Veernosnahalli, Khalhatti, Karmad and Nanachi
Nargrahole Tiger Reserve (NRT) now holds the highest estimate of 149 tigers in Karnataka, closely followed by Bandipur Tiger Reserve which has 140.
Plastic use has clearly taken over human lives. There is dependence on plastics in nearly every sphere of life, starting from drinking water bottles, plates, cups and even the clothes we wear and with that comes littering and sanitizing the public of its implications.
With much deliberation Coorg Wildlife Society (CWS), Kodagu, has put its heads together to bring in this awareness on *Single Use Plastic free entry into the Reserve. *
Karnataka Forest Department, Director Harsha Kumar, readily agreed for this conception and implementation and CWS funded the project completely to kick start the drive on the ban of single use plastic materials.
NRT has four entry points into the reserve and all gates were installed with waste bins and boards displaying the ban on single use plastic and alcohol.
CWS members educated the staff manning the gates to make aware of this action plan on the ban and to educate the commuters to discard the plastic materials into the bins before entry.
Along with this CWS has also introduced a printed gate pass, a ready readable leaflet on the do’s and don’ts both in Kannada and English.
This exercise has been a very a successful model thus far, and now NTR Kodagu division is 99% plastic free Tiger Reserve, giving that 1%, incentive for those deliberately littering and few locals deliberately refusing to follow the rules.
CWS hopes to bring in more awareness in the coming days and the public on this concept and perceive the ban on single use plastic, for a better forest management and for the betterment and safety of the wild animals that deserves to live and thrive in these reserves.
The next project of CWS would be on the Hunsur, Thitimathi, stretch of NTR, which has a very high density of traffic and connectivity to Kodagu and Kerala and a bigger challenge to control the littering, however, we are hopeful that we would put our heads together in the coming days to implement it, said a press release from Navin Bopiah, Comittee Member of CWS.
