Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Viswom: wildlife sanctuary in a year

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, based at Kakkayam in Kozhikode, will come into being within a year, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has said.

Presiding over the World Forest Day observance here on Saturday, Mr.Viswom said that Kerala was among the four States which maintained its forest cover intact and increased the extent of reserve forest by three per cent.

A Forest Housing Development Corporation for the employees of the department would be formed soon. All transfers and postings would be completed before the beginning of the academic year in a transparent manner.

The ‘Ente Maram’ project being implemented in schools jointly by the Forest and Education departments would be extended to colleges.

A meeting of Vice-Chancellors and registrars would be held on April 2 to finalise the details. The Forest Department would get lakhs of seedlings ready by June to launch the project.

The project had drawn remarkable response in schools. Children developed an emotional bond with the seedlings they planted and 80 per cent were being reared properly.

He called upon the organisations of teachers and students to join hands with the government to make it a success.

Education Minister M.A. Baby, in his inaugural address, said that ‘Ente Maram’ was a prestigious project aimed at saving the mankind. As much as 33 per cent forest cover was imperative for the existence of mankind and the project would go a long way in conserving nature.

The government was planning to make farming an integral part of education. The Department of Education would work out a project to familiarise students in farming in association with the Agriculture Department. All barren land would be utilised for the project, he said.

The Ministers presented the ‘Vana Mithra’ awards to S.R.S. Upper Primary School at Naruvamoodu near here and St.Marys High School at Maruthengara in Kozhikode for making the ‘Ente Maram’ project a success.

A logo on global warming was released at the function. Mayor C.Jayan Babu and V.Sivankutty, MLA, also attended. Principal Chief Forest Conservator T.M. Manoharan welcomed the gathering and Additional Principal Chief Forest Conservator K.K. Srivastava proposed a vote of thanks.

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