Two new genera of tree frogs found in Western Ghats

• They are named after two remarkable personalities associated with this landscape
• Erratic rainfall during recent years likely to affect breeding patterns of these frogs
• They were found in highly threatened fresh water swamp eco systems

Two new genera of frogs were discovered by a team of independent researchers, led by Anil Zachariah and Robin Kurian Abraham, during their recent exploration in the Western Ghats.

The discovery, published in the latest issue of International Taxonomic Journal Zootaxa , is a joint effort by the team which comprised B .R. Ansil; Arun Zachariah of the Wild Life Disease Research Lab in Wayanad; and Robert Alexander Pyron, Assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences of the George Washington University, U.S.

Biodiversity hot spot

The discovery once again proves that the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hot spot and Unesco world Heritage site, is a treasure trove of many amphibians.

It was found that the newly found genera belonged to tree frog family ‘Rhacophoridae.’ The frogs were discovered in highly threatened fresh water swamp eco systems, which are unique to the mountain range.

Mercurana myristicapalustris

The frogs discovered are named after two remarkable personalities who had an association with this landscape. One genus is named ‘Beddomixalus’ after colonel Richard Henry Beddome. He was a gifted polymath of the colonial era, who made extraordinary contributions to the understanding to the natural history of the sub-continent while serving as the Chief Conservator of Forests in the Madras Presidency. His works were the first detailed forays towards a systematic and through understanding of the amphibian diversity of the Western Ghats.

The other genus has been christened ‘Mercurana’ to commemorate Freddie Mercury, late iconic lead singer of the British rock band Queen. Mercury (his pen name) was of Indian Parsi origin and had spent major part of his childhood in India in Panchagni, located in the northern part of the mountain range, where the frog now bearing his name has been discovered.

Beddomixalus bijui 

While the ‘Beddomixalus bijui’ was found in the swamp forests of the Anamalai and high ranges of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, ‘Mercurana myristicapalustris,’ is restricted to highly fragmented and threatened low land ‘Myristica’ swamp forests in the foothills of the Agastyamalai hills in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts.

This distinctive forest type is dominated by wild relatives of nutmeg that thrive in waterlogged soil, and hence the name ‘Myristica’ swamp. But much of these types of forests have been lost, having been converted to raise cash crops such as rubber and oil palms, Dr. Anil Zachariah says.

Moreover, episodes of erratic rainfall over recent years are likely to affect the breeding patterns of these frogs and detailed studies are needed to explore such impacts, Mr. Abraham says.

The researchers highlight that the swamp forest and their unique biota are to be preserved. They stressed that the finding of two novel genera after more than a century of herpetological exploration in the region take the total number of tree frog genera in the Western Ghats to seven.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/two-new-genera-of-tree-frogs-found-in-western-ghats/article4628482.ece

Paradise destroyed and devastated

Rajendra P Kerkar, TNN | Apr 8, 2013
KERI: Though, today Lamgao situated two km away from Bicholim town, is one of the wards of Bicholim municipality, once upon a time it was an independent village predominantly dependant upon agriculture and horticulture and blessed by rich sources of perennial water bodies like springs, streams and lakes.

The onset of mining activities on a massive scale in Mayem and Lamgao areas have caused serious degradation of the rich forest in the area thereby destroying the ground water table inherited by the town. Lamgao was known during ancient times as 'Lamhagram', meaning village of Buddhist monks. The rock-cut caves carved out for meditation by the Buddhist monks stand testimony to this era.

The decoration found on the moulded plinth in the second cave of Lamgao indicates influence of Buddhism as Chaitya windows have been chiselled out and archaeologist V R Mitragotri has mentioned that this cave's origin traces back to 600 AD.

Near the cave, there is a perennial spring which earlier used to quench the thirst of the Buddhist monks, villagers and irrigate horticultural fields along with agriculture. Today, spring water is used mainly for washing clothes and utensils. The well-known Marathi novelist Subhash Bhende, through his novel, 'Udhawast' has brought to light upheaval in the form of destruction and degradation caused to horticultural fields locally known as 'Kulaghars' and 'Bhats', a quarter of a century ago in Lamgao.

