Couple Buys 300 Acres Of Barren Land, Converts It Into India's First Private Wildlife Sanctuary

[surya kiran]

My relative brought some 50 acer land in coorg to retire

Hey,

Can you check with him what the rate is like?

 

[unbiasedopinion]

What do you mean? This is a rainforest area with thick vegetation even in farms and fields and falls in one of the few hottest biodiversity biosphere area. So it is a lie this land was ever barren or a wasteland or unproductive. This is a paid article and blatant falsehood. As said by the one local commentator in the article, this area has always been forested. So there was no couple from "US" coming and teaching the natives how to live, rather a false story planted for self promotion.



This actually was a genuine story because this guy planted a forest on a barren sand bank.

May be it is rain water area with plenty of rain, so are many other parts of India but because of land mafia lots of deforestation results in forests falling under saw. Atleast by buying the land and preserving for the forest (this is also written in article) they have dont their bit by saving that part of the vegetation from deforestation.

atleast they are doing something to preserve it.

 

[Lokanath]

Hey,

Can you check with him what the rate is like?

You can get it between 5 to 8 lakh per acer depending on the accessibility.

May be it is rain water area with plenty of rain, so are many other parts of India but because of land mafia lots of deforestation results in forests falling under saw. Atleast by buying the land and preserving for the forest (this is also written in article) they have dont their bit by saving that part of the vegetation from deforestation.

atleast they are doing something to preserve it.

Everybody protects the trees on their land genius. That is a very common thing among land owners in India.

You need permission from Forest dept. to cut down trees in Coorg. EVEN if the tree is in your own land. Worse you are responsible for the trees too. If anyone else cuts it down, you are held accountable if the tree is in your land.

Half knowledge is a dangerous thing.

 

[Samudra Manthan]

May be it is rain water area with plenty of rain, so are many other parts of India but because of land mafia lots of deforestation results in forests falling under saw. Atleast by buying the land and preserving for the forest (this is also written in article) they have dont their bit by saving that part of the vegetation from deforestation.

atleast they are doing something to preserve it.

A district with 3 wild life sanctuaries and a national park facing deforestation? An area where land was selling for pittance in 1990s and almost entirely covered in forest having land mafia?

Also as mentioned in the article, they are in the Brahmagiri mountain range which is a declared wild life sanctuary area, so what deforestation are we talking about?

 

[surya kiran]

You can get it between 5 to 8 lakh per acer depending on the accessibility.

Oh cool! You know how to go about it or someone who knows? Besides, the route of 99 acres and magicbricks.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Everybody protects the trees on their land genius. That is a very common thing among land owners in India.

Genius, not everyone, for land mafia, only money matters. Come to Aravali range in Gurgaon, you will see how small land owners (farmers) are selling it to builders, who by hook and crook, converted the land use for these lands from cultivated to barren. They also used salt to actually convert the land barren during inspection. Though even inspection is just an eyewash.

Atleast they are putting their money to conserve a forest.

A district with 3 wild life sanctuaries and a national park facing deforestation? An area where land was selling for pittance in 1990s and almost entirely covered in forest having land mafia?

Also as mentioned in the article, they are in the Brahmagiri mountain range which is a declared wild life sanctuary area, so what deforestation are we talking about?

I am not able to understand your problem. Are you annoyed because they are able to buy 300 acres of land from their money and not using this land for buildings, or malls but for trees?

You really need to understand the mindset of these mafia. with political corporation they convert public property into commercial with a strike of a pen. Tell me as an example, how much of cultivated land around Bangalore got converted for commercial purpose in land decade? or so hyderbad or gurgaon? Come to any of these cities, you will see how the green belt is converted into concrete jungle.

 

[RoadRunner401]

Wonderful. I hope lots of wealthy Indian folk follow.

People with giving spirits aren't usually rich. It's wonderful to see humanity is still alive.

 

[Samudra Manthan]

I am not able to understand your problem. Are you annoyed because they are able to buy 300 acres of land from their money and not using this land for buildings, or malls but for trees?

No, I have no problem that they purchased 300 acres of land and let it go back to wild, if it was agriculture land as they claim it was. My problem is with falsehood being propagated and the couple claiming credit for planting a forest when they did no such thing or providing sanctuary to wild animals and rare species of plants and animals when they are in the protected zone. The concept of malls did not exist in 1990s in India and Kodagu district is no where even remotely comparable to Bangalore district in terms of land utility and prices.

