Afforestation Approaches for Restoring Rainforest - A Case Study
Malali Gowda and BCRT team
Home

Introduction Seegegudda connect with the mountains of Western Ghats The major portion of forest vegetation in Indian subcontinent is categorized under sub-tropical rainforests and rich in wild life diversity. Over 70% of Indian population is dependent on monsoon driven agriculture system. Western Ghats along the West coast of the subcontinent serves as the windshield and plays a major role in bringing monsoon rain to India. The Ghat runs all along the Arabian Sea (8 22șN, 73 77șE) from Tapti in Gujarat - to Mahendra Gir in Tamil Nadu, which uplift the moisture-laden wind into the atmosphere and gradually transforming into clouds that brings rainfall. Interestingly, these mountain ranges receive 250-1000 mm of rainfall per year. Western Ghats forest is one of the biodiversity hot spots in the world (Myers et al., 2000; http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/ghats). These forests are the major watersheds for many rivers in southern India. Unfortunately, over 50% of biodiversity in this region was lost due to deforestation and other man made activities (Menon and Bawa, 1997; Cincotta et al., 2000). The extensive deforestion (over 80%) and land fragmention of Western Ghats region might be affecting the cloud formation, cloud density, rainfall frequency and distribution, which leading to erratic rainfall in India (Menon and Bawa, 1997; Cincotta et al., 2000; Frater, 1992). Cloud formation at Seegegudda The threat to natural forest in Western Ghats is a major concern when it comes to conservation of this ecosystem for future generation. In addition to socio-economic and ecological value of forest vegetation, plants are considered as living machines to reduce atmospheric Carbon dioxide. The long-term fixation of Carbon dioxide through photosynthesis by plants results in 'carbon sequestration' (UNFCC, 1997). Vegetation rejuvenation through afforestation methods will not only act as a carbon sink to reduce global warming but also enhances cloud formation and oxygen production to protect the ozone layer. Forest plants in the tropical and sub-tropical regions are known to harvest more Carbon dioxide and release more oxygen in comparison to plants in temperate regions. Through eco-restoration of Western Ghats by afforestation methods, it is possible to rejuvenate the Indian landscape with forest cover. Currently, afforestation methods have been handled through top-down approaches where-in government policies are "implemented" by the local governing bodies. However, owing to lack of communication between landholders at the grass-roots level and policy makers at the administrative level, most of top-down approaches might not be working well to protect forest in developing countries (Maathai, 2003). Seegegudda - main source of water for many villages In this article, we share our experiences on the bottom-up biodiversity conservation approaches which were practiced successfully by our organization 'Biodiversity Conservation and Research Trust' (BCRT). BCRT campus is located at Anuganalu village, Hassan district, on the eastern edge of Western Ghats (13șN, 76șE, altitude - 943.05 mts). The climate of this region considered as sub-tropical rainforest with summer temperature of 25-35șC and winter temperature of 14-28șC and annual rainfall of above 1000 mm. Interestingly, forest vegetation in this region reported to be one of the rich eco-regions in Western Ghats of Karnataka, which harbour more than 4000 tree species and most of them endemic to this region (Saldanha and Nikcolson, 1976; Ganeshaiah et al., 2002). Some of the novel approaches undertaken by BCRT to conserve rainforest eco-system are described here below. Village Based Organization - Key Role in Conservation Success At the end of second millennium, most villages have arisen with the clearance of forestland. Within the past few decades hundreds of acres of forestland have been converted to several small hamlets. One such village is Anuganalu where BCRT campus is located on a deforested barren rocky area. This area was previously surrounded by thick forest with balanced ecosystem. Unfortunately, this thick forest was cleared indiscriminately since past few decades due to intensive agriculture, over exploitation of water resources and other anthropogenic pressures. The results of intensive deforestation resulted in an uneven rainfall, depletion of water table and ecological imbalance in this area (Padre, 2005). Our basic idea was to convert the barren rocky region into green land through the participation of local people. Discussion was held between Malali Gowda and farmers at Anuganalu to reforest the barren rocky land through afforestation in the year 2000 Therefore, we organized meetings by inviting local farmers to discuss the problems and possible solutions for deforestation, land degradation, erratic rainfall, loss of wild life and other issues related to environment and agriculture. The response from this meeting was overwhelming and farmers seriously considered minimizing the deforestation process. With their co-operation, BCRT initiated afforestation work in the year 2000 and converted uncultivable rocky soil into forestland within the year 2005 (see Section 2; http://www.bcrt.org/afforestation.htm). BCRT afforestation method has motivated the local community and policy makers to act towards forest conservation. Our eco-restoration methods are now being replicated in other villages (http://www.bcrt.org/ecovillages.htm). Our work clearly demonstrates that other similar conservation organizations and institutions must involve local farmers in forest conservation activities by motivating them towards tree - based farming systems. 1 Read Page 2

Home