Pratap Govekar, a local from Lamgao says, "Our area was forested and was rich in perennial water bodies. Vaghpet in Lamgao and worship of Vaghrodev tells us that the land was known for tigers. Today, the natural heritage is on the verge of extinction. The lake of Mhatrai is heavily silted, streams are degraded."

The many springs and streams originating in Lamgao, Bordem and Valshi used to feed water to the Bicholim river. Today, the huge lakes irrigating agriculture and horticulture in these areas have already been degraded. The horticulture fields have experienced a gradual death.

Environmental activist Ramesh Gauns, who resides at Pazwada in Bicholim, said "Agriculture and horticulture was the backbone of Lamgao. Worship of Vaghrodev at Lamgao tells us that the tiger was a resident of the area. Numerous springs and lakes of Lamgao were continuously providing water for drinking and irrigation. But, today mining activities have forced us to depend totally on the Sankhali and Padocem water treatment plants."

Today, lakes and springs of Lamgao are on their way to oblivion. Near the government primary school, there is a shrine dedicated to Kajreshwar with a huge sacred tree of Kajro. In the past, this was the area of the sacred grove. Now, except for one tree, all vegetation has been destroyed. A lake which was full with crystal clear water is silted and has muddy water.

The new temple of Mhatrai is built near the settlement since the old temple was buried long ago under a collapsed mining dump, said Govekar. The lake of Mhatrai is heavily silted. The wildlife habitat has been totally destroyed. Narayan Gad, deputy collector of Bicholim, said, "We have given directives to the mining company concerned to undertake work to prevent siltation and degradation of lakes and streams before the onset of monsoon in the area."

Narayan Betkikar, deputy chairman of Bicholim municipality, said, "We are aware about the situation and necessary steps will be taken at the earliest for protecting lakes and springs of Lamgao."

Gauns, the environmentalist, said "I have already brought to the notice of government authorities concerned about the pathetic condition of Mhatrai lake and other lakes of Lamgao caused by the mining companies. But, no concrete efforts have been done to protect and conserve the water bodies of Lamgao. If systematic steps are taken to rejuvenate the lakes, our areas will never experience paucity of water."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Paradise-destroyed-and-devastated/articleshow/19434432.cms

A flowering outbreak

KANWAR YOGENDRA

The unchecked outgrowth of Lantana weed in Himachal Pradesh’s forests and farmlands is destroying biodiversity and damaging agriculture

The deadly weed:Lantana in full bloom. Photo: G. Karthikeyan

A recent survey of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department has pointed out that the deadly weed Lantana, called Phool Lakri in local parlance, has affected the mountain bio-diversity in more than 1,800 sq km of forest lands in the State.

The weed which is a flowering exotic shrub is now found in abundance in the State and is seriously threatening the natural regeneration of majority native plant species. Though there are also other weed species found in the hill State like Parthenium (Congress Grass), Ageratum (Neela Phoolnu) and Eupatorium but the invasive Lantana is proving to be the most lethal to the rich forest biodiversity of the region.

Lantana is a genus of about 100 species of perennial flowering plantsin the verbena family, Verbenaceae, said experts. Though native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa, they now exist as introduced species in numerous areas of Asian and Australian Pacific regions. The genus includes both herbaceous plants and shrubs (found mainly in Himachal) growing as tall as five to six feet. Lantana’s aromatic flower clusters called umbels are a mix of red, orange, yellow, blue or white florets. ‘Wild lantanas’ are plants of theunrelated genus Abronia, usually called ‘sand-verbenas’.

Lantana was introduced in India in 1809 in the Indian Botanic Garden, Kolkata as an ornamental plant due to its beautiful aromatic flowers. Prolific seed production and easy dispersal helped it in escaping cultivation and becoming a pest, with serious dimensions. Present all over Himachal Pradesh, it flowers almost throughout the year. This weed is posing serious problems to plantation forestry as it chokes all other vegetation and becomes the dominant species. In deciduous forests, Lantana is considered as a potential fire hazard and it is combustible even when green. Himachal Pradesh struggles with forest fires every summer and suffers huge losses. This weed is also dangerous in national parks and sanctuaries.

