Forest dept clears 375 hectares of MTR of invasive species

Udhagamandalam: The forest department has cleared 375 hectares of the reserve forest land in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) of invasive species in the past two years.
Arun Kumar, deputy director of the MTR, said they are seeing a good result in regeneration of native grass species in places where invasive species were removed on multiple occasions. “But this is not an achievement. Out of 65,000 hectares, which is the total area of the MTR, invasive species, including Lantana camara, Parthenium, Senna spectabilis and Prosopis juliflora, are spread around 26,000 (40%) hectares,” he said.
“However, to build upon this success, we are scouting for funds from various sources to remove invasive species from other areas. We have approached companies for CSR funds. We have also asked the Nilgiris administration for funds under the MGNREG scheme, as we employed tribals in the removal process.”
For Senna spectabilis, which is a tree species, the forest department has entered into an agreement with the TNPL to remove the plants for use as raw material.
Supriya Sahu, additional chief secretary, environment, climate change and forest departments told TOI, “Based on studies and information gathered, we did a field trial on mission mode, which was successful. By breaking the chain of growth of invasive species, there would be a huge benefit with an improved ecosystem in the forests.”
In 2022, the forest department removed invasive plants from 1,739 hectares of reserve forest areas across the state at a cost of 8.6 crore.