For your information Kodagu district supports 10% of all forest in Karnataka. Forest area in Karnataka comprises of 38,720 sq km while entire Kodagu district measures 4102 sq km. Which means almost the entirety of Kodagu is a forest area and has zilch chance of ever being considered a waste land or a barren land.

May be you like deception and false promotions and are so starved for any good news that each and every falsehood is also preferable to you, but not everyone can have your level of comfort with such falsehoods. I have very low tolerance for lies.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

No, I have no problem that they purchased 300 acres of land and let it go back to wild, if it was agriculture land as they claim it was. My problem is with falsehood being propagated and the couple claiming credit for planting a forest when they did no such thing or providing sanctuary to wild animals and rare species of plants and animals when they are in the protected zone. The concept of malls did not exist in 1990s in India and Kodagu district is no where even remotely comparable to Bangalore district in terms of land utility and prices.

For your information Kodagu district supports 10% of all forest in Karnataka. Forest area in Karnataka comprises of 38,720 sq km while entire Kodagu district measures 4102 sq km. Which means almost the entirety of Kodagu is a forest area and has zilch chance of ever being considered a waste land or a barren land.

May be you like deception and false promotions and are so starved for any good news that each and every falsehood is also preferable to you, but not everyone can have your level of comfort with such falsehoods. I have very low tolerance for lies.

I see hope in every news. I see the positivity rather than negativity. I see the effort one is putting to achieve something rather than what effort one has not put to achieve even higher goal.

So your point of argument is that if they had not purchased this land, this land anyways would be converted into forest by itself without any encroachment and these two people who are claiming to be a couple(you can even raise a question on this too) are spreading lies and every bit of their information is false and blatant lie.

On side note, i like to believe the numbers and assertion you have given on the kodagu being almost entirely forest though your numbers in reality do not add up. Since how can you claim that entire or almost entire Kodagu district falls under 10% of karnataka forest zone?

Also, how many of us actually buy such a huge piece of land (I will do the same btw if i have that much money) and let it be wild?

 

[Lokanath]

Oh cool! You know how to go about it or someone who knows? Besides, the route of 99 acres and magicbricks.

There are brokers dime a dozen. Go to coorg and ask anyone.

Genius, not everyone, for land mafia, only money matters. Come to Aravali range in Gurgaon, you will see how small land owners (farmers) are selling it to builders, who by hook and crook, converted the land use for these lands from cultivated to barren. They also used salt to actually convert the land barren during inspection. Though even inspection is just an eyewash.

Atleast they are putting their money to conserve a forest.

If you want to congratulate the couple for not cutting down trees then do so by all means.

Also do not fail to congratulate all of us for not raping women and not stealing etc.

There is no problem in setting your standards very low. Just don't expect everybody to have such low standards.

There is no point in turning the coorg land into barren because NO BODY wants to build there. It is FAR more profitable to let the wildlife take over. You spend exactly ZERO Rupees for it. That is just Nature taking over.

 

[Samudra Manthan]

So your point of argument is that if they had not purchased this land, this land anyways would be converted into forest by itself without any encroachment and these two people who are claiming to be a couple(you can even raise a question on this too) are spreading lies and every bit of their information is false and blatant lie.

Yes, that is my argument that they are spreading lies and every bit of their information is false and blatant lie. I could not care less if they were a couple or not. Their couplehood had no bearing on my argument.

On side note, i like to believe the numbers and assertion you have given on the kodagu being almost entirely forest though your numbers in reality do not add up. Since how can you claim that entire or almost entire Kodagu district falls under 10% of karnataka forest zone?

There is something called as data. I do not speak without having facts and figures with me. Kodagu district does not fall under 10% of Karnataka forest zone, rather it accounts for 10% of all forest in Karnataka.

Kodagu District profile
Check point 11 in that link.

Geography of Karnataka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Check the total land area under forest cover in Karnataka. Then do the maths.

Also, how many of us actually buy such a huge piece of land (I will do the same btw if i have that much money) and let it be wild?

Land is rather cheap if all you wanted to do is allow it to run wild. Obviously you cannot buy such large land parcels in metros and heavily populated areas.

Land & Plots for sale in Palakkad

 

[surya kiran]

@Samudra Manthan
@third eye

While I tried to comment on your replies, I did not have any data for the same. But here is a report which clearly points out the deforestation of the Kodagu forest area. Coffee plantations does not mean forest area. And am sure tribals try and protect the forests.

