Coimbatore: The Forest Department of Tamil Nadu has decided to coordinate the works with their counterparts in Kerala and Karnataka to protect forest wealth.

Coimbatore Circle, with 2,986 sq km of forest areas, has six forest divisions – Coimbatore, Nilgiris South, Coimbatore North, Gudalur besides Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

The circle shares 350 km of forest borderwith Kerala and 150 km with Karnataka.

The coordination being ensured now would help in preventing poaching, tree cutting, ganja cultivation and illicit distillation.

Coordination among field level officers would be completed within two months, sources said.

Patrolling teams would be constituted to monitor areas that need more attention.

Nilgiris

On the Nilgiris side, a similar inter-state coordination was done at Wayanad with Kerala and Karnataka officials.

Field level officers would meet frequently and supervisory officers in the rank of DFOs and Wildlife Wardens should meet once in three months to exchange information on the movement of the habitual offenders. Officers will exchange maps indicating routes and areas rich in forest wealth besides their phone numbers