Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will present the Chief Minister’s Forest Medals for the year 2026 to 26 Forest department personnel during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

The medals are awarded annually to personnel ranging from forest beat assistants to range forest officers for exemplary dedication to forest and wildlife protection.

The recipients were chosen based on meritorious performance in key areas including forest and wildlife conservation, eviction of encroachments, investigation of forest crimes, wildfire prevention and management, human-wildlife conflict mitigation, participatory forest management, and dedicated welfare initiatives for forest-dependent Scheduled Tribe communities.

Among the recipients of the award are range forest officer Pramodh K. (eastern circle, Palakkad) and deputy range forest officer Jayakumar M. (southern circle, Kollam). The list also features section forest officers Jayarajan M.C., Jobi Mon P.C., Anil T.K., Joseph K.A. and Basheer P.

As many as 15 beat forest officers will also receive the award. They include Aiswarya Sygal, Sowmya V.P., Gokul R., Saneesh S., Retheesh R. Nair, Akhil Das S., Basil Chacko, Thejas K. Rajan, Basil Jacob A., Abdul Muneer Kuttasseri, Thomas N., Vinod D., Jijesh M.K., Swetha K.V. and Raj Mohan K.

The honour will also be conferred upon forest driver Abdul Kabeer M.K., and forest watchers Sasikuttan R., Palraj, and Bharathan M.

Published - August 14, 2026 07:22 pm IST