Conservation APRIL 20, 2012

Breathing life back in

There is a pressing need to restore habitats in the before the ecology of the

The hills now face threats from with the High Range and Anaimalai Hills. Sri Lanka also has a similar elevated range in the Central High- lands, and all of these mountains have similar Pre- tourism, a tidal wave of waste, Cambrian geological origins. Today the fragile eco- expanding development projects, systems in the Palani Hills are under threat – from both anthropogenic and ecological actors – and and ecological changes linked to there is a pressing need to restore habitats before there is an irreversible change to the area’s ecology. invasive species. This article explores the idea of ecological restora- tion, what it means and why it is an idea whose time NOT far from the bustling streets and temples of has come in the upper Palani Hills landscape. Madurai, a city with some of the oldest links to Although they are named for the temple town southern India’s cultural history, is a mountain land- dedicated to Murugan, the Palani Hills are most scape that has experienced relatively little ecological often associated with their hill station of . change since the advent of Homo sapiens in India. Once a sleepy, little-known summer village, it has The Palani Hills are composed of a lofty 1,000- now metamorphosed into a major tourist hub at- 2,000-metre plateau protruding eastwards from the tracting visitors from across the State, country and spinal-cord-like into the semi-arid world throughout the year. People are drawn to the plains within eyesight of the temple town. Composed town’s salubrious climate, viewpoints, man-made of weathered charkonite schist, the hills host a range lake, confectionaries and other attractions. Most of different ecosystems and forest types. Morpholog- tourists come for short visits from the nearby urban ically they are similar to the Nilgiris and contiguous centres in southern India, and the traditional “sea-

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A PAN0RAMIC VIEW of the nto the sholas Palani Hills.

e area changes irreversibly. TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY IAN LOCKWOOD

son” that happens in the months of Issues of competing claims on land in upper Palani’s plateau supported a April and May has now been extended the lower hills towards the east of the vast shola/grasslands mosaic, stretch- for most of the year. Some visitors stay range and the cash-laced issue of tou- ing from the present lake basin to the on. The town hosts an eclectic mix of rism are factors that have contributed western boundary with the High people fleeing India’s urban centres: to the stalemate. In the meantime, the Range. This particular vegetation type cheese-makers, organic farmers, re- myriad set of pressures on the land- is typical of the upper areas (roughly tired civil servants, missionaries, art- scape has steadily increased. The Pala- above 1,500 m) of the Western Ghats. ists and many others. While most of ni Hills now face threats from tourism The notable areas that support (or sup- these people are drawn to the beauty numbers, a tidal wave of waste, ex- ported) it are in the Nilgiri Hills, the and appeal of the hills, few of them are panding development projects, and High Range and the Anaimalai Hills aware of the unique ecology of the area ecological changes linked to invasive as well as in a few other highland and the dramatic changes that have species. It is a crucial moment, and patches. Undisturbed shola/grassland taken place in recent years. though the challenge is significant, systems are characterised by large ex- Nine years ago an article in this this is the time to act. panses of montane savanna grasslands journal (Frontline, August 15, 2003) interrupted by pockets of dense ever- addressed the lingering issue of pro- ON THE NATURE OF green tropical and subtropical broad- tected area and community-based SHOLA/GRASSLANDS leaf forests called sholas. conservation initiatives in the Palani One reason why the Palani Hills are Ecologists recognise undisturbed Hills. To this date, the issue remains in special is that they still host remnant shola/grasslands as important hydr- limbo, while proposals and counter- examples of the once dominant shola/ ological systems, especially compared claims work their way through various grasslands vegetation mosaic. There with plantations of introduced tree government offices and elected bodies. was a time not so long ago when the species. They help to intercept damp

FRONTLINE 65 GRASSLANDS AT IBEX Peak. These are threatened by encroaching exotic vegetation.

