Forests or plantations: What can heal an ailing earth? These indigenous women have some conservation tips

RANJAN PANDA & PRAGATI PRAVA

While trees are important to enrich all forms of ecosystems, there have been criticisms from various sections of society and experts to the obsession with planting trees.  Scientists and experts have raised serious concerns regarding the effectiveness of such drives.  They have said that the science behind it could be dangerously misleading.

Forests provide us with one of the best defences against climate change.  Increasingly, however, a perception is building – at least among a part of the policy makers across the world – that forests are just a combination of trees that are useful only to bring down the carbon emissions. 

Based on our interactions with many young generation folks, we have got this realisation that “plantation” or planting trees, which is a form of environmental fashion now is considered as the most favoured for of environmental activism among these youth. It’s anyways more difficult to conserve a forest than planting trees. 

Enthused by several studies, governments and many other organisations including NGOs have been promoting planting trees as a form of environmentalism more rigorously than ever before, in order to meet their climate goals. 

A report published in Science, that made big headlines last year, claimed that there is scope of planting 500 billion trees over an area of 1.7 billion hectares of land, that’s almost the size of the U.S. This, the study claims, would suck up some two-thirds of all carbon emissions released by humans since the Industrial Revolution. Governments, private associations and companies have so far pledged to grow 210 million hectares of trees.

While trees are important to enrich all forms of ecosystems, there have been criticisms from various sections of society and experts to the obsession with planting trees.  Scientists and experts have raised serious concerns regarding the effectiveness of such drives.  They have said that the science behind it could be dangerously misleading.  In the name of plantation and climate action, often monoculture is promoted, our own experience has found out.  In many places, lands such as grasslands like Savannas, Pampas, and similar vegetation, including shrubs surrounding natural forests are judged as wasteland and fast growing tree species are planted to replace them in order to meet plantation targets.  There have been numerous examples of such forced plantations, of alien species, inside forest areas as well. 

In India, such efforts by forest departments have also led to conflicts with the local and indigenous communities who protect forests for generations and emphasise more on the restoration of degraded forests with native biodiversity enriching species that, to them, are much more useful than alien species which are good only for timber value or carbon sink.

We have been interacting with several local and indigenous communities in Odisha who have been protecting local natural forests for decades; and, in some cases, more than a century, and tried to collect their worldview on forests. 

The indigenous communities, who make up only 6 percent of the global population, protect and manage almost one third of pristine forest cover of the world. And for them forestry is much broader a concept than mere tree planting.  While for most of us, sitting in urban areas, far away from natural forests, trees are carbon sinks and forests are picnic spots, for these dwellers and protectors of the resources, it is their source of food, livelihood, culture and water and much more. It’s a heritage, they feel they have inherited from their forefathers, and needs to be protected not only for humans but other species too.  For this article, we tried to capture views from some of the indigenous women in Odisha’s forested villages who have been leading local conservation efforts. 

Forests are like our parents, they ensure water for us

“Forest is like my parents’ house. Whenever we feel stressed, we go inside our forest and feel like getting embraced. We return refreshed with all our requirements – from food to fuel – and much more,” said 70-year-old Shashi Pradhan, who leads forest protection initiatives in Dengajhari village under Ranpur block of Nayagarh district and is instrumental in protecting 700 hectares of forest in the area.

Drought is a rare occurrence in places having dense forest cover. According to Shashi, who is the President of Dengajhari Mahila Jungle Suraksha O Parichalana Committee (DMJSPC), a federation of Dengajhari village women to protect forests, “Earlier during 1970s, we used to suffer from frequent droughts as the four streams adjoining our villages used to dry up just a few weeks after the monsoon retreated.  The cause, we realized, was the denuded forests caused by rampant timber smuggling. With the forests, the streams have reappeared.  We brought them back with our conservation efforts. With recharged streams, villagers harvest good crops every year.”

Shashi feels that the dense forest cover has changed the local climatic condition and ensured good rainfall.  “There is hardly any instance of crop-loss in the last one decade or so”, added Shashi who bagged several awards including the Devi Award-2019 from The New Indian Express Group.

Forests secure our food

Forests provide food security and nutrition to its dwellers by offering grains, fruits, berries, nuts, greens and a lot more. Varieties of animal foods including fishes, snails, crabs and a lot of edible insects are also sourced from the forests by the local communities. Forest dwellers have survived many droughts, and even famines, because of forest foods. 

During the ongoing Covid crisis as well, communities protecting forests have narrated, that their food and nutrition security have been ensured by the forests. 

