CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a governing Committee and an executive Committee to manage the Tamil Nadu Endangered Species Conservation Fund (TNESCF), a Rs 50 crore corpus established to protect and restore endangered species and their habitats.
According to a Government Order issued by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary to the Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, the management of the fund has been shifted from the State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) to the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), Vandalur.
The move ensures greater scientific and institutional focus.
The Governing Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary, will steer and guide the fund’s strategic direction, meeting once every four months.
It includes senior officials from key departments such as finance, industries, and environment, along with leading conservation experts and philanthropists like Rohini Nilekani, Mallika Srinivasan, J K Patterson Edward, S Balachandran, and K Jayakumar.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden will serve as Member-Convener. The Executive Committee, headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Environment, Climate Change and Forests), will oversee day-to-day operations, approve project proposals, and monitor implementation in line with the fund’s objectives.
Senior officials from AIWC, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, and the forest department form part of this committee.
The fund, which received an initial seed grant of Rs 5 crore last year, is expected to support species recovery, habitat restoration, and community-based conservation projects across Tamil Nadu. The committees will also mobilise additional resources from the public and private sectors to scale up conservation finance in the State.
The programme will protect four lesser-known endangered species, including the Lion-Tailed Macaque, Madras Hedgehog, Striped Hyena, and Hump-Headed Mahseer.
Tamil Nadu, with its unique landscapes spanning the Western and Eastern Ghats, is recognised globally as a biodiversity hotspot. However, several ecologically significant but lesser-known species face mounting threats from habitat loss, poaching, road mortality, pollution, and invasive species.
The Lion-Tailed Macaque, listed as endangered and endemic to the Western Ghats, now survives only in small, fragmented rainforest patches.
The Madras Hedgehog, a nocturnal species found in the semi-arid regions of southern Tamil Nadu, remains understudied and largely unprotected.
The Striped Hyena, a natural scavenger that plays a vital role in regulating diseases, is witnessing a sharp population decline, particularly across the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve landscape.
Meanwhile, the Hump-Headed Mahseer, once abundant in the Moyar River system, has been pushed to the brink of extinction due to dams, destructive fishing, and invasive species.