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monsoon air currents and absorb much of the dramatic rainfall of the two wet seasons. Shola/grasslands are thus vital elements in the watersheds that millions of people living in the drier shadow of the mountains depend on for sustenance. Biodiversity is unique in shola/grasslands, with lead- ing scientists calling them “sky islands” isolated from each other by changed conditions in the lowlands. There are relic populations (such as rhododen- dron species) whose nearest relatives are in the Himalayas and still older species (such as tree ferns, Cyathea sp.) that date back to the age of Gond- wanaland. The high altitude of the southern highlands means that cold temperatures and frost play a key role in the winters. The system periodically experiences fires, and there has been much debate in the past about the role of fire in shola/grassland systems. The shola/grasslands mosaic is now broad- ly recognised as the climax vegetation of these hills rather than as an accident of anthropogenic influences (grazing, fire, and so on). For much of the 20th century, montane grasslands were categorised MIST RISING UP to cliffs at 2,500 metres in a relatively undisturbed part of as “wasteland”. As a result, most of the the Palani Hills escarpment. montane grasslands were converted into commercial plantations of non- native, fast-growing tree species (nota- bly eucalyptus, pinus and acacia) in all the major upper plateaus in the West- ern Ghats. In the Palani Hills, this most often left the pockets of shola undisturbed, but today these are hard to spot amidst the massive plantations. Afforestation of the montane grass- lands started in the colonial period but continues into the present in some ar- eas. Very few areas in the higher West- ern Ghats were spared from plantations. Today the largest expans- es of undisturbed shola/grasslands survive only in ’s Eravikulam National Park and ’s Muk- kurthy National Park and the Anaima- lai Tiger Reserve (all areas that had been set aside for controlled hunting at one point in time). However, crucial places like the upper Palani Hills (un- AT PRAYER POINT near Marion. Small populations of der reserve forests) have pockets of Nilgiri tahr are still holding out on the southern habitat that still retain surviving rem- escarpment but are threatened by invasive tree species.

FRONTLINE 67 The biodiversity of Palani Hills

WHITE-BELLIED SHORTWING.

A LARGE-SCALED PIT viper.

GREEN FROG.

SHRUB FROG. A GAUR AT Kukaal.

68 FRONTLINE PRUNELLA VULGARIS.

VALERIAN.

EXACUM WIGHTIANUM.

LYSIMACHIA LESCHENAULTII.

FRONTLINE 69 APRIL 20, 2012

nants of the mosaic. It is these areas HERE, SYMPLOCOS that offer a significant opportunity for COCHINCHINENSIS in ecological restoration efforts. a wattle forest near Gundar Valley. Shola INTO THE REMOTE PALANIS species are starting to Last summer, I had the good fortune to colonise plantations of spend an extended period in the Pala- exotic trees on their nis where I participated in two surveys edges. of the upper Palani plateau that helped give a real sense of both the incredible VCT VOLUNTEERS ecological wealth of the area and the AND workers cut back fragility of the ecosystems. Both sur- wattle at the Vatapari veys were organised through the Vat- marsh. This degraded takanal Conservation Trust (VCT) marsh and grassland is with the support of the Tamil Nadu a key experimental site Forest Department. The aim was to get to gauge the a qualitative assessment of the ecosys- effectiveness of the tems along the southern escarpment restoration measures.

