‘Maragatha Pooncholai’ established in Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts

Tamil Nadu Forest Department establishes Maragatha Pooncholai to promote sustainable community woodlots, biodiversity conservation, and rural livelihood support.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has created ‘Maragatha Pooncholai’ in five villages in Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts with the aim of increasing green cover and supporting the rural livelihood of local residents by community-driven management of natural resources.

The ‘Maragatha Pooncholai’ have been created at Udayanatham and Puthukaruvatchi in Villupuram district and Alambalam, Varadhapanur and Eyyanur villages in Kallakurichi district.

“The Tamil Nadu government has initiated the establishment of ‘Maragatha Pooncholai’ in 100 villages across the State. The idea behind this initiative is to create sustainable community woodlots that will provide essential natural resources, such as timber, fuel wood and fodder to local communities. By reducing the dependency on forest areas for these resources, ‘Maragatha Pooncholai’ aims to alleviate the biotic pressure on forests, promoting both environment sustainability and economic benefits for the local villagers,” District Forest Officer Sumesh Soman told The Hindu.

The woodlots have been set up on an expanse of one hectare each, on community lands near forest areas, in the two districts. Each woodlot has been set up at a cost of ₹24 lakh after obtaining concurrence from the revenue and rural development authorities. The seedlings were raised by the Forest Department in its nurseries in the districts.

A specialised nursery with saplings of diverse tree species, such as teak, Indian Kino (Vengai), rosewood, red sandal (semmaram), bullet wood (magilam), common sandal (sandhanam), and burflower tree (manjal kadambai) have been planted inside the ‘Maragatha Pooncholai’. As many as 625 saplings of various species have been planted in all the five sites.

This deliberate planting approach is instrumental in fostering the sustainable growth of the woodlot while promoting the conservation of biodiversity. The assortment of species will further bolster the ecological equilibrium and augment the long-term viability of the woodlot, Mr. Soman said.

All the five ‘Maragatha pooncholai’ have been provided with chain-link fencing with walking pathways created for the public visiting them. Benches have been installed and fountains created at the five sites, besides installation of signage boards and provision of drinking water. Children’s play area has also been created at the five Panchayats.