Hence, I think, it is a really commendable effort by the couple to restore the forest cover. We often make the mistake of equating greenery with forest cover. It need not be so. Let us rest this case here and not get into whether the land was barren or fertile. Let us just be happy, that nature is being restored.

Cheers!

In 40 yrs, Kodagu stripped of forests - The Times of India
BRAHMAGIRI (Kodagu): From 86 to 16 -- that's the percentage of green cover Kodagu lost over the past four decades due to unabated illegal timber smuggling and development initiatives by the government and locals.

"Kodagu, which had about 86% of its land under forest cover in the late 1970s, now has a mere 16%. This includes about 40% which has been converted into coffee estates. If things continue in this way, we may end up with no forest in Kodagu by 2025,'' said K M Chinnappa, chairman of Wildlife First, a state-level NGO fighting for environment and wildlife.

He maintained that Unesco's World Heritage tag is needed to save Kodagu's precious forests. ``I am not saying the district will get back its 86% green cover the moment it is bestowed with the heritage tag. But at least it will put a stop to further destruction,'' said Chinnappa, who was with the state forest department for 26 years, before taking voluntary retirement.

Data from various sources collected by NGOs states that dense forests extend to more than 4,102 sqkm and reserved forests to 830 sqkm. The trend shows a net loss of more than 20-26 sqkm every year in greenery.
Environmentalists point out that illegal timber lobbies are active in the region - both from Karnataka and Kerala. They said that despite continuous media reports about the illegal timber trade in nexus with forest officials, there has been little impact. ``It is time the authorities wake up and make their stand clear. The depleting forest cover has led to the extinction of many rare animal species and destroyed the habitats of wild animals,'' said environmentalist Ravi Chengappa, principal convener of Cauvery Sene.

It's not that the locals here are not conscious about conservation and environment, but illegal felling of forests continues. Coffee planter C K Ganapathy, residing near Srimanagala forest range close to Brahamagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, said trucks loaded with illegal timber ply frequently from forests in Kodagu but are rarely seized by forest authorities. He pointed out that the issue of Transit Permits (TP), flouting the laws of the district, is one of the reasons for the high rate of timber smuggling.

Going Bald
In 1970s, 86% of Kodagu was forest cover
40% of this land was converted into coffee estates
Development, projects shaved off green cover to 16%
Trend shows annual net loss of 20-26 sqkm

 

[Samudra Manthan]

Data from various sources collected by NGOs states that dense forests extend to more than 4,102 sqkm and reserved forests to 830 sqkm.

From the article you have posted dense forest extend 4102 sq km and reserved forest 830 sq km. Kodagu district's total land area is 4102 sq km.

Yes coffee estates are not pure forests as in wild growth, but they are thick forest nevertheless and support a wide variety of wild life.

This is how they look generally.

 

[surya kiran]

From the article you have posted dense forest extend 4102 sq km and reserved forest 830 sq km. Kodagu district's total land area is 4102 sq km.

Yes coffee estates are not pure forests as in wild growth, but they are thick forest nevertheless and support a wide variety of wild life.

This is how they look generally.

What are you trying to clutch at? Deforestation has happened. Statistics are showing the same. And what this couple has done is a good thing. What is the exact problem you are having with acknowledging? I have been to Madikeri and know what coffee plantations look like. Does not mean they are forests? I hope you are not saying now that a coffee plantation with tree is a forest. That is plain absurd.

but they are thick forest nevertheless

They are not forests. Please show me classification of coffee plantations as forests/. Now you are being just absurd.

 

[Samudra Manthan]

What are you trying to clutch at? Deforestation has happened. Statistics are showing the same. And what this couple has done is a good thing. What is the exact problem you are having with acknowledging? I have been to Madikeri and know what coffee plantations look like. Does not mean they are forests? I hope you are not saying now that a coffee plantation with tree is a forest. That is plain absurd.

Why do i have to clutch at anything when your own article states that dense forest covers 4102 sq km of the district? Perhaps you should take time to read what you post. It is a forest area and that is how forest area is calculated in India. Untouched virgin forests are very rare to come by, may be Andaman and Nicobar Island and Arunachal Pradesh. Most other forests in India are interspersed up with commercial plantation. Or were you laboring under the impression that the 21% forest cover in India is all virgin forest territory?

Kodagu Model Forest | imfn.net