The mushrooming growth of private tourist resorts in the water belt areas of Karapuzha Reservoir in Kerala is posing a serious threat to the existence of the multipurpose reservoir.

The Forest and Wildlife Department is gearing up to implement a Rs.6-crore project to curb the increasing man-animal conflict in the district.

As a part of the project, the department would install 300 km of solar power fence around human settlements adjacent to forests, P. Dhaneshkumar, Divisional Forest Officer, South Wayanad, said. Power fences would come up in the border areas of the North and South Wayanad forest divisions, as well as in the Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary. The NABARD had sanctioned Rs.6 crore for the project recently. The Kerala Forest Development Corporation would execute the project, Mr. Dhaneshkumar said.

Survey of wetlands in six north Kerala districts reveals threat to bird diversity
KALPETTA: Habitat loss is posing a severe threat to the avian population in the major wetlands in northern Kerala.

KALPETTA: The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and the Leibniz University at Hanover in Germany will jointly organise a three-year project on value and services of rice fields in Wayanad district.

The project is aimed at collecting scientific evidence and formulating policies on rice ecosystem services and values, N. Anilkumar, director, MSSRF told The Hindu.

KALPETTA: An instance of wildfire that destroyed more than 100 hectares of grass land on the Chembra peak, home to unique flora and fauna, in the Kottappadi section of the Meppadi range of forests under the South Wayanad Forest Division, was brought under control in the early hours of Tuesday.

KALPETTA: The Malabar Ornithological Survey 2010-11, the first ever comprehensive study on avifauna in north Kerala, has proved that the Wayanad part of the Western Ghats is a critical habitat for endemic as well as endangered birds.

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher (female)

The team sighted 200 species, including 14 of the 16 endemic species and two critically endangered species, during the tw

More settlers are leaving the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, as animal incursions are increasing and a voluntary resettlement project of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has been allegedly delayed.

Seven of the nine families at Narimanthikkolly and two of the three at Eswarankolly in Thirunelly panchayat; three of the four at Ponkuzhy; and six of the 32 at Kottamkara have left.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy has alleged that the State government is cheating the tribal community by adding three clauses to an agreement reached between the then United Democratic Front government and the tribal leaders in 2002. At a press conference here on Thursday in connection with the Kerala Mochana Yatra led by him, Mr.

It will cover 18,000 households in Wayanad
Detailed report to be submitted on Monday
KALPETTA: A team of Health officials headed by Neetha Vijayan, District Medical Officer, began a survey to assess the impact of extensive pesticide application in the district on Friday.

The survey was being organised as per the direction of the State Health Directorate following recent reports on the widespr