Lantana also competes with agricultural crops and has an allelopathic effect — inhibiting the growth of other plants. The Himachal Pradesh government has faced failure in uprooting this enveloping weed which has now entered the fields and orchards of the farmers. The State is yet to have any comprehensive planning to eradicate this problem which has to be done in entirety and requires massive re-plantation of other friendly species like Bamboo, Acacia Catechu (khair) and Phyllanthus Emblica (amla).

The funds allotted by the Centre for the purpose are used in a piecemeal fashion through a campaign suggested by certain environmental NGOs like the Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti. The organisation had run a campaign in some panchayats and blocks of the State in the past and had even destroyed the lethal weed with the help of villagers in these areas, said O.P. Bhuraita, a scientist with the organisation. The Samiti had later shifted its focus to the menace of wild animals and monkeys in the countryside, since that has become a foremost threat to the agriculture and fruit growing areas, he said. Agriculture is the mainstay in the hill State and 90 per cent population lives in rural areas.

The previous State government had accepted that the weed species have spread to large areas of forest and wastelands, with the 1999-2000 survey revealing that 136,301 hectares were covered by weeds and Lantana alone had spread to over 130,000 hectares of land. For eradicating the Lantana, the Forest Department has used two methods: mechanical and chemical. Under the mechanical method, the weed is physically removed with tools like ‘monkey jack’. This labour-intensive method has shown good results. However, the chemical methods like spraying glyphosate have environmental and ecological impact.

During 2009-2013, the weed has been removed from 6,305 hectares of forest land and the government has targeted to clear 5,000 hectares of forest land of Lantana weed during 2013-14, State Forest Minister Thakar Singh Bharmouri said. To root out Lantana, a cut-root stock method has been adopted. After clearing the weed, foliage fodder is being replanted, he said. The question as to how to eradicate Lantana and other weeds comes up every time here during the Assembly sessions, with precious little being done to help the small and marginal farmers who are forced to quit agriculture due to this problem.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/a-flowering-outbreak/article4590073.ece

Environment Ministry rejects proposal to expand Bhopal-Nagpur highway

PTI | 7 Apr, 2013
NEW DELHI: The Environment Ministry has rejected a National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) proposal seeking expansion of a road connecting Bhopal and Nagpur that cuts through a proposed tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

The Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, chaired by Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, has accepted an expert panel report which said that four-laning of NH-69 within the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary "cannot be permitted currently" as tigers and other wild animals will be "more vulnerable" to be killed on the road, MoEF sources said.

The decision came amid tussle between the two sides over highway projects through forest areas.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had earlier endorsed the report prepared by NBWL Standing Committee Member Prerna Singh Bindra and NTCA official Rajeev Sharma.

The NHAI had sought denotification of 58.5 hectares of forest land in Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary to upgrade the two-lane NH-69 to four lanes to facilitate "higher, faster and night time" traffic between the cities of Bhopal and Nagpur.

Rejecting the proposal, the report had said the impact of roads went beyond wild animals ending up as road kill.

"Forests on the sides of the roads become heavily degraded and over time, their usage by wild animals diminishes. Besides, they allow access into wilderness areas, bringing with them ancillary development. Further expansion of the road will only accelerate these," it had said.

National Highway-69 goes through 44.6 km of forest area including 12.44 km through Ratapani sanctuary which is very close to Bhopal.

Admitting that the condition of the road is "very bad", the report has said the best alternative was to repair the road and strengthen it.

The sanctuary has been proposed as a tiger reserve and accorded in-principle approval by the NTCA. The last census indicates presence of 16 tigers in the sanctuary.

The team headed by Bindra has recommended that notifying of Ratapani Tiger Reserve be expedited for more focused wildlife management and conservation of wild cat.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/environment-ministry-rejects-proposal-to-expand-bhopal-nagpur-highway/articleshow/19425279.cms

Elephants break into Kerala farm to drink clean water

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: Wild elephants have been breaking into a state government-owned livestock farm in Kerala's popular hill station Munnar to drink clean water as the water in the town's Mattupetty dam has become polluted, an official said.

"We have brought this to the attention of the government who in turn have asked the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to find out what can be done to clean up the dam," a Kerala state biodiversity board (KSBB) official told IANS.

The Kerala Livestock Development Board, which owns the farm, has registered a complaint with KSBB that wild elephants have been smashing water pipes in the farm to drink clean water.

