Forests Minister K. Ponmudy inaugurated Wildlife Week 2024 celebrations at Children’s Park in Guindy on Friday.
The Minister, speaking at the event, said the Forest Department believes that all forms of life are connected and needs protection — be it humans, animals or plants. “Although, we sometimes fail to protect it, the government is working on ways to improve and prevent these mistakes,” he said.
“Currently, Tamil Nadu has 20.31% tree cover, and our goal is to increase it to 33%. Many forests in Tamil Nadu are on plains rather than on hills, and preserving them is crucial for maintaining natural resources,” Mr. Ponmudy said. The Minister released two books — one on standard operating procedures of turtle conservation in Tamil Nadu and another titled ‘Survey on Stakeholders’ Tolerance Level in Selected Wildlife Conflict Divisions, Tamil Nadu’, a technical report by Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation and Greening Project.
The Minister also gave away certificates of appreciation to forest rangers P. Mathan, B. Mani, B. Saravanan, S. Manoj Kumar; forester M. Shankar; forest watcher M.B. Bomman; and anti-poaching watchers M. Bomman, M. Kethan, G. Krishnamurthy, M. Murali and B. Jai Kumar.
Students from various schools who received prizes in district-level competitions for categories such as painting, quiz, elocution, and essay writing were also felicitated.
P. Senthil Kumar, Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests; Srinivas R. Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force); Ashish Kumar Srivastava, Additional PCCF and Director of Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur; R. Durairaj, Greater Chennai Corporation Zone 13 chairman and Manish Meena, Wildlife Warden, Chennai, were present.
Published - October 04, 2024 08:50 pm IST
