Kochi: Kerala claims to have drastically brought down illegal logging in a thick evergreen forest. The state forest department says illegal felling of trees in the Nilambur forest area in Malappuram district has been nearly halved since the late 1990s.

Scores of unauthorised loggers, who were feeding timber smugglers, have surrendered to the authorities after an assurance of a pardon or reduction of punishment if they gave themselves up.

''They are put under observation for some time and if they live as law-abiding citizens, cases against them will be withdrawn. In certain cases, their penalty has also been reduced,'' Forest Minister K Sudhakaran tells domain-b.

The teak and other high-value trees spread over 8,000 acres around Nilambur have for years attracted timber smugglers. Malappuram district forest officer Rajiv Sehgal says there are areas where teak trees planted in 1846 by the British still stand and the market price of one such tree is about Rs 6,00,000.

''One year back we decided to launch this new initiative. The response was encouraging and slowly we were able to convince these illegal cutters that if they do not mend their ways, then the law would take its own course,'' says Sehgal.

''From an annual rate of around 700 (illegal logging) cases in the late 1990s, it started falling. Last year, after this initiative was launched, the total number of forest cases registered fell to 360. In the last three months it has come to an all-time low,'' adds Sehgal.

As logging reduced, many of the 300 furniture stores in the Nilambur area started downing their shutters and many of the sawmills also found their business falling. The forest officials are now trying to find new avenues of work for the reformed loggers. Many have been asked to start plant nurseries.

''A core fund of Rs 1,50,000 is now available for these people to fall back on. Some have found new jobs in quarries and some in sand mining - and they are a happy lot today,'' says a beaming Sehgal.