Nagpur, March 30 (IANS) The Maharashtra government will soon declare a tiny forest, ‘Glory of Allapalli’, famous for the Allapalli Teak, as a bio-diversity heritate site, an official said here Saturday.
“A decision to this effect has been approved by the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board this week (MSBB). A proposal will be sent to the state government shortly,” Anmol Kumar, member-secretary of MSBB and additional principal chief conservator of forests, told IANS.
The ‘Glory of Allapalli’ is spread across around 15 acres in a protected forested region with a rich biodiversity representative of the entire region, Kumar said.
Protected under scientific management since over a century, the tiny forest patch is situated around 80 km from Gadchiroli, one of the worst Maoist-infested regions in the country.
The tallest teak tree here is around 40 metres high. The largest teak tree has a girth of around 5.5 metres. A variety of other plants, shrubs, including Dhaoda, Ain, Bija and Sehna, also grow here.
The area also supports rich wildlife like tigers, Sambar, Chital, Blue Bull, Wild Boar, Barking Deer, Giant Squirrel and others.
Besides the ‘Glory of Allapalli’, sites like Bhigwan (Ujani), Sewri (Mumbai) and recently approved Ramsar sites Jayakwadi and Nandhur Madhameshwar, Kaas Plateau (Satara), grasslands in Nashik, Kekatpur Lake (Amravati), breedings of various birds like Saras (Gondia), Great Indian Bustard (Warora) and Lesser Florican (Akola) in Vidarbha, and a fossil site (Sironcha) will also be declared important bio-diversity heritage sites.
