Agasthya 5.3 Vaagaikulam- tragedy averted

On October 1st this year, Vaagaikulam tank, the heronry discovered by ATREE in 2008, came under a direct threat, when a contractor armed with an order from the forest department started felling the trees inside the tank. The Nanalkulam Green Brigade, a voluntary group comprising exclusively of children, alerted the local people and the administration took notice of the people’s protest and issued a ban on cutting. Six trees were already cut by then. Over the next four days the cutters who had camped in the tank set fire to the trees resulting in the loss of more trees until a court stay on the cutting was obtained on 4th evening. By then, the harvested trees were collected and loaded in a lorry by the contractor's men leaving behind a few logs. It was possible to stop the felling due to the cooperation of local people, prominent individuals from the landscape, forest department, the village administrative officer, the block development officer, the Tahsildhar of Ambasamudram and the collector. The media highlighted the issue immediately and that caught the attention of public and there was overwhelming protest against the cutting. What next? Vaagaikulam has already been proposed as a conservation reserve and the forest department along with the local people and district administration should work towards this. The heronry can be protected only with the help of local communities and they need to benefit from it. The contractor who has paid the amount to the government has to be compensated. The local college and university should use this as a study centre for their life science students. Most importantly, the trees in the tank are getting old and some fresh planting should be done at the earliest.