgiris' at the Enviro Meet organised by Osai. Endemic …
Says educated youth can be attracted to create skilled jobs Introducing modern technology and bringing in educated youth in the primary agriculture sector will help Kerala produce its annual requirement of four million tonnes of rice from the one million hectares of land under paddy in the State, M.S. Swaminathan, …
Adivasi Kshema Samiti to intensify agitation The personnel of Forest Department and the police on Monday evicted a group of tribespeople, owing allegiance to the pro-CPI(M) Adivasi Kshema Samiti (AKS), who had encroached upon 17.65 hectares of vested forest at Thumbassery, near Makkiyad, under the North Wayanad Forest Division in …
KOZHIKODE: The latest series of land agitations started by the tribal people in Wayanad district on May 7 has intensified with more vested forest lands being encroached on Monday. New encroachments of forest lands by erecting huts under the aegis of Adivasi Congress, the tribal arm of the Congress, have …
This article examines the implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 in the historical context of Wayanad’s adivasi land struggles. The left-wing Government of Kerala (2006-11) aimed to interpret the FRA as a legal opportunity to obtain forest (department) land and to fulfil decade-old promises to redistribute land to …
KOCHI: A rich tiger population and proximity to other national wildlife sanctuaries like Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai are proving to be highly advantageous for Wayanad in its race for a tiger reserve. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has expressed its willingness to consider a tiger reserve in Wayanad, provided …
A team of scientists from the University of Kerala; Central University, Kasaragod; and Natural History Museum, London, have reported the discovery of a new species of caecilian (limbless) amphibian from the southern region of the Western Ghats in Kerala. Gegeneophis primus belongs to the Indotyphlidae family comprising African, Seychellean and …
Studies carried out by a team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) have revealed high levels of phosphorus in the soil samples from Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Overuse of chemical fertilisers and neglect towards soil test-based fertiliser recommendations have resulted in imbalances in the nutrient levels …
As many as 67 families are preparing to leave their settlements in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWLS) under a voluntary relocation project of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the project at a function at Naikkatty, near Sulthan Bathery, at 1 p.m. on …
Even as Tamil Nadu is opposed to the idea of a new dam instead of the present one at Mullaperiyar, the Kerala Budget for 2012-13 has set aside Rs 50 crore for preliminary work on a new dam. Finance Minister K M Mani, whose party, the Kerala Congress, has been …
The Union Government today informed the Kerala High Court that no farmers suicides were reported from Kerala during 2009-11. According to reports furnished by the state government, there has been a declining trend in suicides in farming. In the report indicating number of suicides by farmers due to agrarian reasons, …
Depletion of bamboo clusters in Kerala’s Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is threatening to make the coming summer hard for several species of wildlife there and in the adjoining forests that constitute the Nilgiris biosphere. Experts say that the phenomenon could even lead to a famine as far as Wayanad jungles’ herbivores …
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called for reports, within six weeks, from the Chief Secretaries of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala on reports that a fresh wave of suicide by farmers had been reported in these States this year. The Commission was acting, suo motu , on media …
The dried bamboo groves inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjacent sanctuaries such as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarhole, and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka are posing a threat to the wildlife population of the Nilgiri Biosphere, a major tiger and elephant habitat. The bamboo groves in …