“At present when the price of potato is more than 45 rupees per kg (60 cents per kg), it has no impact on us. Besides, during the time when the supply from West Bengal got restricted and the price of potatoes soared, it had no impact on us. We consume even more delicious roots locally called Pichhuli, Tunga and Kadaba,” said Jamuna Pradhan, who is 35 and a member of the DMJSPC. In 1956, when the area faced a deadly drought, her village survived on boiled Kadaba, recalled Shashi.

She named more than 20 varieties of greens that they get from their forest.  Adhanga Saga, Bhadalia Saga, Sunsunia Saga and Kalama Saga are a few.  She also counted around 15 varieties of fruits including chironjee, kendu, dates, mangoes, jamun that the forest provides them with.

This variety of food is not confined to a particular cluster of forest only. Around 300 kilometers away, in the Similipal Biosphere, forests provide more than 160 food varieties to its dwellers. “Even when during the rainy season, our streams get flooded and roads get washed away and the sanctuary gets cut-off from the rest of the world, we don’t worry about food. Forest provides half of our required edible varieties during rainy season and ensures that we focus on cultivation,” said Kabita Jerai of Mandam, a village inside the biosphere reserve.

Around 400 kilometers away, in the forests of Kandhamal, communities have the same opinion about forest foods. “We get all our food including food grains, pulses, vegetables, greens, mushrooms, tubers and nuts and meaty delicacies from our forests,” said Namojini Pradhan, a leader of the Forest Rights Committee of Bhramarabadi in Daringbadi block of Kandhamal district.

Forests: Best technology for water conservation

Water is better absorbed into the soil, thanks to the trees and forests which improve groundwater, recharge and feed springs, rivers, says Malati Nayak of Kaptipadar village in Koraput district, who leads women’s movement to protect vast tracts of healthy natural forests. She narrated, “Decades ago, our forests fell prey to rampant timber smuggling and all our streams dried up. I started uniting women to protect forests by keeping the mafia at bay.  Gradually our forests revived and so also our springs.” Nayak bagged ‘Jala Joddha Samman 2019’ from the Water Initiatives for her lifetime contribution in ensuring community forest protection in 10 gram panchayats of Boipariguda block. Her initiatives have resulted in the reappearance of a number of streams in the region.

The conservation story keeps repeating. According to Sasmita Soren of Bhagirathipur, a periphery village of Similipal sanctuary, deforestation process inside the sanctuary began in the late 1970s and the streams started drying between December to January every year. The village faced drought-like situation every alternate year and the condition turned grim by 2000.” After 15 years of forest conservation initiatives, the villagers observed improvements in the stream flows. The change was significantly visible by 2017. Now, all the springs have reappeared resulting in good harvest for us each year, added Sasmita, who has been actively involved in community forest protection efforts. 

“When I was a child, I could hear the burbles of streams from forests. As I grew up, that stopped with the reduction of flow. Fortunately, for the last twenty years, we are hearing those sweet murmurs again, thanks to the revival of streams that has been a result of our consistent forest protection initiatives. These streams are now irrigating over 500 acres of our farmland,” said Satyabhama Pradhan of Akhupadar village, adding that for the last 15 years, they have not faced any drought.

Gravity flow irrigation and drinking water supply has been facilitated in Dengajhari village by an NGO because of the reappearance of a number of streams in their forests. Several streams have also been diverted for irrigation, said secretary of DMJSPC Nishamani Pradhan.

Forests provide jobs, meets many needs

“We don’t buy anything from outside except salt, soap and clothes. All other requirements from oil to food, fuel to medicine and the cash we need are met by our forest, said Srimati Hembram, 26 and Sarpanch (village head) of Baunshanali panchayat, a village in the buffer area of Similipal sanctuary.

These forests are able to meet the needs of communities even beyond food.

Gauri Dehury, a 60-year-old woman of Khejuri, a village which the government Forest Department is trying its best to relocate from the Similipal sanctuary, informed officials are offering a house to each family in an alien land and 10 lakh rupees (13,500 USD) as compensation, from which, they can withdraw 6,000 rupees or 80 USD per month as bank interest. She refused the offer she considers as petty gain in lieu of shifting from their ancestral land. “We collect honey and sell it to earn our livelihood and we get a bountiful of other precious natural products like resin, arrowroots, blackberries, sal seeds, Indian gooseberry, fishes, mangoes, varieties of greens and edible tubers. After our own use, we sell the remaining produces that adds to our income,” she said.

“Preparing plates out of the leaves of Sal tree and Siali creeper, found in abundance in the surrounding forests has been our main cash-fetching occupation,” said Jamuna of Dengajhari. The villagers have also created a cashew forest on community efforts and make a profit of 60,000-70,000 rupees (800-900 USD) annually by selling cashew nuts.