The pollution in the picturesque Mattupetty dam is caused by diesel or kerosene-run motor boats that are used to ferry tourists, an official said.

Munnar town is in Idukki district and is located 1,450 metre above sea level in the Western Ghats.

Elephant expert Jacob Cheeran said that on an average an elephant requires 125 litres of water to drink and more than 200 litres to throw on its body every day, and the tuskers prefer good quality of water to drink.

Chairman of the state pollution control board K. Sajeevan said that he would visit Munnar next week and speak to the officials of the farm and see what can be done to keep the water bodies there free from pollution.

The livestock farm, an Indo-Swiss project, was set up in Munnar in 1963.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Elephants-break-into-Kerala-farm-to-drink-clean-water/articleshow/19412974.cms

Centre rejects Satpura tiger reserve denotification proposal

PTI | Apr 6, 2013

NEW DELHI: The Environment Ministry has rejected a proposal seeking denotification of land inside Satpura tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh for religious functions and roads, officials said here.

The Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) chaired by Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan has rejected the proposal citing that the proposed area is an "important source site" for tigers, they said.

"The area proposed to be denotified is within the core tiger habitat of a reserve that functions as an important source site for tigers," NBWL Standing Committee member Prerna Singh Bindra said.

"Besides, Satpura is a botanically important 'relict' site and a faunal bridge representing unique floral species common to Western Ghats and the Himalayas. Such a denotification is unacceptable," she said.

Mahadev Mela Samiti Pachmarhi, which had demanded denotification of the land, said the annual religious fair is attended by lakhs of people every year and basic amenities like drinking water, sanitation and medical facilities have to be provided to them in the forests in case of emergency.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Centre-rejects-Satpura-tiger-reserve-denotification-proposal/articleshow/19407436.cms

Crop shield spells doom for birds

S. HARPAL SINGH

Plastic nets erected along the perimeter of agriculture fields by farmers to protect their crops from monkeys are turning as snares for birds

Skewed protection:A bird trapped in a fishing net put up
to protect agricultural field from monkeys,
in Udumpur village of Kadem mandal in Adilabad.
-PHOTO: S. HARPAL SIngh

The fishing nets used by farmers in the hilly and forested areas of Adilabad to protect crops from monkeys have brought doom for birds in the wild. Though the tall plastic nets erected along the perimeter of agriculture fields have deterred simians from raiding standing crops, these are acting as snares for unsuspecting birds.

Tens of birds like the shikra, owl, partridge, quail and pigeon can be found entangled in the mesh in fields in Udumpur and Alampalli in Kadem mandal. The loss may seem to be negligible in terms of harm to the eco system, but conservationists are worried that the phenomenon could take the shape of poaching of birds in the garb of protecting crops.

“We hardly have a role to play when it comes to protecting crops from monkeys,” reveals Jannaram Wildlife Division Forest Officer G. Rama Krishna Rao, who also looks after the Kawal Tiger Reserve, as he explains the gamut to The Hindu . “Respective gram panchayats or other local bodies concerned, need to take care of the problem by sterilising the simians in the area to control their population by obtaining necessary permission from the State Chief Wildlife Warden,” he adds. Donthula Shravan Kumar, a farmer from Udumpur says the menace has surfaced two years back when hundreds of monkeys from elsewhere were released into the forests. “After losing much crop initially we experimented with fencing the fields with nets and found it an effective means of controlling monkey invasions”, the farmer recalls.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Forest Division at Jannaram will implement a new plan to erect fencing around fields to control crop damage by wild boars which is the most troublesome of the problem. The initial fencing will be done at a cost of Rs. 40 lakh in the next financial year, according to Mr. Rama Krishna Rao.

“The low chain link fence goes about 20 cm deep inside the soil too to prevent wild boars from digging the earth and entering fields,” the DFO reveals. “We will enlist farmers who need such protection for their crops soon,” he adds.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/crop-shield-spells-doom-for-birds/article4556553.ece

'Sex-on-the-reef' recorded for first time ever along Lakshadweep islands

PTI

A rare and curious phenomenon, coral spawning, popularly referred to as "sex-on-the-reef", has been recorded scientifically for the first time along Lakshadweep islands on India's west coast, a Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) researcher has claimed.

