Mysuru: “Deforestation in the name of rapid development might prove dangerous to humanity”, lamented Conservator of Forest and Director Bandipur Tiger Reserve H C Kantharaju here on Friday.

He was speaking at a three day workshop for teachers on “Adding Life to Science teaching” as part of Hasiru Hejje initiative by Mysore Amateur Naturalists at Regional Museum of Natural History. Addressing the gathering he said that conservation efforts are the order of the day. But unfortunately in the name of development humans are encroaching upon forest land which will prove costly in the future.

According to the present statistics we have only 19% of the forest area and deforestation takes place at the rate of 2.5 hectares of land per hour. Not only the land, but the wild life which is dependent on this  land has also decreased. This has led to many species being classified as endangered.

From Green cover area we are turning to mark the Forest areas as red cover area. Even though a lot of awareness camps have been launched people have failed to understand the situation and indulge in confrontation with the forest officers he added. Being responsible for the situation we must stress for conservation and leave behind something for our future generation.

Making a power point presentation,  he said that Animals are free to move from area to area. In India we have a belt including Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu where the elephants can roam. But due to the deforestation in large number now the forest area is encroached and they only travel till Chikkamagaluru this has affected the gene exchange among the elephants. This has proved bad for the wildlife at Dandeli he said.

Scientist in Charge RMNH Yogendra B S, Manu of Mysore Amateur Naturalists were present.