Govt. mulls wildlife safari park at Kannavam

Protected marine areas to be declared as Community Reserves, says Governor’s address

Better days ahead: The State Government has proposed to establish a Tiger Rehabilitation Centre for treatment of injured tigers in the wake of increased conflicts between humans and large carnivores.

The State Government has proposed to establish a Tiger Rehabilitation Centre for immediate treatment of injured tigers and for their permanent rehabilitation, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, has said.

In his address to the Assembly, Mr. Khan said that conflicts between humans and large carnivores had increased in Wayanad and adjoining areas, partly due to an increase in the tiger population in the last decade.

He said that the Government also proposed to establish a Wildlife Safari Park at Kannavam, Kannur, to be a centre of excellence in nature conservation along with sustainable tourism. For the conservation of valuable marine and aquatic biodiversity, the Government would declare specific protected marine areas as Community Reserves along the coastal and marine areas, Mr. Khan said.

He said that the work on the state-of-the-art Elephant Rehabilitation Centre for ensuring the welfare of captured and captive elephants in the State was progressing well. Kerala was the first State to complete the DNA profiling of captive elephants with details of owners, implantation of microchips for identification and measurements of the size and weight, he said.

The Government has proposed to set up a high-end cyber forensic lab to provide technical assistance to the investigators for collecting and analysing digital evidence using modern technologies. This was after the illegal wildlife trade had reached an unprecedented scale and much of it was happening on online marketplaces, he said.

The Governor said that the Forest Department planted 60-70 lakh seedlings every year. As of now, these seedlings were raised in polythene bags or in plastic root-trainers. The Government proposed to shift to plastic-free, compostible containers for seedlings. With a view to ensuring that forests and its fauna were free from the menace of dumped waste, a three-year project called Green Grass had been sanctioned. Nearly 1,900 tonnes of waste had been removed from identified dumping sites.

While bringing teak plantations of the State under improved management for higher productivity and quality, he said that the plantations that werr of poorer quality and located in disaster-prone areas, wildlife corridors, river sides and degraded areas would be reverted to natural forests. Similarly, to ensure water, ecological and climate security, all the plantations of eucalyptus and acacia would be phased out and the area reverted to natural forests.