Awareness campaign on biodiversity held in Tiruvannamalai
The Tiruvannamalai Division of the Forest Department has organised an awareness campaign on biodiversity conservation at Azhaganandhal village here to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity.
The campaign was inaugurated by K. Sudhakar, District Forest Officer, Tiruvannamalai.
Forest officials said it was aimed at raising awareness about the importance of biodiversity, taking active measures for its conservation, and emphasising its necessity for sustaining human life.
In his address, Mr. Sudhakar stressed the urgent need for biodiversity conservation, the necessity of protecting natural habitats, reducing exploitation of nature, preventing climate change, controlling pollution, and removing invasive plant species to preserve ecological balance.
The programme witnessed active participation from members of Azhaganandhal's Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), students and teachers of Shazammal Vidya Mandir School, an NGO, wildlife enthusiasts, forest officials, and residents.
G.P. Saravanan, Forest Range Officer (Tiruvannamalai); G. Vinodhraj, Assistant Conservator of Forest; Adhiya, Chairperson, Azhaganandhal BMC; and R. Balaji, forester (Tiruvannamalai), were present.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
20 hours ago
- The Hindu
Encroachment of 43 acres of wildlife sanctuary cleared in Chikkamagaluru
Shivamogga Officials of the Bhadra Tiger Reserve cleared encroachments on 43 acres in survey number 43 of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, at Kesavina Mane village in Muthodi wildlife range in a three-day operation that ended on Monday. A team of 100 staff members participated in the drive. The Forest Department had registered a case with regard to the encroachment of forest area under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, on September 2, 2022. The court of Assistant Conservator of Forests of the Bhadra Wildlife Subdivision heard the case and, on April 28, 2025, issued an order to clear the encroachment within 39 days. As the encroachers did not clear within the stipulated deadline, the department conducted the operation with the support of Chikkamagaluru district administration, the police and the Health Department. The staff members of Bhadra Wildlife Subdivision, Lakkvalli range and support staff were involved in the operation, said Pulkit Meena, DCF of Bhadra Tiger Reserve, in a press release.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
153 acre green space to come up soon in North Bengaluru
A 153-acre plot of forest land in Madappanahalli near Yelahanka, belonging to the Karnataka Forest Development Corporation Limited (KFDC), was handed over to the Forest Department on Monday for development into a biological park. KFDC Chairman Basavaraju Neelappa Shivannavar formally handed over the land to Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre, who said a huge biological park would be developed on that piece of land in the coming days. Mr. Khandre said that the proposed park would be a much-needed green space for north Bengaluru once developed. He said that centuries after the Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park were developed, Bengaluru would be getting a green space of this magnitude. DPR to be prepared He added that a detailed project report will be prepared in the next two months for the development of this plot following which Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will lay the foundation stone for the park. An Indira Gandhi Biological Park, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Bird Park, Kempegowda Zoo, Saalumarada Thimmakka Arboretum among others are being planned to be set up, the minister said. The KFDC had planted Eucalyptus trees in this plot which will be cleared and local tree species along with various species of plants and trees native to the Western Ghats would also be planted. ₹20 crore sanctioned Currently, in this 153 acre plot, there are 800 trees along with Eucalyptus, they will be protected, he said. Mr. Khandre said an initial amount of ₹20 crore will be sanctioned for the construction of this park and that the entire plot has been fenced to protect it from encroachment.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
As monsoon sets in, adivasis of Nagarhole plan to start constructing houses
With the monsoons setting in, Jenukuruba tribal, who re-entered the forests of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve almost a month ago 'to reclaim their ancestral land', said they will begin construction of houses. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, J.A. Shivu, leader of the Nagarhole Adivasi Jammapale Hakku Sthapana Samiti, said, 'We held a gram sabha on May 20, where it was decided that we would start constructing houses. Individual forest rights surveys have already been done for the 52 families who re-entered the forest, and therefore, we know the plots that have been surveyed. So, we will start constructing the houses there, since the rains have arrived.' Case to be filed The tribal leaders also said that they are planning to file a case against the Forest Department and panchayat officials under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for withholding the rights of the people and dragging their feet on the forest rights claims raised by adivasis under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006. It was a month ago that 150 tribal people entered the Nagarhole forests as a mark of protest against the delay in granting rights. Officials of the Karnataka Forest Department and the Karnataka State Tiger Protection Force (STPF) attempted to prevent this move, and tensions have been brewing in the regions since. 'The Forest Department and tiger protection force have been continuously trying to evict us out of our ancestral lands. They attempted to bring down the sacred structures we built. There were many instances where in the middle of the night they tried to bring down the three structures in which we are collectively living now,' Mr. Shivu alleged. A long wait According to Community Networks Against Protected Areas, the forest dwelling communities of Nagarhole were evicted in 1985 after it was declared a wildlife sanctuary. The indigenous population were subsequently forced to work as bonded labourers in coffee plantations. After the FRA came into effect in 2006, the tribals applied for their forest rights in 2009, and have been waiting for 16 years for the officials to act upon it. 'What has happened since 2006 has been a complete denial of those rights and a return from the promise that was made under the Forest Rights Act,' said Lara Jeswani, lawyer at Bombay High Court. She said that out of the more than three lakh claims, only 15,000 claims of individual rights had been decided. Political ecologist Nitin D. Rai alleged that adivasis were bearing the brunt of what the State needs to do to meet its financial and developmental obligations. 'Denial of forest rights comes directly from the (government's) need to increase the tiger numbers so that they can show they are doing very well on the conservation front and therefore cannot be questioned of diversion of forests and infrastructural development,' he said.
