Bug bounty: MP forest dept pays villagers Rs 2 per pest to save sal trees

Dindori (MP), Jul 18 (PTI) In a unique community-led conservation drive, the Madhya Pradesh forest department is incentivising local villagers to collect Sal borer beetles, offering a bounty of Rs 2 per pest, to combat a pest outbreak threatening vast stretches of Sal forests in Dindori district. The campaign has drawn children, women and elderly villagers, who are venturing into forests, hunting the pests, stringing together garlands of 100 severed heads and depositing them at designated collection centres for payment. "The initiative aims to reduce the sal borer population and protect sal forests through active community participation," Koshambi Jha, range forest officer of West Karanjia, told PTI. According to forest officials, sal trees, native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and the Himalayan region, form one of central India's most important forest ecosystems and support the livelihoods of thousands of tribal families. Around 30,487 hectares of forest and nearly 1.47 lakh sal trees have been affected by the pest during 2026-27, they said, adding that the region had witnessed a similar outbreak about 30 years ago, when thousands of infested trees had to be felled to contain the spread of the pest. The sal borer breeds rapidly, with its cycle lasting about 15 days, and a single insect lays 300 to 500 eggs at a time. The pest attacks trees after the monsoon and burrows into them, hollowing out even healthy green trees within days, officials said. Dindori has around 2.5 lakh hectares of forest, of which nearly 1.5 lakh hectares are covered by sal forests comprising an estimated 40 crore trees. To contain the infestation, the department has launched a "trap tree" operation, under which one sal tree is felled in every two hectares, and its bark is beaten to release an odour that attracts the borers. "Villagers collect the insects from these trap trees between 5 am and 7 am. More than 11 lakh sal borers have been collected so far," Sub-Divisional Officer (Forest) S K Jatav told PTI. The insects are deposited at five collection centres set up at Kharidih, Chauradadar, Kabir, Jagatpur and Karanjia, officials said, adding that besides helping control the pest population, the incentive has also become a source of supplementary income for villagers. Divisional Forest Officer (Production) Bharti Thakre said the department had identified 1,46,784 sal trees severely damaged by the infestation. "The affected trees have become hollow due to the pest attack. We are awaiting permission from the Centre for their felling, which is expected to take around three months. Meanwhile, this campaign is aimed at protecting the remaining healthy trees," he said. Forest officials said sustained community participation would help contain the infestation and protect thousands of hectares of sal forests from further damage. PTI LAL ARU