Generally observed after full-moon nights, coral spawning is a magnificent phenomenon of sexual reproduction of corals, which involves mass collective expulsion of colourful eggs and sperm clouds into the water by corals.

Normally taking place once a year, the gametes then rise to the surface of the ocean creating a colourful slick.

The slick was first observed by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) marine biologist Subburaman S last week, and also by the Central Marine Fisheries and Research Institute (CMFRI) team.

"I was travelling by boat, when I noticed an interesting effect in the water. Out of curiosity, I collected some pink and brown spawn for examination," Subburaman was quoted as saying by a WTI release here.

Subburaman with the support of CMFRI scientists Dr Jasmine and R Srinath examined the samples and confirmed that they were indeed coral spawn.

Environment wardens Abdul Raheem and Dr Sayeed Ali said that this finding proves that Lakshadweep's corals are recovering from the stress they experienced after El Niño, 2010.

Chief Wildlife Warden, Lakshadweep, Thirunavukarasu, added that it's great news that the Lakshadweep coral reef is in a healthy state.

During spawning, the eggs are fertilised and form larvae.

The larvae then float off till they find suitable substrates, settle and form their own colonies, helping corals thrive.

Coral spawning is a big tourist attraction in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, where it generally happens soon after the full moon in November or December. Spawning normally happens when the water is warm, and when the tide is changing from high to low.

In the Maldives, spawning has been scientifically determined to take place between the end of January and the beginning of March.

One thing is universal though - exact date of spawning is still largely unpredictable.

It was first recorded in 1981, says WTI.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sexonthereef-recorded-for-first-time-ever-along-lakshadweep-islands/1093706/0

Sparrows lose homes in urban jungle

Chinmayi Shalya, TNN | Mar 21, 2013
MUMBAI: Sparrows seems to be flying out in search of another habitat.

The house sparrows, the most commonly sighted bird in the country, is gradually losing its presence in the urban landscape.

According to the Common Bird Monitoring of India (CBMI), a year-old initiative of environment organization Nature Forever Society, the sparrow is now the fourth most common bird in the country.

The CBMI identified 794 locations in the country where rock pigeons are found, 822 locations where crows were often spotted, 743 where the common myna were spotted, and only 494 locations where the house sparrow were seen in the last one year.

CBMI observations also showed that Mumbai has the highest number of pigeons and crows in the country, while the presence of sparrows is almost half of their numbers.

The observations can be extended to major cities, including Mumbai, where the population of more resilient birds like pigeons and crows has grown despite rapid urbanization, but small birds, like sparrows, have faced a loss of habitat.

On World Sparrow Day ,on Wednesday, ecologists and nature lovers lament this change. Others feel that the bird's stint with humans might be over now.

"The city has many kabutarkhanas where abundance of grain has given an artificial boost to the number of pigeons. And, the open garbage provides a lot of food for the crows. Pigeons can subsist on grain and produce pigeon milk to feed their young ones. But it is not the same with sparrows," said Mohammed Dilawar from the Nature Forever Society.

Sparrows feed insects to their young. But the loss of green cover and open grounds in the city has modified the ecology and led to a decline in number of insects on which young sparrows feed.

Also, sparrows need nests, unlike pigeons. Sparrows require sheltered corners and trees to make a home. "There has been a fall in the number of nesting sites and loss of small prey due to loss of green patches. We must remember that Until sparrows and other small birds have little green patches, even derelict and overgrown little corners, where they can catch insects, it would be difficult for them to survive," said naturalist, writer and photographer Sunjoy Monga.

Ecologists believe that the sparrows represented a different world where houses were more open, and there were many nooks, crevices and green patches which made it easy for sparrows to co-habit with humans.

The change in urban architecture, characterized by small enclosed houses, wire meshed windows and lack of green space has left very little shelter for sparrows to nest.

"I feel the sparrow may have reached the peak of having made the most of its association and commensalism on humanity and will possibly stabilise to a different level under a different set of conditions now,"added Monga. He added that we cannot re-create the situations of the past.

