A few years ago, the Nilgiris, a major biosphere in the Western Ghats in India, made headlines for the record planting of 10,000 trees there by the district administration. The media hype only partly touched on the blatant exploitation of this part of the Ghats by those belonging to the ruling political class, resulting in its rapid degradation. Today, it is virtually impossible to regenerate the lost biodiversity of the Nilgiris in the areas surrounding the commercial centres of Udhagamandalam (Ooty) and Coonoor. Several other forest areas have been encroached upon. The fate of the trees planted is not clear.
This story, however, is not about the Nilgiris, but about an obscure village in the drought-prone district of Pudukottai in southern Tamil Nadu. To many people, it would seem unlikely that the president of Rajendrapuram panchayat in Aranthangi block can discuss such issues as global warming, climate change and the impact of human actions in influencing monsoon patterns.
M.Shanmuganathan, however, speaks the language of the global environmental activist, and by most accounts, has pursued a policy of reversing the damage done by human intervention to the flora of the land, that has affected climate. Powered by his conviction that the removal of endemic tree species - many of which came to acquire religious significance in India over the centuries - has deprived many areas of rainfall and ensured misery to others where there is a severe and excessive monsoon, he has embarked on a one-man to re-green his panchayat.
"It was good to partition away the land as a measure of social reform. But environmentally, it was disastrous because many people resorted to largescale felling of trees between 1976 and 83," he says, giving an assessment of what went wrong in Tamil Nadu. He attributes clearing of trees in Kerala in a different context as the cause of erratic monsoon patterns in that state.
Mr.Shanmuganathan put his conviction to work in a manner that has won plaudits from green activists like R.Elango, a panchayat president from Kuthambakkam in northern Tamil Nadu.
The president of Rajendrapuram planted 1,250 saplings of traditional and therefore endemic species in public lands along state roads in his panchayat area. Unlike the conventional approach to reap quick and visible but admittedly short-lived gains by planting species that grow in a couple of years, Mr.Shanmuganathan has opted to plant "traditional" trees that last many generations.
Ask him to name a few of the species and he comes out with their Tamil names. Maruthu (Terminalia arjuna),Vanni, Iluppai (Madhuca latifolia), Thiruvodu, Rudraksham, Shenbagam, Semmaram, Vengai (Pterocarpus marsupium), Udhiravengai, Badam (Prunus amigdalus), Nagalingam, Naval (Syzygium cumini) and Jambunaval.
Would it not help the village economy if tree species are chosen based on their potential to become an asset by yielding fruit and/or flowers? The panchayat president is convinced that the trees should not become economically attractive, but serve to regenerate the biodiversity that was originally present in the Tamil country. "No one should think of cutting or exploiting a tree for any immediate gain," he asserts.
The trees were planted on November 18, 2003 and they were four to six feet tall even at the time of planting, because they were a year old at the time. The location for the trees was a spot 18 feet away from the road, in land belonging to the public. This ensures that there is a sense of public ownership of the trees. Bamboo tree guards that could be locally woven were chosen to keep costs down. Each tree guard thus cost Rs.30, compared to much higher rates normally paid.
Basic funding for the scheme was available under the Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) of the Government of India. The State Government has provided a 10 per cent subsidy.
Recommended reading: The Book of Indian Trees, By K.C.Sahni,Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, ISBN 0 19 564589 8, Second Edn 2000.