Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force

Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus), which has been classified as endangered in 1997 in IUCN red-list is endemic to forests of Seshachalam, Veliganda, Lankamala and Palakonda hill range distributed in districts of Kadapa, Chittur and Nellore of Andhra Pradesh. It is also found in some isolated parts of Tamil Nadu. To curb the menace of its smuggling, the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) was created in February 2015. This task force has been able to curb the smuggling to a great extent in these areas as per a study and survey published recently.