Supriya Sahu, Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, speaking to Ramya Kannan, Head of Bureau, The Hindu. | Photo credit: R. Ragu
Supriya Sahu, Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Forests, said on Friday that Senna spectabilis, a highly invasive tree, has been removed from 1,963 hectares of land in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve with the help of local residents.
These trees have been identified on a total of 2,448 hectares and we have removed 80% of them so far. They don’t help biodiversity and animals don’t like them either. The cut trees are being used to make paper as the forest department has tied up with Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited, she added.
Responding to a question on forest invasive species issues posed by Hindu Bureau chief Ramya Kannan at a fireside chat on Greening Tamil Nadu-The State’s Climate Action and Environmental Stewardship at the Hindu Sustainability Summit 2025, Ms. Sahu said that many of the projects that the state implemented first were in India. “The lessons we’ve learned…have informed our work. Removing invasive species has been one of the main challenges forest managers have faced. They’re really taking over forests, not just here but elsewhere.”
Asked about the Tamil Nadu government’s mangrove mission, she said mangroves are much better at anchoring carbon; they are the cradle of biodiversity; and are good biological shields against tsunamis. She cited the examples of Muthupettai and Pichavaram where mangroves protected local communities from tsunamis.
“We have worked with several national agencies to map mangrove sites. These are not just places where they exist now, but where they existed before. We worked with local people, used data science and technology, and created around 2,400 hectares of new mangrove plantations in places like Ennore and Adyar. These new patches are emerging beautifully. We have created massive plant-on-plant nurseries in Ennore,” said one such mangrove plant.
Responding to a question on man-animal conflict, Ms. Sahu said the state had always followed a policy of coexistence, not elimination. “There are strategies that can help us, and the use of technology is one of the most important things today.”
“With the advent of artificial intelligence, we have set up AI cameras and watchtowers in Madukkarai where we have saved the lives of elephants. In the near future, we plan to expand it (the project) to drones. We are setting up AI cameras in a different terrain in Gudalur. They will start functioning this month,” she added.
The summit is presented by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited and co-presented by Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company. Navin’s is a sustainability partner. The Associate Partner is NLC India Limited and the Green Partner is Larsen & Toubro. The television partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai. While the industry partner is the Confederation of Indian Industry, the knowledge partner is the Council for Sustainable Energy and Environment. Digital news partner is The Federal.
Published – 07 Nov 2025 20:09 IST
