Department of Forests and Wildlife (Kerala)

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Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department
കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്
Agency overview
Formed 1888
Jurisdiction Kerala
Headquarters Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram
Minister responsible
  • K. Raju, Minister for Forests and Wildlife, Zoos & Animal Husbandry
Agency executive
Website http://www.forest.kerala.gov.in

Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department is a law enforcement agency for the state of Kerala, India. Over 75% of the land area of Kerala was covered by forests up till even the 18th century.The department concerns on the entity of the human beings with the survival of each species in its habitat. It conserves 10,336 km2 of forests forming 29.101% of the total geographic area of the state. [1]

Kerala State in southern India

Kerala is a state on the southwestern, Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions. Spread over 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is the twenty second largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea and Arabian Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Kerala is the thirteenth-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state.

India Country in South Asia

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

Contents

The headquarters of Kerala Forest Department is located at Vazhuthacaud, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It also hosts the Forest Central Library Thiruvananthapuram which even the public can access.

Vazhuthacaud town in Kerala, India

Vazhuthacaud is located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India. The place is located 3 kilometers from the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station and 8 kilometers from the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

Thiruvananthapuram Metropolis in Kerala, India

Thiruvananthapuram, also known by its former name Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major Information Technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state's software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills.

See also

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is an autonomous organisation or governmental agency under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Headquartered in Dehradun, its functions are to conduct forestry research; transfer the technologies developed to the states of India and other user agencies; and to impart forestry education. The council has 9 research institutes and 4 advanced centres to cater to the research needs of different bio-geographical regions. These are located at Dehradun, Shimla, Ranchi, Jorhat, Jabalpur, Jodhpur, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Allahabad, Chhindwara, Aizawl, Hyderabad and Agartala.

Van Vigyan Kendra (VVK) or Forest Science Centres (FSC) has been established by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests Govt. of India. It intends to help disseminate various technologies developed by farmers, forest based industries and forest research institutes.

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Idukki district District in Kerala, India

Idukki is one of the 14 districts of Kerala state, India, created on 26 January 1972. At that time, the district headquarters was at Kottayam. In June 1976 it was moved to Painavu. Idukki which lies in the Western Ghats of Kerala. Idukki is the second largest district in area but has the lowest population density. Idukki has a vast forest reserve area; more than a half of the district is covered by forests. The urban areas are densely populated whereas villages are sparsely populated. Idukki is also known as the spice garden of Kerala.

The Canadian Forest Service is a sector of the Canadian government department of Natural Resources Canada. Part of the federal government since 1899, the CFS is a science-based policy organization responsible for promoting the sustainable development of Canada's forests and competitiveness of the forest sector to benefit present and future Canadians. Some of the research areas that the CFS is involved in include; forest fire, climate change, silviculture, soils, insects and disease, remote sensing and forest management. Since 1991 the sector has produced an annual report, The State of the Forest in Canada, which describes the status of the nation's forests and the forest industry.

The All India Services (AIS) comprises Civil Services of India, namely the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Forest Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS). A common unique feature of the All India Services is that the members of these services are recruited by the Centre, but their services are placed under various State cadres, and they have the liability to serve both under the State and under the Centre. Due to the federal polity of the country, this is considered one of the tools that makes union government stronger than state governments. Officers of these three services comply to the All India Services Rules relating to pay, conduct, leave, various allowances etc.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Forests in the state of Himachal Pradesh currently cover an area of nearly 37,691 square kilometres (14,553 sq mi), which is about 38.3% of the total land area of the state. The forests were once considered to be the main source of income of the state and most of the original forests were clear felled. The emphasis has shifted, however, from exploitation to conservation. The state government aims to increase forest cover to 50% of the total land area. There have been various projects, including the establishment of protected areas such as National Parks, designed to preserve and expand the forests.

Social forestry in India

Social forestry means the management and protection of forest and afforestation of barren and deforested lands with the purpose of helping environmental, social and rural development.

Reserved forests and protected forests of India

A reserved forest or a protected forest in India are terms denoting forests accorded a certain degree of protection. The term was first introduced in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in British India, to refer to certain forests granted protection under the British crown in British India, but not associated suzerainties. After Indian independence, the Government of India retained the status of the existing reserved and protected forests, as well as incorporating new reserved and protected forests. A large number of forests which came under the jurisdiction of the Government of India during the political integration of India were initially granted such protection.The first Reserve Forest Of India was Satpura National Park.

Wildlife Institute of India

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, Government of India. established in May 1982.

Protected areas of Tamil Nadu

The Protected areas of Tamil Nadu State in South India cover an area of 3,305 km2 (1,276 sq mi), constituting 2.54% of the geographic area and 15% of the 22,643 km2 (8,743 sq mi) recorded forest area. It ranks 14th among all the States and Union Territories of India in terms of total protected area.

Forestry in India

Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world along with Russia, Brazil, Canada, United States of America, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan. Together, India and these countries account for 67 percent of total forest area of the world. India's forest cover grew at 0.20% annually over 1990-2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.7% per year over 2000-2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.

Forest Survey of India

Forest Survey of India (FSI), founded in June 1981 and headquartered at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, is a Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organisation for conducting forest surveys, studies and research to periodically monitor the changing situation of land and forest resources and present the data for national planning, conservation and sustainable management of environmental protection as well for the implementation of social forestry projects.

Pampadum Shola National Park

Pampadum Shola National Park is the smallest national park in Kerala state, South India. The park is administered by the Kerala Department of Forests and Wildlife, Munnar Wildlife Division, together with the nearby Mathikettan Shola National Park, Eravikulam National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kurinjimala Sanctuary. The park adjoins the Allinagaram Reserved Forest within the proposed Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park.It is a part of Palani hills stretched up to Vandaravu peak.The Westerns Ghats, Anamalai Sub-Cluster, including these parks, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site.

Forestry in Bhutan

One of Bhutan's significant natural resources in the late twentieth century was its rich forests and natural vegetation. Bhutan's location in the eastern Himalayas, with its subtropical plains and alpine terrain, gives it more rainfall than its neighbors to the west, a factor greatly facilitating forest growth. The forests contain numerous deciduous and evergreen species, ranging from tropical hardwoods to predominantly oak and pine forests.

Kerala Forest Research Institute research organisation based in Thrissur, Kerala, India

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Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) is an autonomous body constituted by the Government of Kerala in November 2002 to encourage and promote science and technology-related activities in Kerala State. Prior to the establishment of KSCSTE, the body responsible for carrying out similar work was the State Committee for Science, Technology and Environment (STEC) established in 1972. KSCSTE was formed by restructuring STEC in concurrence with the Science Policy of Government of India.

Tamil Nadu Forest Department

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Thrissur Zoological Park Wildlife Conversation & Research Centre, Puthur is an upcoming zoological park situated in Puthur in Thrissur City of Kerala State in India. All zoos in the state of Kerala is presently managed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and this will be the first zoo in the state which will be developed and managed by the Department of Forests and Wildlife (Kerala).

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