On World Sparrow Day, the Nature Forever Society launched a campaign where people can observe sparrows in their area for 15 minutes and report it on their website. People can also report if they do not spot the bird.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Sparrows-lose-homes-in-urban-jungle/articleshow/19098923.cms

Cauvery delta ecosystem in deep water

G.SATHYAMOORTHI
The Cauvery eco-system is in deep trouble with the current year being one of the worst drought years that the river has witnessed.

The delta region, known as ‘Marudha Nilam’, can no longer have that nomenclature as it is now shorn of Marudu trees, a native plant. The ‘minimum viable population’ (MVP) size of this tree has gone down and has become virtually an ‘endangered species’.

Frequent loss of flows in the river over the past four decades has resulted in gradual degradation of the eco-system, laments K.V.Krishnamurthy, former Head of the Department of Botany, Bharathidasan University, considered an authority on the Cauvery’s flora and fauna.

Even the migratory birds would shun the State if the current drought-like situation continued, warns S. Balachandran, Deputy Director, Bombay Natural History Society.

Potability of the water along the banks of the Cauvery and the Coleroon is going to be a question mark sooner or later, apprehends V.Ganapathi, advisor, Exnora International.

Indiscriminate sand quarrying all along the banks of the Cauvery has resulted in the gradual loss of water- holding capacity of the river itself, says R.Nandakumar, who has spearheaded a movement against sand mining and has won a major case in the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court recently. “Loss of one cubic metre of sand will result in the loss of capacity to hold three cubic metres of water’, he adds.

Prof.Krishnamurthy told The Hindu that it was during 1970s such loss of flows in the Cauvery started and over the years the phenomenon has resulted in creation of “huge islands of vegetation” all along the course of the river.

“Such an island virtually looks like a forest near Grand Anaicut’, he points out.

The major problem arising out of this situation is that the sand in the river gets reduced and mud is formed. “The typical riverine land structure will be lost”, both with regard to “physical and biological parameters”. “Thus sand will become soil.”

Even in the Coleroon and some parts of the Cauvery such islands of vegetation have formed an aquatic bed and the size of this vegetation patch will gradually increase.” This will become a major problem in due course of time”.

As flow of water has become less, stagnant pools are formed and they give rise to noxious aquatic elements that prevent the flow of water.

Along the banks, the native vegetation is gone and that space is occupied by “alien invasive flora (plants)”. During the last 15-20 years this has been happening substantially. “Thus the threshold value of many of the native plants including Marudu has slumped”, says Prof.Krishnamurthy.

With regard to fauna, he says there were 80 species of 23 fish families in the Cauvery system 40 years ago. Of them five species are exclusive for the Cauvery. Now their population has dwindled and many of them have lost their MVP size. Same is the case with “fresh water prawns”. On the other hand, mosquito population has been on the rise.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article3748784.ece

Not as green as they first appear

Gautam Pandey

In Kerala, as elsewhere, pristine forests are being fragmented and destroyed by activities like plantation, mining and farming. The needs of development have to be balanced with the importance of protecting the endangered green cover. Without the latter, nothing will remain

With an opportunity to travel through Kerala for over 20 days by road for work was more than a dream come true. My first trip to ‘God’s own country’ was due and I couldn’t wait to explore the backwaters and rainforests of Kerala. To make up for lost time I decided to drive through the State starting from the southern tip and fly to Thiruvanathapuram, a sea of green stretch below me. I planned to drive through the State zig-zagging my way and heading north.

I was a little unprepared as my ‘first impressions’ hit me. It was hard to tell when exactly I crossed the city and when a town began. The entire stretch seemed urbanised with villages and towns merging into one and other.

After a couple of hours of driving, I reached greener areas with old growth mixed forests on both sides of the road. These were the primal rainforests I had been waiting for. As I drove on and my eyes got used to the explosion of green all around me, I gradually realised that while there was prime forest, it was fragmented — stitched together by plantations. After I saw one plantation, I kept seeing them everywhere. Rubber, spices, tea, and coconut plantations were seamlessly interwoven with the forest. This was an illusion. What seemed green and healthy was actually a heavily fragmented and stressed environment.

I reached Munnar where entire hills as far as the eye could see had been shaved off prime forest and had tea planted on them. How ironic it was to see people getting their photographs taken with the Munnar hills as a backdrop. The whole situation felt more like a ticking bomb than ‘God’s own country’.