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that stretches from Kodaikanal to Top experiments in potato cultivation, but Station. Several of us had surveyed the in the end it was the large monoculture same area in 1996 during the kurinji tree plantations that came to dominate (Strobilanthes sp.) blooming (Fron- the landscape. tline, August 8, 2006). On this trip we The road to was closed in were specifically interested in the state the 1990s because it seemed to encour- of grasslands in these remote parts of age uncontrolled tourist traffic and il- the Palanis. legal activities (poaching and ganja The southern escarpment of the cultivation). It has now been taken Palani Hills hosts what are arguably over by a mix of introduced and native some of the grandest, yet least known, vegetation. Fallen trees lie across large landscapes in the entire Western sections, a deep layer of humus has Ghats. The cliffs of the escarpment rise built up over tarmac, and there are abruptly from the plains of the Vaigai only remnants of the former road. basin and ascend to a tableland whose Strands of Rubus ellipticus, the exotic edge undulates from 1,800 to 2,500 raspberry of the hills, and other shrubs metres. The escarpment runs in a have engulfed large areas. The old roughly east-to-west direction and is granite milestones, citing mileage to interrupted by steep ridges and cliffs Cochin (Kochi) and Madurai, bear si- diving precipitously downwards to the lent testimony to a time gone by. dry plains. Deciduous forest mixed On the first trek, our initial task with evergreen riparian woods carpet was to find the old 80-mile round path the lower slopes. In the upper reaches, that once led along the most spectac- patches of grasses and evergreen for- ular cliffs, connecting Kodaikanal via ests provide a last habitat for small Marion Shola to Vandaravu (the high populations of Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritra- point in the Palani Hills that was once gus hylocrius), the endangered signa- known as the highest motorable road ture ungulate of the Western Ghats. in India south of the Himalayas). The The union of the Palanis with the rest 80-mile round was once a four-or-five- of the Western Ghats near Top Station day trek that many visitors to Kodaika- is a riot of rugged landscapes, grand nal in the early to mid-20th century peaks and lush forests. traditionally took during their sum- The access to the escarpment is dif- mer sojourns. I have always had a spe- ficult, and assuming permissions have cial affinity with the area: my been granted, a good day’s walk from grandfather and father had both hiked the road head is needed before you and photographed their adventures on reach the cliff habitats. Historically, a the 80 and I followed in their footsteps road connected Kodaikanal to the tea- in the 1980s as a student at Kodaikanal planting town of Munnar in Kerala’s International School. In the 1920s and High Range. It was built as an escape 1930s, the area was a relatively undis- route in anticipation of a Japanese in- turbed wilderness, and later, during vasion in the early 1940s, an event that my father’s time in the 1950s, there never materialised. For the first dec- were few plantations in the outer hills. ades of Independence, the road gave However, by the time I came of age, the people with automobiles an opportu- grasslands had been largely consumed nity to motor through stunning, undis- by vast plantations of exotic trees. turbed shola/grasslands habitat. That We ended up thrashing through changed in the 1960s and 1970s when dense groves of wattle (Acacia melan- the upper Palanis was intensively oxylon) that had been blown into a planted with non-native fuel wood maze of fallen branches, upturned species. Montane grasslands, under roots and thick trunks with layers of the jurisdiction of the Forest Depart- brittle, peeling bark. Invasive Eupato- ment, were considered “wastelands” rium had taken advantage of the and had to be put to productive use, in breaks in the canopy. There seemed to this case to provide fuel wood, tannin be no decomposers interested in and pinewood. There were also failed breaking down the fallen Australian

FRONTLINE 71 SHOLA, IN CONTRAST to plantations and grasslands in the background, on the southern escarpment. wood and navigating through it was a high point at Ibex Peak, the site of our marsh. On the adjacent cliffs, pinus nightmare. Halfway through the first survey. When we reached the trees of varying youthful ages had self- thicket I ended up upside down after cliffs, we were impressed to discover a seeded and encroached into remnant slipping off a wattle tree with my 25 kg large meadow with a bewildering array grasslands. Piles of Nilgiri tahr pellets backpack, cursing the people that in- of wild flowers, and grasses. The other lay collected on delicate mosses in the troduced the species to the hills. At last team members started inventorying shadow of these invasions. It was a we found the trail of the 80, familiar to the myriad species, while I photo- bizarre scene. Mexican pine trees, so me from numerous trips during my graphed and noted down the records. similar to Christmas trees with their school and subsequent years. It passed I could not help being floored by drooping acidic needles, taking over through pockets of shola mixed in with the variety of colours and details of the some of the last grasslands of the tahr, plantations, and we witnessed signs of flowers. However, on both sides of the a species that clung to survival in elephants, gaur and what looked like meadow, plantations of pinus, acacia small, inconsequential numbers in the wild dog droppings. and eucalyptus were expanding out of Palanis. We recognised that a small The path ascended to the 2,513-m their original planted areas into the effort could quickly arrest the spread

72 FRONTLINE PLASTIC WASTE LEFT by tourists in the Guna Caves shola has been dumped between the roots of an ancient tree. of the pine. During the next few days, then on the second trip to Marion Sho- large mammal populations in the up- we explored westwards along the es- la, we had a chance to observe the Nil- per hills. Residents of the township of carpment. The scenery was, as I had giri tahr on the escarpment cliffs. Most Kodaikanal are well aware that herds remembered, stunning but the pro- of them were at a distance but a few of gaur are found daily around the lake gress of the unplanned tree invasions herds were 30-40 m away. The planta- and frequently in the middle of the was alarming. tions flowing over the cliffs were en- town and in their front gardens! Indi- During the original planting in the croaching on the habitat that the tahr an giant squirrels (Ratufa indica) have 1970s, the cliff-side grasses had been prefer. There is evidently some pres- returned to Bombay Shola (Frontline, left alone, but now they were slowly sure from poachers living in remote, November 6, 2009, and Nilgiri lan- but surely being swallowed up by the hard-to-reach plantations on the low- gurs (Trachypithecus johnii) are mak- non-native tree species which were er cliffs, and the tahr seemed to stay ing a slow return at Pambar and self-seeding and spreading into the high on the escarpment. Berijam Sholas. Farther out towards last domain of the grasslands. To long-term observers of the Pala- Berijam, there has been an increase in Over the course of several days and nis, there has been a clear revival of the sambar (Cervus unicolor) popula-

