Regulatory impasse leaves 35 tonnes of medicinal herbs stuck in Wayanad
A regulatory impasse in Wayanad has left thirty-five tonnes of medicinal herbs stranded as the Forest Department refuses transit permits under the 'Wildlife Protection Act', severely disrupting tribal livelihoods and cooperative operations.
A regulatory impasse in Wayanad has left thirty-five tonnes of medicinal herbs stranded as the Forest Department refuses transit permits under the 'Wildlife Protection Act', severely disrupting tribal livelihoods and cooperative operations.
A regulatory impasse in Wayanad has left thirty-five tonnes of medicinal herbs stranded as the Forest Department refuses transit permits under the 'Wildlife Protection Act', severely disrupting tribal livelihoods and cooperative operations.
Sulthan Bathery: The collection of minor forest produce in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary has hit a bureaucratic roadblock, leaving medicinal herbs worth approximately ₹12 lakh stranded at the Kalloor Scheduled Tribe Cooperative Society. The inventory includes 5,000 kg of dried (Kurunthotti) (Sida cordifolia) and 30,000 kg of raw Kurunthotti, both held up due to the Forest Department’s refusal to issue transit permits.
The transit bottleneck has severely disrupted the society's operations. The cooperative has suspended the collection of other non-timber forest products, such as kalpasham (black stone flower), while wild honey sales have been restricted strictly to local retail.
Forest officials have cited stringent provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act, which governs sanctuaries, as the reason for denying permits to transport forest produce outside the protected area.
The herbs gathered by the Kalloor cooperative are primarily supplied to pharmaceutical manufacturers outside the district, particularly in Kozhikode. Transporting these consignments requires an official transit permit from the Forest Department. However, sanctuary authorities maintain that existing legal provisions prevent them from granting such clearances.
While the North and South Wayanad territorial forest divisions, which fall outside the wildlife sanctuary's boundaries, do issue transit permits, this does not offer relief to the Kalloor society, as regulations mandate that transit passes must be issued by the specific forest range where the produce is harvested.
The stranded stock represents collections accumulated over the past two years. Market prices currently average ₹110 per kilogram for dried Kurunthotti and ₹20 per kilogram for the raw plant.
Members of the tribal community point out that much of the herb is collected from private estates, roadside puramboke (unassigned public land), and revenue lands, rather than within the core forest area. They contend that imposing blanket transit restrictions on these consignments undermines their livelihood, arguing that granting legal rights to harvest forest produce serves little purpose if the community is denied market access to sell it.