Attappadi Reserve Forest is a protected area comprising 249 km² of westernmost part of the 745 km² Attappadi block of Mannarghat Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala, south India. There is a Government Goat Farm at Attapadi village which has the "Attapadi Black" breed available. Attappady is an extensive mountain valley at the headwaters of the Bhavani River nestled below the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats. It is bordered to the east by Coimbatore district in Tamilnadu, on the north by the Nilgiris, south by the Palghat taluk and on the west by Karimba, Pottassery and Mannarghat revenue villages of Mannarghat taluk of the Palghat District and Ernad taluk of the Malappuram district. The 249 km² Attappadi Reserve Forest is an informal buffer zone conjoining Silent Valley National Park to the West. 81 km² of this forest was separated to become most of the new 94 km² Bhavani Forest Range which is part of the 147.22 km² Silent Valley Buffer Zone formally approved by the Kerala Cabinet on June 6, 2007. The Cabinet also sanctioned 35 staff to protect the area and two new forest stations in Bhavani range at Anavai and Thudukki. The zone is aimed at checking the illicit cultivation of ganja, poaching and illicit brewing in areas adjacent to Silent Valley and help long-term sustainability of the protected area. The elevation of Attappadi valley ranges from 750 to 1000 metres (2,460 to 3,280 [[foot (length)|ft). The Malleswaram peak at coordinates 11°05′00″N 76°38′00″E11.0833, 76.6333 (Malleswaram peak) rises to 1,664 m (5,458 ft) from the center of the valley. Attapadi RF in the southwest portion of Mannarghat Forest Division receives a high rainfall of 4700 mm (185 in). Moving eastward along the Attapadi valley towards Agali, the rainfall steadily decreases to a low of 900 mm. There are 171 hamlets in Attapadi. The population of the valley is mostly Muduga, Irula and Kurumba tribal people with a small section of settlers from Tamilnadu and Other Districts of Kerala.
