Seedlings of fruit-bearing trees being raised for planting inside reserve forests to fulfill food requirements of monkeys and birds

The Forest Department has begun raising seedlings of various fruit-bearing trees for planting inside reserve forests at various places in the Tiruchi Forest Range with the aim of fulfilling the food requirements of monkeys and birds. Seedlings of ‘naaval’, tamarind, manilla tamarind, ‘nelli’ and ‘vembu’ were being raised in the Forest Department’s nursery on the outskirts of Tiruchi.

The Forest Department has begun raising seedlings of various fruit-bearing trees for planting inside reserve forests at various places in the Tiruchi Forest Range with the aim of fulfilling the food requirements of monkeys and birds. Seedlings of ‘naaval’, tamarind, manilla tamarind, ‘nelli’ and ‘vembu’ were being raised in the Forest Department’s nursery on the outskirts of Tiruchi.

As many as 10,000 seedlings of fruit bearing trees were being raised in the nursery under the NABARD scheme in the 2023-24 fiscal, a senior Forest Department official said. The seedlings would be planted in reserve forests at Edhumalai, Peramkambi, Thachankurichi, Pulivalam, Omandur and Pagalavadi.

The seedlings would be planted inside the reserve forests in September coinciding with the monsoon season, the official said. The initiative was expected to provide the desired results in the long term as it would take a few years for the fruit bearing trees to produce fruits. Percolation ponds and check dams have been constructed inside the reserve forests to meet the water requirements. 

The main aim behind this initiative was to fulfill the food requirements of monkeys and birds. This would also prevent monkeys from entering residential localities in search of food and water as the food requirements of the simians would be fulfilled in the reserve forests itself, said the official.  This would also help in preventing man-animal conflict, he added.

The Forest Department had trapped several monkeys from residential localities and released them in nearby reserve forests at periodic intervals.  In the last 15 months alone, the Forest Department teams had trapped over 900 monkeys from residential localities at various places falling under the limits of the Tiruchi Forest Range by placing cages and safely released them inside the reserve forests. Apart from fulfilling the food requirements, the fruit bearing trees would also enhance green cover within the reserve forests making it a perfect habitation for the monkeys and birds.

The Forest Department has also simultaneously embarked on the task of raising seedlings of various species including teak, ‘pungan’, ‘iluppai’, ‘mahakani’ and ‘vembu’ under the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project (TBGP) and Green Tamil Nadu Mission (GTM) schemes.

About 35,000 seedlings of ‘mahakani’ and teak were being raised under the TBGP scheme during the 2023-24 fiscal and 2.27 lakh seedlings of species including pungan, ‘mahakani’, ‘naaval’ and ‘iluppai’ under the GTM scheme.  Seedlings of teak and ‘mahakani’ were being raised to be provided free of cost to farmers under the TBGP scheme. Seedlings raised under the GTM scheme would be provided free of cost to local bodies, educational institutions and industrial units, the official said.