An eco shop marketing around 54 eco-friendly products was opened at the reception in Top Slip in Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Thursday.
The shop, established by Top Slip Range Officer S. Arockiaraj Xavier, was opened by Field Director of ATR Rajiv K. Srivasatava.
The shop will deal in honey, oil and packaged tea by Tantea from the Tamil Nadu Plantations Corporation, pepper and a number of minor forest produce material collected and processed by tribal people in other forest areas.
The shop would also sell cap and key chain with the messages and images of wildlife species, highlighting the need for conservation. With ATR being a tiger reserve, there will not be any minor forest produce product from the ATR.
Forest produce
The objective is to market healthy and pure forest produce so as to make them accessible to the public and enhance the livelihood and living condition of the tribal population, Mr. Xavier added.
Top Slip Range has three tribal settlements and in a bid to provide employment to the tribal people, already the job of running the car park during the day time has been given to the people from Kozhikamudhi tribal settlement.
Tribal people from Erumaiparai tribal settlement would manage the same during the night. Now the Eco shop set up under the Eco Development Committee (EDC) will be run by Erumaiparai tribal people.
