Kozhikode forest officials have flagged the unauthorized geo-tagging of 23 reserve forest locations on Google Maps, warning that the listings mislead tourists and encourage illegal entry.
The Divisional Forest Officer of Kozhikode, Joshil M., wrote to the Kerala Forest Department’s IT wing after 23 sites including viewpoints and waterfalls were pinned as tourist attractions. Ten of the locations fall in the Kuttiady range, nine in Thamarassery and four in Peruvannamuzhy. Officials discovered the listings while probing a recent case of unauthorised entry by a group of youngsters.
Joshil M. said several locations within the Kozhikode division forests have been marked on web mapping platforms, drawing crowds and resulting in unlawful entry into reserve forests. The Department is also concerned that photographs uploaded from protected areas tempt further visitors.
Illegal entry is a punishable offence. Joshil M. noted that if a wild animal attacks a person who entered illegally, the incident may be wrongly recorded as human-wildlife conflict, shifting blame from the trespasser to the animal. The DFO added that the total number of such misleading pins across Kerala could be much higher.