Kozhikode (Kerala), Jan 25 (IANS) Sandalwood trees are highly coveted by timber smugglers, but the Kerala forest department has found an innovative way now to protect these – steel armours.
The armour – a mesh of steel bars – is now being provided to sandalwood trees in the vicinity of the forest check post in the Tholpetty range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, about 100 km from here. There are around 50 sandalwood trees in the area but only some have been provided with the armour, apparently because of a fund constraint.
Plundering of sandalwood trees is one of the key challenges faced by the department.
“Before we put up this mesh, we lost some trees to the thieves. They are very quick, they cut down the trees and take them away in a few minutes. After we put up the steel cover, we have not lost a single tree,” Sunil Kumar K.K., range officer at Tholpetty, told IANS.
“Some thieves once tried to cut the trees even after the steel mesh had been installed. But they did not succeed and were arrested,” he said.
“The mesh is 1.5 metre in height. We have fixed the bottom of the mesh around one foot below the ground, making it difficult to remove it,” Suni Kumar said.
Dinesh Misra, the divisional forest officer in charge of the area, said: “This is not part of any project. We had some funds with us and we thought of using them for protecting the tress.
“Sandalwood costs around Rs.5,000 per kilogram. It is used for extracting sandalwood oil,” Rajan said explaining why the trees are targeted by thieves.
The mesh, however, is not foolproof protection.
“The mesh will help only where there is a constant presence of forest personnel because the thieves can dismantle the mesh if they get a few hours’ time. The iron cover will only hinder a quick operation,” said C.V. Rajan, now a divisional forest officer in Kozhikode, who played a key role in arranging the armour for trees.
The sandalwood mafia is notorious for its determination and quick operation.
Initially, the forest personnel put around the trees a coil of barbed wire that thieves would find it difficult to cut.
“The coil of barbed wire constricted the trees. So we thought of putting mesh with ample space for the trees to grow,” said Rajan.