Anamalai Tiger Reserve | Trekking Programmes at Parambikulam Tiger Reserve | Western Ghats

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• PARAMBIKKULAM
There are two tiger reserves in Kerala, one is Periyar Tiger Reserve and the other is Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.
Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, which includes the old Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected area of 643.33 square kilometers in the Palakkad and Thrissur districts of Kerala. It is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is a fascinating landscape considering the abundance of wildlife and natural beauty.
Walking through the Kariyenshola Evergreen Forest in the Western Ghats, which is an extremely ecologically sensitive area. Western Ghats is one of the 8 UNESCO hot sports in terms of biodiversity.
The Western Ghats is a vast belt that governs the very climate of green India, stretching from Kerala to Gujarat. There is a gap in the plains of Palakkad in Kerala. There is a gap in the plains of the Western Ghats. Through this gap, the hot winds blowing from Coimbatore Pollachi in the state of Tamil Nadu, which is adjacent to Kerala, enters Palakkad.
Before the arrival of the British, Anaimalai Reserve was a large forest area with rosewood and teak trees all over Parambikulam. With the arrival of the British, they hunted and killed all the wild animals in these areas and cut all the trees and sent them to Bombay to build ships for the British Royal Army. Thus, in a short period of time, this entire forest area has become like a barren land. The Mount Stewart Tramway was built to transport timber from Top Slip. We can still see its remains there today.
Then in 1915 Hugo franchise Andrew Wood, a Scottish man was appointed as assistant forest conservator in Coimbatore. He understood how the destruction of trees in Western Ghats would adversely affect India. 1926 He was promoted as Conservator of Forests.
He put on a four - pocketed shirt and filled it with teak seeds and with a stick in his hand he walked in all these areas and started planting teak seeds. Thus the destroyed forest started to turn into plantation forest. He did not allow the British to cut the surplus trees.
The dense forest we see in this area today is unimaginable without the man Hugo Wood. He died at the age of 63 in Nilgiri district and his body was cremated at Topslip in Anaimalai.
Hugo Wood said “If you want to see me, look around”. Hugo franchise Andrew Wood was a nature lover who gave his life and died for the forest.