THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At 93, retired principal chief conservator of forests P N Nair has achieved yet another milestone. As an ode to the forests of Kerala and his forest service years, he has published a book on forests and forestry, a must-have handbook for all nature enthusiasts. He says he is truly happy that the book has finally been published.
The work that began during his time in the forest service could only reach fruition during the pandemic times. Christened 'Forests and Forestry' with special reference to Kerala, the book puts the state’s forests in the spotlight.
Having started off as a silviculture research officer in 1957, Nair was instrumental in setting up the Kerala Forest Research Institute in Peechi. Ever since, till his retirement in 1987, he was an active presence in the forest service, a period which he looks back fondly at. Though he started writing about the forest wealth of Kerala then, life just got busier for Nair even after retirement.
“When the pandemic started, I was restricted to my home. My social engagements took a beating and I didn’t know what to do. And that’s when I started sifting through the old work,” he says. He found the papers infested by termites. “They would fall apart if held. That’s how I got back to the book,” recalls Nair, who resides at Jawahar Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram.
Over the past two years, he reworked the book, updating data. It was published by Fabian Books a week ago. Through the book, Nair says he is trying to introduce forest wealth and its contributions to the economy. The book delves into the forests of Kerala and is a detailed compendium of everything related to forests, soils, plantations, forest management, and so on.
His first book ‘Keralathile Vanasasyangal’ was published in 1985. The book features 430 plant species and their detailed information. He feels he should have continued writing. “I don’t think I can write another book. But I do think I should have written more. There’s a lot left to write about the forests of Kerala. I wrote this book to bring knowledge on forests out into the public domain,” he says.