The majority of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are located in tropical forests. The Western Ghats are a prime example of a tropical biodiversity hot spot which is home to numerous endemic species. Unfortunately what has happened in Kerala is evident through out the entire Western Ghats. Plantations, mining and construction have fragmented and split our forests like a piece of shattered glass. While some patches can be large and sustain a degree of biodiversity, the majority gradually become degraded with some forests altogether disappearing.

India has had a long tradition of conservation and the sacred groves were one such method of conservation. A forested area often with streams and lakes was believed to have a resident deity and considered sacred. No one was permitted to cut, kill, or take anything from a scared grove. Some groves are even out of bounds for humans. Sacred groves are like banks of bio-diversity left untouched and pure. In some areas so strong is the belief that people passing through and exiting a grove would dust their body and clothes just incase they don’t carry anything out of the forest.

With big money backing the mining industry, these groves aren’t spared either. Recently while filming in Goa we visited a sacred grove which was on the list to be mined. The forest was unspoiled with a pristine stream flowing out from under the roots of a gigantic tree. We drank the water and rested there. It was hard to imagine that in a matter everything here would just be scraped away leaving the red earth exposed like a big open wound. The mining industry was destroying prime forests and fresh water sources. While announcements to control the mining have been made and some mines closed down, the reality is quite different. A few weeks back our crew was attacked by mining mafia goons and it was forced to destroy all the footage. The situation in Goa’s forests is so bad that experts foresee a huge freshwater crisis in the State within the next few years.

What is a little confusing is, that while experts and researchers raise alarm bells about the state of forests the Forest Survey of India has actually declared that India’s forest cover has been increasing for the last 13 years, with a net addition of 1,128 sq km, or 0.16 per cent, in the last two years. This was indeed good news, what with all the carbon credits, global warming and climate change issues, except for one little fact.

The very definition of ‘forest cover’ by the FSI is that if tree canopy covers more than 10 per cent of a one hectare plot, it can be classified as a forest. Since satellite images are used to determine ‘forest cover’ all mono culture plantations including tea, coffee, rubber, timber etc qualify as a forest.

Recently, researchers Priya Davidar, Jean-Philippe Puyravaud  and William F Laurance argued in a paper they presented that the FSI used computer software that couldn’t distinguish between natural forests and plantations. Based on their ground research what has now been revealed is truly frightening. Rather than expanding, India’s forests have been shrinking by 1.5 per cent to 2.7 per cent per year since the last two decades.

This is a very high rate of forest loss and India is at risk of losing the majority of her forests within the next few decades. With rapidly shrinking and fragmented forests diversity and number of species will continuously reduce.

Fragmented forests result in a large number of wild animal deaths every year. Animals, both large and small, move and migrate between forests and many are run over, killed, separated and sometimes poached as they leave the forest and cross inhabited areas. Not only are the animals directly affected, but it is also the health of the forest itself which suffers. Animals are natural seed dispersers and with restricted movement plant species are also affected. In tropical forests this movement of plants and animals plays a crucial role and maintains a high level of biodiversity. It has been observed that in isolated forests biodiversity degrades over time with some species becoming extinct locally.

With roads, railway lines, fields and plantations separating forest areas, animals have no choice but to cross these man-made barriers. The result is road deaths and often man-animal conflicts, with casualties on both sides. Moreover, as a fragmented forest gets smaller and further fragmented, the population of animals and insects falls, resulting at times even in the extinction of a species locally.

On the upside, what we have now is a lot of comprehensive and conclusive research. The time for action is now. Driving through Kerala I eventually landed up at The Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary where a committed and passionate group of residents, gardeners, naturalists and educators with love for nature have been working towards habitat restoration in degraded areas of the Western Ghats. The sanctuary itself is on the border of a large rainforest reserve and was actually a reclaimed plantation. Through some planning, but with most of the healing left to nature the forest over 30 years has come back, and along with it so have the insects, birds, reptiles and mammals.

Hopefully, with just a little foresight and common sense, we just might be able to save what was never really ours to destroy.

(The writer is a wildlife filmmaker)

Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/53040-not-as-green-as-they-first-appear.html