FRONTLINE 73 EUCALYPTUS TREES INVADING grasslands on the Palani Hills. tion, and herds of elephants now seem stopped in 2001 when the South India were largely left intact during the con- to be permanently roaming the upper Viscos plant in Coimbatore was shut version of grasslands to tree planta- plateau (something that was extremely down on account of serious water pol- tions. Even today significant sholas rare 20 years ago). Reports of big cats lution concerns (wattle contains tan- survive among the plantations though are more frequent, with tigers being nic acid, a key ingredient for tanning the water flow and hydrology have found in Berijam and signs of leopard hides, and so on). been adversely affected. When logging on the rise nearer to human settle- With the evolving notion of the happened, native species were mostly ments. Two years ago, a pack of wild Western Ghats being a “biodiversity left alone. What is less known is that dogs (Cuon alpinus) made a dramatic hotspot”, there was also increasing in- shola species have spread into planta- kill of a guar at the Vatapari marsh terest in protecting the area for its bio- tions of the non-native species. In nu- within full view of a VCT team doing diversity. Environmentalists at the merous locations across the Palanis, restoration work. Palani Hills Conservation Council had there has been shola invasion of the also highlighted the hydrological argu- exotic plantations! This is a significant THE PARADOX OF PLANTATIONS ment for protection: “The health of the and unexpected change. In some cases, Non-native tree plantations in the up- hill is the wealth of the plains.” Howev- what were once montane grasslands per Palani Hills pose a curious, para- er, other than the blocking of traffic and were then converted into planta- doxical challenge to ecologists, and the halting of logging, little was tions under the guidance of foresters is conservationists and foresters: a ban done to address the serious ecological now evolving into a hybrid shola forest. on logging for altruistic reasons has damage that had happened in the dec- From a biodiversity point of view, this allowed non-native species to ravage ades of rampant silviculture. What we is intriguing though it is not what was native populations with few checks. now know is that leaving alone the in place before the plantation drives. Once plantations were established ex- mixed landscapes of plantation on for- tensively in the 1970s, the upper Palani mer grasslands, with patches of sholas, THE NEXT BIG THING Hills were commercially logged for has contributed to a dramatic shift in The idea of ecological restoration in several decades. The wood provided an the ecology of the upper hills. The ram- degraded montane grasslands in the important energy source for hill com- ifications are significant for both bio- Palanis is a vital solution to the woes of munities and raw materials for indus- diversity and the hydrology of the hills. the Palanis, from an ecological, aes- tries in the plains. However, It is important to remember that thetic and economic point of view. It is commercial logging in this area was the sholas of the upper Palanis plateau highly doubtful that the original shola/

