Anil Kumble to be named Forest and Wildlife ambassador, announces Karnataka minister Khandre

Bengaluru: Renowned cricketer Anil Kumble will soon become the brand ambassador of the Forest Department and final details of his service will be chalked out in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) soon, Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre said on Tuesday.

The minister sought to underscore that the department was not making any payments to Kumble, who had earlier served as the member of the State Board of Wildlife. "I spoke to Kumble. He is genuinely interested in conservation of forest, wildlife and ecology. He will create awareness among the public," he said.

Khandre addressed the media regarding the achievements of the forest department since he became the minister two years ago. "The threats posed by climate change are visible. We have taken up afforestation activities by planting 8.5 saplings, we also recoevered 6251.31 acre of forest from encroachers in 1205 cases. We have also notified 14789.15 acre forest. But there is much that needs to be done," he acknowledged.

The minister said removing forest totalling over 2 lakh acres in Karnataka forests was a continuous process. "Our efforts to recover forest land will continue," he said, listing the legal fights taken up to save 444 acre Peenya Plantation from HMT as well as efforts to recover 5050 acre forest leased to the planters.

'Receiving new FRA claims'

The minister said the department has settled 16,685 claims made under the Forest Rights Act but a total of 2.5 lakh claims were still pending. He said new claims were still being made and some who never lived in the forests were claiming rights.

He said the adivasis seeking to relocate from the forests were doing it voluntarily. Referring to the relocation in Bhimgad, he siad Rs 10 lakh was given per family another Rs 5 lakh would be given as part of the package.