Koraput: Concerned over the rapid decline of sandalwood forests in Koraput district, Jeypore-based human rights defender and RTI activist Anup Kumar Patro urged the President of India and the ministry of environment, forest and climate change to intervene for the restoration of the region’s sandalwood heritage and promotion of tribal-led sandalwood cultivation.In a memorandum forwarded through senior officials of the environment ministry, Patro highlighted the decline of sandalwood forests due to illegal felling and smuggling by organised timber mafias. Koraput was once known as one of the country’s largest sandalwood region, with plantations established during the 1950s under the patronage of Vikram Dev, then Maharaja of Jeypore.Patro said, large stretches of forests from Nandapur to Padua and up to the Andhra Pradesh border were once covered with sandalwood trees. Rampant smuggling and premature felling of young trees depleted the resources. “Koraput’s sandalwood heritage is on the verge of extinction. Immediate intervention is needed to protect the remaining trees and revive this unique ecological wealth,” he said.He said while sandalwood has immense commercial value, tribal communities in the region have not benefited from it. “The indigenous people should be made stakeholders in sandalwood conservation and cultivation. Sustainable agroforestry can transform the livelihoods of tribal farmers and create a long-term source of income,” he added.Patro asked the govt to adopt the sandalwood cultivation models implemented in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh under the Joint Forest Management framework and to provide quality saplings, technical support and market linkages to tribal farmers interested in cultivating sandalwood on private and community lands.He called for the creation of Sandalwood Heritage Zones, a comprehensive census and geo-tagging of surviving sandalwood trees, deployment of an anti-smuggling task force and establishment of local sandalwood oil extraction and processing units in Koraput.“The revival of Koraput’s sandalwood ecosystem can become a model for environmental conservation and tribal empowerment,” Patro said, urging the govt to launch a Koraput Sandalwood Restoration Mission.
