Agasthyavanam Biological Park | 03 Apr 2020
Why in News
The Forest Department is procuring forest produce collected by the tribespeople of the Agasthyavanam Biological Park (ABP) and surrounding forest ranges to be sold to commercial establishments and various collectives to deal with the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Established in 1997, Agasthyavanam Biological Park is a wildlife sanctuary in Kerala.
- The park is located near Thiruvananthapuram/Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala.
- It is contiguous to Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary.
- The park has been named after the Agasthyamalai Agasthyakoodam Peak, which can be seen at a distance from the park.
- The Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is located in the southernmost end of the Western Ghats and incorporates peaks towering 1,868 m above sea level. It covers 3,500 km2 and encompasses tropical forest ecosystems that fall within the Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu and the Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts of Kerala.
- Agasthyavanam Biological Park is spread over an area of 23 sq. km., of which 17.5 sq. km. of the park has been dedicated for natural regeneration to develop into a dense forest. The rest area of the park is left for systematic conservation programs.
- The Park has endemic medicinal plants and rich biodiversity.
