Konni Forest Division


The Konni Forest Division is located in Kerala, India, and covers an area of about. It is the first reserve forest in Kerala, which was declared on under the Travancore Forest Act of 1887. The division is part of the Western Ghats, which were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in. The forest area is a repository of many endemic species of the Western Ghats.
WWW forest.kerala.gov.in/inde...

Overview

It falls under Karunagappally, Kunnathur, and Pathanapuram taluks of Kollam district, and Adoor, Kozhencherry, and Konni taluks of Pathanamthitta district. Consisting of the Konni, Naduvathummoozhy and Mannarappara ranges, the division belongs to the southern circle of the Kerala Forest Department.
The division covers a total area of, of which are reserved forest, are reserved land, and are government lands. With of teak plantations, it has the largest teak plantation area in Kerala.

Landscape

The main hills in the division are Chelikkalkar, Iruvallimala, Thunathumala and Kodamala. Achankovil, Pamba Kallar and Achenkovil Kallar are the primary rivers that originate in the reserve forest.

Climate

The temperature can vary from in the rainy and winter seasons to in the summer. The months of March and April are the hottest. Rainfall occurs from June to September or November.

Boundaries

North: Vadasserikkara and Ranni ranges of Ranni divisionSouth: Pathanapuram range of Punalur divisionEast: Kallar and Achenkovil ranges of Achenkovil divisionWest: Arabian sea

Ranges and stations

In, the forest was divided into ranges. The division consists of Konni, Mannarapara and Naduvathummoozhy ranges and eight stations. The Naduvathummoozhy range is the largest, with, and the Konni range is the smallest, covering. Konni serves as the division's main headquarters.

Types of forests

Konni forest division has tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. The major forest types of Konni division are:

Fauna

Mammals

About 29 species of mammals are found in the Konni division. These include tiger, leopard, leopard cat, elephant, gaur, wild boar, jungle cat, wild dog, jackal, common mongoose, stripe-necked mongoose, toddy cat, small Indian civet, barking deer, sambar deer, mouse deer, Indian pangolin, sloth bear, Nilgiri langur, gray langur, Travancore flying squirrel, Indian giant squirrel, Indian porcupine, Indian hare, Indian mole rat, bandicoot rat, bonnet macaque, slender loris and fulvous fruit bat.

Birds

Konni division is one of the IBAs of India. About 133 species of birds were recorded from the division. Endemic birds of the western ghats such as Malabar grey hornbill, Nilgiri wood pigeon, white-bellied treepie and white-cheeked barbet are seen here. Although rare, great hornbills are also seen. Pariah kite, Brahminy kite, jungle myna, hill myna, crow pheasant, white-headed babbler, blue-winged parakeet, Indian lorikeet, spotted dove, emerald dove and mountain imperial pigeon are other species found here.

Reptiles

The important reptile species found here are monitor lizard, garden lizard, flying lizard, skink, cobra, king cobra, python, viper, krait, rat snake, tree snake and turtle.