IWN Daily Digest — Sunday, 20 September 2026
The Union government has approved the felling of 156,319 sal trees across two districts in Madhya Pradesh, a scale that measures just how deep a beetle infestation has cut into the state’s Amarkantak forests.
As reported by Down To Earth:
“Permission has been granted to fell sal trees affected by the sal borer insect in the Amarkantak region of Dindori and Anuppur districts in Madhya Pradesh. Surendra Jatav, sub-divisional officer of the Dindori Forest Department, told Down To Earth that the central government had granted permission to fell 146,784 trees in Dindori district. The approval was granted a day ago, he said, adding that felling of the affected trees would begin soon.”
A further 9,535 trees in the Amarkantak stretch of neighbouring Anuppur district have also been cleared for felling, David Chenap, Anuppur’s divisional forest officer, confirmed to the outlet — bringing the combined total to 156,319. Nearly 90% of Dindori‘s affected trees stand in a single stretch, the Karanjia Range.
Workers marking the damaged trees for removal described the outbreak as serious, with millions of sal trees affected by the pest across the region. Felling in Anuppur is due to start in October; Dindori’s felling, per Jatav, will begin sooner.
Fighting Back
Forest staff haven’t waited for the felling approval to fight the beetle directly. The Dindori Forest Department has paired the trap tree method — deliberately sacrificing selected sal trees as bait to draw borers away from the healthy stand — with a buyback scheme that pays local villagers Rs 2 for every insect they hand in.
That scheme has pulled in close to 19.25 lakh insects from the Dindori Forest Division alone, work Jatav estimated has cost the department roughly Rs 38.5 lakh so far. Down To Earth’s reporters had already visited the affected forest in December 2025, months before this week’s approval came through.
Sources: Down To Earth
India Wildlife News aggregates wildlife stories from across Indian media to bring the latest from the field to enthusiasts, conservationists, and curious readers — all in one place. Full credit and links to original sources are provided. We encourage readers to visit and support the original publishers.