“We also sell khuskhus (Vetiver), which has been our other major source of income, pointed out Jhatiani Jani (55), also a member of DMJSPC.

Forests: Rich source of medicines

Forest dwellers depend on their forests for treating many common ailments.  Many of them still possess the traditional knowledge of different plants, barks, leaves, roots, that are useful in treating many ailments.

“We don’t buy medicines. We get them from the forest and visit a hospital only on emergency situations,” said Shankha Soren of Bhagirathipur. Giving examples of some common medicines, he said, “For gastro-related diseases, we use barks of three trees, locally known as Doka, Hrut and Ul (mango); and roots of Murut tree. We crush them, extract the juice and consume it. Consumption of a mixture of these three times daily cures diarrhoea.”

“If we have fever, we use roots of some plants. For malaria, we use parts of Gangasiuli and Kadibuhu plants. Honey is another medicine used for different diseases,” he added.

Bhima Pradhan, 61, of Akhupadar provides free treatment to his co-villagers. He uses roots and medicinal herbs from the forests for treatment. He has gained the knowledge from his grandfather.

Forests is nurturer of wildlife and livestock

The conservation efforts of the women led to the thriving of wild life and domestic animals. “When our forests were degraded decades ago, we hardly came across a wild boar inside the jungle. But for the last three to four years, we are regularly sighting animals like deer, bear, elephants, rabbits and wild boars near our houses. It is because our forests have revived,” said Kabita of Mandam village. We notice that the number of porcupines, pangolins, wild buffaloes (Gayala), blackbucks, cheetahs and peacocks has gone up after an increase in forest cover, said Kanaka Pradhan of Akhupadar.

“Forests provide vast grassland and fodder for our livestock including goats, buffaloes, cattle and pigs,” said Bishnu Priya Pradhan of G Udaygiri in Kandhamal district. She leads the youth to protect forests in the region.

Natural regeneration of forests, the answer 

As the debate continues over what’s a better solution – between plantations of new trees and restoration of naturally grown forests (in many places with support of local communities) – to restoration of forests in order to meet our climate goals, these indigenous women and their community members certainly vote for the second choice.  One thing is established, that growing trees is essential.  The size of a soccer field being cut down every 6 seconds, the loss of matured tropical forests has been a big concern globally. 

Plantations are needed but “right species at the right place” is the basic minimum principle that needs to be adhered to. 

However, no matter how scientifically they are done and with what so ever socio-cultural and ecological factors have been taken into consideration, plantations cannot replace the matured forests. Older, large-diameter trees have proven to store massive amounts of carbon compared to smaller trees. Forests, as these women and indigenous communities have opined, have much larger benefits than just providing a carbon sink to us.  Science and research confirm what these women have to say from their experiences.

A healthy forest can retain water to prevent droughts, provide food for local animals and people, and keep planet-warming carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. Forests account for 75 percent of freshwater resources worldwide. Water is better absorbed into the soil thanks to trees and forests which improve groundwater recharge and feed springs and rivers. Former director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Dr. Sarat Chandra Sahoo said, “Forests regulate the rainfall patterns and support good rainfall. They massively evaporate water during photosynthesis and emit biological particles such as pollen and fungal spores. These particles serve as the nuclei of rain droplets.” This apart, forests also reduce occurrence of thunderstorms by arresting the clouds from floating away, added Sahu.

Nutritionists state that the quality of macro-nutrients available in forest food is of better quality and that the micro-nutrient content is very high when compared to the non-forest foods. According to Hemanta Kumar Sahoo, Researcher, Society for Research in Ecology and the Environment(SREE), Bhubaneswar, there is hardly any incidence of malnutrition among the people who reside inside dense natural forests.  Forests are not only vital for our health and food-nutrition security, but creates jobs for more than 13 million people and about a third of the world’s population depends on forests and trees for their daily requirement. While clean water and air and a healthy walk in the woods have their healing effects, around 75 percent of the most commonly prescribed medicines source their ingredients from forests. Further, forests are the most important living gene-banks on earth. While they are home to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, many of the foods we consume today originated as wild crops in the forests.

Forests provide fodder and rangeland for 30 to 40 million pastoralists worldwide who heard some 4,000 million cattle, goats and sheep.

Even as we push for more plantations and wait for them to grow to a capacity of providing most of the services needed for humans and other species, which might take decades or even centuries, the clear message from these indigenous women is to prioritise protection of the remaining natural biodiversity rich forests of the earth.  We cannot grow at the cost of them and plantations are certainly not going to provide an alternative to natural forests anytime in near future, and not even in remote future if not done with complete care.  Reforestation has to happen in partnership with the communities and rights over the forests be granted to communities where they have been protecting their local forests.