Geo-tagging of State’s forest locations opens the doors for trespassers

The unauthorised geo-tagging of remote forest locations has become a concern for the State Forest department, as tourists are increasingly trespassing into forests and often getting lost in the wilderness.

A total of 23 locations inside reserve forests in Kozhikode have been geo-tagged and pinned as tourist attractions on Google Maps by users. Forest officials say such listings could mislead the public and lead to trespassing into reserve forests.

The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Kozhikode has written to the Kerala Forest department’s IT wing, flagging the misleading information and seeking advice on removing the geo-tagged locations.

“Several locations within the forest areas under the Kozhikode division have been marked by individuals on web mapping and navigation platforms. These include viewpoints and waterfalls. Crowds are drawn to these locations, leading to unlawful entry into reserve forests,” said Kozhikode DFO Joshil M.

The Kozhikode division has three forest ranges — Kuttiady, Peruvannamuzhy, and Thamarassery. As many as 10 such locations have been marked in the Kuttiady forest range, four in Peruvannamuzhy, and nine in Thamarassery.

The Forest department is also concerned about users uploading photographs taken inside protected areas, which may tempt others to venture into places that are out of bounds to visitors, the DFO said. The issue came to light while officials were investigating a recent case of unauthorised entry by a group of youngsters into the Kuttiady forest range in Kozhikode, he said.

The DFO added that such misleading information could encourage illegal entry into forests and increase the risk of human-wildlife conflict.

“Illegal entry into forests is a punishable offence. If a wild animal attacks a person who has entered the forest illegally, it may be wrongly classified as a case of human-wildlife conflict and the animal may be blamed, though the responsibility for the incident lies with humans,” he said.

The number of such misleading locations marked across Kerala could be staggering, the DFO said. “Some people have even uploaded selfies, while others have advertised resorts. This is a serious offence, and people could be misled into believing that such locations are open and accessible to the public,” he added.