State seeks de-notification.

Hyderabad: The State government urged the Centre to allow it to grow red sanders in the State as a self-employment programme.

Since there is a great demand for red sanders abroad, the State government wants to cash in on the demand by turning the cultivation of this rare wood into a self-employment scheme to improve the economic status of the State.

The Central approval is necessary as red sanders figures in the list of endangered species and therefore cannot be exported. In fact, it was AP which way back in 2004, had asked for the inclusion of red sanders in the list of endangered species.

This resulted in sandalwood figuring in the list notified under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Therefore, unless the Centre de-notifies red sanders from the list of endangered species, export of the wood to the international market would not be possible since CITES banned its trade without prior permission.

The government’s claim for de-notification was reportedly backed up with the claim that red sanders is spread in area of around 4 lakh acres in the State.

Apart from farmers in several areas taking up the cultivation of red sanders, the same is also available in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States, was the argument put in by Andhra Pradesh.

However, the State’s earlier attempts at de-notification met with no success following reports with the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests which indicated that 70 per cent of the first grade red sanders forest cover has disappeared in Kadapa district in the last 12 years.

The de-notification at the time of seeking a ban was based on the assumption that the plant, bark, wood and wood essence oil containing 32 chemical properties known for its superlative technical qualities rank amongst the finest luxury wood in the world.

• Wants Centre’s nod to cultivate red sanders as part of self-employment scheme
• Central approval must for red sanders export
• Earlier appeal for de-notification was in vain
  

All these qualities would be available only when the trees grow in their known-habitats like Seshachalam forests in Chittoor and the like.
The State government’s pitch for the de-notification has also highlighted that it was reasonably concluded now that red sanders grown in other areas in the State too have similar qualities.

And, allowing it as a self-employment scheme would not only prevent smuggling of the wood from the forest areas, but it would also contribute to the improvement of the economic standards of the people.

A delegation of senior forest officials led by Minister for Forest, Environment, Science and Technology Bojjala Gopala Krishna Reddy conveyed the view of the State to the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Anil Madhav Dave.

The Union Minister was told that the export of red sanders would also help in huge revenue generation to the State forest department which would help it in effectively implementing its mandate of ‘protection and rejuvenation’ of forests and wildlife.

By: VRC Phaniharan