SC orders CEC to survey Agasthyamalai forests for encroachments

Supreme Court Directs Extensive Forest Ecosystem Survey of Agasthyamalai Landscape

• The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Agasthyamalai landscape in the southernmost Western Ghats.

• The survey aims to identify non-forestry activities and encroachments, and to initiate restoration efforts.

• The Agasthyamalai landscape is recognized by UNESCO as a 3,500-km biosphere reserve within Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

• The CEC survey will include Periyar tiger reserve, Srivilliputhur grizzled squirrel wildlife sanctuary, Meghamalai and Thirunelveli wildlife sanctuaries.

• The report will compare forest cover as it existed earlier to gauge the extent of depletion and degradation.

• The judgment was based on the recommendation of senior advocate K. Parmeshwar, who argued that plantations and systematic encroachments have depleted forest cover.