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grasslands mosaic can be restored to natural ecosystems, but is a potentially its full extent. However, crucial areas profitable source of biomass energy such as the cliff grasslands of the and/or timber. Technically, any resto- New idea southern escarpment (Kodaikanal- ration work could pay for itself with Berijam-Marion Shola-Vandaravu) the sales of wood, though this is an idea area are in urgent need of restorative that is rarely talked about. It would in India intervention. It is only relatively re- also provide employment opportuni- THE Society for Ecological Res- cently that the grasslands have been ties and thus give populations in the toration defines ecological resto- invaded by the non-native species and hills a stake in restoration and conser- ration as “an intentional activity thus the restorative work should focus vation initiatives. that initiates or accelerates the on weeding out non-native plants and Restoration work on montane recovery of an ecosystem with re- giving indigenous ones a chance to grasslands is currently being carried spect to its health, integrity and thrive and survive. Many of the grasses out by the VCT at the Vatapari marsh sustainability”. Frequently, the still exist here, hanging on perilously near the Kodaikanal golf links. It is the ecosystem is degraded, dam- among the invasive exotic tree and first time that anyone in the Western aged, transformed or entirely de- shrub species. A sustained campaign Ghats has tried to restore these sys- stroyed by human activities. could conceivably address this prob- tems, and experience has proved that Ecological restoration is now a lem. The cliff area is significant be- the process is slow-moving The VCT key management strategy in pro- cause it is the habitat for Nilgiri tahr has received support from the Tamil tected areas across the world. and indeed they are good indicators of Nadu Forest Department and estab- In India, it is a relatively new the health of the native shola/grass- lished a partnership to move the idea idea, but clearly there will need lands vegetation. A further idea that is of restoration forward. Essentially, it is to be further interest in ecolog- worth exploring at a different time conducting the critical experimental ical restoration. The Nature would be the reintroduction of cap- work that must be implemented on a Conservation Foundation based tive-bred tahr in the cliff ranges closer larger scale once there has been grea- in Mysore has been conducting to Kodaikanal. ter acceptance of the idea of restoring pioneering work in degraded There are economic reasons to pro- montane grasslands. A key aspect of rainforests converted into tea es- mote ecological restoration. The very their study is the study of steam flow tates near Valparai. Their work significant quantity of biomass that and changes in hydrological patterns in the Anaimalais has set the has built up in the upper plateau plan- as the extent of the restoration ex- standard for others trying to re- tations of the Palanis does little for the pands. At its nurseries, the VCT team store similar rainforest habitats. has successfully propagated the variety At the same time the Vattakanal of native montane grassland species Conservation Trust has also been that would be needed in any restora- building up years of successful tion initiative. shola regeneration in the Palani The Palani Hills face an uncertain Hills, an idea first hatched by the future as tourism and development ex- Palani Hills Conservation Coun- pand into the periphery in the outlying cil through its shola nurseries. hills further away from the core area of The VCT’s work with restor- Kodaikanal. The ecological changes of ing the Vatapari marsh near the the past 50 years are significant and yet Kodaikanal golf links is the first we are understanding only now what effort in the Western Ghats to kind of a dramatic ecological impact restore montane grasslands and has been caused by the conversion of will establish clear methodolo- montane grasslands into non-native gies for further restoration activ- tree plantations. There is a great need ities in the upper plateau areas of to map vegetation types and land use the Western Ghats. It is now set- in the hills and create a dynamic GIS ting up nurseries of native grass- database of the area. es and shrubs that complement There is a need for further educa- their success with raising differ- tion about the ecology of the hills. Atti- ent shola species. tudes about natural ecology and the See http://www.vattakanal- role of it in biodiversity and hydrology conservationtrust.org/ for fur- THE FOREST DEPARTMENT and are absent in the dash of tourists to see ther information. NGOs run nurseries that specialise all the sites, dance in pine forests, eat Ian Lockwood in propagating native shola species. as much as possible, and breathe in the

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famous Kodai air. At night the lake basin reverberates with the deep tech- no thump of various hotel discos. Out of sight of most of visitors is a hillside and shola edge polluted by veritable mountains of waste that the tourists and the township produce. The idea of sustainable tourism that is less reliant on vehicles, uses less fossil fuel, creates less waste and stresses the natural as- pects of the hills is still a dream in the working. Meanwhile, out in the remote Pa- lanis there is an urgent need for quick restorative action to arrest the spread of non-native species into the remain- ing native montane grasslands along the escarpment. २ Ian Lockwood is an environmental educator, geographer, writer and photographer based in Sri Lanka. More of his work can be sampled at www.highrangephotography.com

REFERENCES Bawa, Kamaljit S., Primack, Ri- chard and Oommen, Meera Anna; Conservation Biology: A Primer for South Asia; ATREE/University Press, Hyderabad, 2011. Chandran, M.D; “On the ecolog- ical history of Western Ghats”; Cur- rent Science; 73: pages 146-155; 1997. Myers, N., Mittermeier, R., Mitter- meier, C., da Fonseca, G., and Kent, J. “Biodiversity hotspots for conserva- tion priorities”; Nature; 403: pages 853–858; 2000. Robin, V.V., Sinha, Anindya and Ramakrishnan, Uma; “A view from the past: shortwings and sky islands of the Western Ghats”; Indian Birds, Oc- tober 2011. Samra, J.S. et al; “Hydrological im- plications of planting bluegum in nat- ural shola and grasslands watersheds of southern India”; 10th International Soil Conservation Organisation Con- ference; May 1999. Society for Ecological Restoration (www.ser.org). Thomas, S.M. and Palmer, M.W.; “The montane grasslands of the West- RHODODENDRONS, SUCH AS this one on the Ibex Peak ern Ghats, India: Community ecology escarpment, are among the few trees that coexist with and conservation”; Community Ecol- montane grasslands. ogy; 891: pages 67-73, 2007.

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