Greens seek review of decision to open ecotourism centres inside forest

KALPETTA

The Forest department has come under pressure from environmental organisations to review its decision to open ecotourism centres inside forest in view of the escalating human- wildlife conflict in Wayanad district.

Addressing the media, Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi president N. Badusha said while wildlife experts, environmentalists, and villagers on the fringes of forest were demanding restriction of tourism activities inside forest to mitigate man-animal conflict, the decision of the department was a challenge to the public.

At a time when farmers on the fringes of forest were holding agitations seeking protection of life and property from wildlife attacks, officials of the South Wayanad Forest Division are going ahead with the ecotourism project at Neelimala on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border without conducting any study, Mr. Badusha said. Such a move revealed the anti-farmer policy of the authorities, he added.

The existing norms do not permit the department to open ecotourism centres according to its whims and fancies. It needs prior permission from the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Besides, such projects should be included in the working plan of the Ministry, he said.

Moreover, a reputed agency should study the biodiversity as well as the social and ecological impact and carrying capacity of the site in question. However, the department is yet to conduct such studies, Mr. Badusha said.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had stayed all ecotourism activities under the forest division for three years as it had failed to comply with norms.

The Forest department should reconsider its decision to open new tourism centres that pose a threat to wildlife habitat and the public, failing which the Samithi will legally challenge it, he said.