De-Notification Of Red Sanders

According to a senior forest official, “main reason for smugglers to focus their efforts on Seshachalam forests for the last couple of years was due to the fact that almost 65 to 70 per cent red sander cover that yields the first grade has been no longer available to meet their demand in large quantities in Kadapa.”

Also, the government’s initiative of planting red sanders to cover the loss of the natural red sanders cover for the last three years have not yielded much results in the district. Now the government claims that the red sanders are spread in about 4.5 lakh acres in the State, besides at several places farmers growing the same.

And, the AP government has also claimed that the same species is also grown in Tamilanadu and Karnataka. But, the present argument of the State government may likely fall flat before the CITES, for denotification of red sanders, the sources added. Because, it was Andhra Pradesh government which had demanded to include the red sanders in the list of endangered species around 2004.

And, at the time of making that request, the total red sander cover in the State was double to that of the existing red sanders area in the state. Hence, it might be difficult to convince CITES, as to why it wanted to de-notify as the red sander cover has come down in the forest areas of Kadapa.

Even, if the CITES wish to consider de-notification of red sanders from the endangered species list, first, it would constitute a committee to go into the request. Then the team will visit the state, and conduct physical inspection of the red sander areas, which include Kadapa. This is as at the time of seeking inclusion of red sanders as an endangered species, the government had named Kadapa as one of the two districts where it has a natural growth.