The Department of Environment and Forests is one of the

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

. The department was created in 1995 and is responsible for environmental management and forests in the state.

Forests

Tamil Nadu Forest Department The Tamil Nadu Forest Department, formerly the Madras Forest Department, is a Government of Tamil Nadu, government department responsible for managing all the Protected areas of Tamil Nadu, protected areas and forests plus Environmental polic ...

is the nodal agency responsible for the protection and management of forests in the state. Forests occupy an area of constituting 17.4% of the geographic area. The state has varies forest

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s with the Western Ghats being one of the eight hottest

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...

s in the world and a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. There are about 2,000 species of wildlife that are native to Tamil Nadu and more than 5900 species of plants. The department is also responsible for the management of wildlife protection areas. Protected areas cover an area of , constituting 2.54% of the geographic area and 15% of the recorded forest area of the state. Important ecological regions of Tamil Nadu are the

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Western Ghats in South India. It is the largest protected forest area in India, spreading across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It includes the protected ...

in the Nilgiri Hills, the

Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve Bio reserved of indiaull map of india The Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in India established in 2001, located in the southernmost end of the Western Ghats and includes of which 1828 km2 is in Kerala and 1672.36 ...

in the

Agastya Mala Agastya Mala (or Agasthyamalai or Agastyarkoodam) is one of the peaks of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats that lies between the districts of Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu and Thiruvananthapuram District district ...

Cardamom Hills The Cardamom Hills or Yela Mala are mountain range of southern India and part of the southern Western Ghats located in Idukki district, Kerala, India. Their name comes from the cardamom spice grown in much of the hills' cool elevation, w ...

and

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) (; ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .National Parks A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, 18

wildlife sanctuaries A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologi ...

, five elephant sanctuaries as per

Project Elephant Project Elephant is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered Indian elephant. The project was initiated in 1992 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India to provide fi ...

, five

tiger reserves The tiger reserves in India were set up as a part of Project Tiger initiated in 1973 and are administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority of Government of India. As of March 2025, there are 58 protected areas that have been designated ...

as per

Project Tiger Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2025, there ...

and seventeen bird sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. There is one conservation reserve, two

zoos A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

recognised by the

Central Zoo Authority of India The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is the body of the Government of India responsible for oversight of zoos. It is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The CZA was formed to bring Indian zoos up to internat ...

and five

crocodile farm A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators a ...

s. The department also manages the Government Rubber Corporation, Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation Limited (TAFCORN), Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA) and Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Conservation And Greening Society (TNBCGS).

Environment

The Environment department is responsible for

pollution control Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

across various ecosystems through the

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is the governing body to monitor and control air, noise, and water pollution in the state of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The ...

. The department formulates policies to mitigate the impact of pollution in water bodies, control of air and noise pollution,

climate change adaptation Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change, both current and anticipated.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary[Möller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger ...

and coastal regulation.

References

External links

Official website of the Tamil Nadu Forests and Environment Department

Official website of Government of Tamil Nadu
{{Government Departments of Tamil Nadu Government departments of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Environment of Tamil Nadu 1995 establishments in Tamil Nadu

Forests

Environment

See also

References

External links