About KANS
Many of Kenneth Anderson’s highly engaging stories take place in the forests of Hosur and Dharmapuri forest divisions. We prefer to call this region the Melagiris.
The Melagiri region is a an undulating landscape nestled between the Cauvery and Chinar rivers in Tamil Nadu, India. It comprises of 1295 sq. kms of dry deciduous, scrub and dry evergreen forests. It forms a part of the Nilagiri Biosphere Reserve and Cauvery elephant reserve and is home to important elephant migration routes.
The Melagiris forms part of an almost unbroken stretch of forests from Bannerghatta National Park, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Biligirirangan Hills and Sathyamangalam Forests and eventually the Tiger reserves of Nilgiri Biosphere. It holds enormous potential of being revived as an important Tiger habitat.
The stories Kenneth Anderson paint the picture of a beautiful forests already on a precipitous decline. Kenneth Anderson Nature Society was formed to serve the cause of conservation of wildlife in the Melagiri region. Therefore, Melagiris are the raison d’etre of KANS.
On 22nd June 2008, at Aiyur in Denkanikotta taluk of Tamilnadu, a workshop was organised to understand the status of wildlife and conservation in the Melagiri region. The workshop was attended by the Sub Collector Hosur, District Forest Officer Hosur Division, Officers from WWF and many fans of Kenneth Anderson’s books.
It was felt that there was a need for an organisation to promote the conservation of forests and wildlife in the Melagiri region. Consequently Kenneth Anderson Nature Society was inaugurated on the 17th December 2008.
KANS is registered under the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act 1975 and membership is open to everyone. There are currently 144 members in the Society. The affairs of the Society are managed by a Managing Committee elected by the general body as per the bye-laws. The activities of the society are funded by subscription from members, donations from well wishers and other like minded organisations.
The future:
From humble beginings, KANS is maturing as an organisation. It enjoys a youthful profile driven by the passion, and strengthened by an extraordinary network of resources brought to the table by the members who come from various walks of life from different parts of India and abroad.
KANS seeks to discover and address the root cause of the problems facing wildlife conservation by engaging the Forest Department and the local community. The broad plan of action can be summarised as below:
- Relieve the pressure on these forests caused by exploitation of forests by humans for fodder and fuel. This is a development issue, and probably all causes of forest degradation in the Melagiris are rooted here.
- Strengthen the arm of the forest department by capacity building especially in the lower rungs that matter in the field and sensitizing other arms of the government administration to the cause of conservation.
- Advocacy of Melagiris as an important bio-diversity reserve. The first step in this direction is pressing for the declaration of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (TN).
