TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN Department für Ökosystem-und Landschaftsmanagement Lehrstuhl für Waldbau und Forsteinrichtung Patterns of forest use and its influence on degraded dry forests: A case study in Tamil Nadu, South India Joachim Schmerbeck Vollständiger Abdruck der von dem Promotionsausschuss der Studienfakultät für Forstwissenschaft und Ressourcenmanagement an der Fakultät Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan für Ernährung, Landnutzung und Umwelt der Technischen Universität München zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Forstwissenschaft (Dr. rer. silv.) genehmigten Dissertation Freising-Weihenstephan, November 2003 Gedruckt mit der Unterstützung von Dr. Berthold Schmerbeck Erstkorrektor: Prof. Dr. R. Mosandl Zweitkorrektor: PD Dr. K. Seeland Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 18.12.02 Copyright Shaker Verlag 2003 Printed in Germany ISBN 3-8322-2214-6 ISSN 1615-1674 „IN THE FIRST PLACE WE HAVE TO FIND SOLUTIONS FOR MAN; NOT FOR THE FOREST” Anonymus For my parents Acknowledgement As I started this study I was not aware of the dimensions of the work I had chosen to undertake. To make it a success, was not just a matter of raising funds and going to India. Struggle in the German and Indian administrative jungle, slow progress of simple things, stressful fieldwork, broken computers, dealing with new software as well as deep valleys of frustration and loneliness were my companions. Without the assistance of so many good people, I would not have been able to conduct this study. To rank these persons according to their importance is impossible. So many would hold the first position. Therefore I wish to mention them in the order, in which they became involved in my project. Already in 1995 I discussed my idea of a Ph.D. research with Dr. Bernd Stimm, Chair of Silvicuture and Forest Planning, Technische Universität Munich. He was a great help to me from the very beginning. Prof. Dr. R. Mosandl, head of the Chair of Silvicuture and Forest Planning, agreed to supervise my research and gave me the scientific base for putting my idea into practice. In my search for guidance for the social part of the study I found excellent support in PD. Dr. K. Seeland, Chair for Forest Policy and Forest Economy, ETH Zurich, who helped me substantially. Applying for a scholarship and getting prepared for the work in Tamil Nadu was made possible through the help of Dr. E. Weber who took time and effort to share his experiences with me. I also want to express my gratitude and thanks to the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Bonn. Without whose financial support and help in getting settled in Tamil Nadu, this study would not have been possible. A very special thanks go to my parents, Hermann and Adelheid Schmerbeck, who never tired of helping me mentally and financially, especially my father who arranged all matters for me in Germany. A frame for my work, help in the daily problems arising whilst living in a foreign country, good friendship and hospitality were shown to me by the Palni Hills Conservation Council (PHCC). My hearty thanks go to the staff representatives, Mr. Jeyakaran, Mr. Murgesh, Mr. Alex, Mr. Kannan and Mr. Shaktivill. A special thanks goes to the staff of the Kadavakurichi project who gave me excellent support in the field. The fieldwork would have been impossible without the endurance and conscientiousness of three gentlemen who supported the entire project. My warmest thanks go to Mr. Ravichendran from Genguvarpatty, Mr. Vettaiyan and Mr. Subramanian from Kombaipatty for the great assistance in data and information collection and for sharing with me the roughest work I had done in my life. A special thanks to Mrs M. Pattalammal for providing good nourishing food for all of us as well as keeping my house in order. All the computer work from the Internet connection, software preparation, organisation of spare parts, data entry and first analysis would not have been possible without the patient and persistent guidance of Mr. Rudy Wuthrich, who always found time and energy apart from his jobs at the Bodhi Zendo and Kodaikanal International School to help me. For the helpful advice in questions of plant sociological data collection I want to thank PD. Dr. Clemens Abs, Chair for Geobotany, Technische Universität-Munich and Dr. Jean Philip Puyravaud, Pondicherry. For highly qualified advice in the statistical settings of the field work and for answering my questions a very big thanks to Mr. Hany el Kateb, Chair of Silvicuture and Forest Planning, TU-Munich. I I want to take this opportunity to express my warmest and sincerest thanks to Mr. Jean Poyet, Auroville, who was and is still a valuable teacher and source of inspiration for me. For assisting me with plant identification and allowing me to use the herbarium for reference purposes I want to thank Father K.M. Mathew, Rapinat Herbarium Tiruchirapalli, and Mr. B.R. Ramesh from the French Institute Pondicherry. For the long informative discussions I want to thank Mr. Venkadesh, District Forest Officer Dindigul, Mr. Reddy, District Forest Officer Kodaikanla and Mr. Vijayakumar, Forester Batlagundu. To Dr. Reinhard Koch, of Bodhi Zendo, Perumalmalai. I wish to express gratitude for the understanding care and good advice in the socio-economic fieldwork. Dr. Thomas Knoke, Chair of Silviculture and Forest Planning gave the necessary support essential for the design and the procedure of the statistical analysis. I would like to express my appreciation to him for the guidance, encouragement and support in my research. My colleagues at the Chair of Silviculture and Forest Planning, Dr. Simon Reimeier, Dr. Alexander Riedel, Dr. Maria Bauer, PD. Dr. Michael Weber, PD Dr. Christian Ammer, Mrs. Karin Thoroe, Dr. Jonathan Onyekwelu, Forst Diplom Ing. Verena Kukuk and Mrs Karin Blümel where very helpful and supportive and for this I wish to thank them. For the necessary proof reading and correction of my English, I which to express my thanks to Martina Hoschatt, Karl Rauscher and Edith Lubitz. Also my sincere and warm thanks to Caroline Block for helping in the design and the cartography, Markus Schmerbeck and Christoff Klebel for proof reading and once again to my family for their unending support. God bless you all II Table of contents List of tables.........................................................................................................................VII List of figures ........................................................................................................................IX List of appendices..................................................................................................................XI List of abbreviation ............................................................................................................ XIII Summary ...........................................................................................................................XIIII Zusammenfassung........................................................................................................... XVIII 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims, objectives and hypotheses of the study .............................................................. 3 1.3 Structure of the study .................................................................................................... 4 2 Forestry in India and Tamil Nadu ................................................................................... 5 2.1 Forest history abstract ................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Forestry today................................................................................................................ 8 2.2.1 Forest Cover........................................................................................................... 8 2.2.2 Growth and utilisation ............................................................................................ 9 2.2.3 Deforestation and Degradation............................................................................. 11 2.2.4 Forest fires............................................................................................................ 12 2.3 Joint Forest Management ............................................................................................ 14 2.4 Forestry in Tamil Nadu ............................................................................................... 17 3 Study area......................................................................................................................... 19 3.1 Selection of the study area .......................................................................................... 19 3.2 Location....................................................................................................................... 20 3.3 Environmental conditions........................................................................................... 23 3.3.1 Climate ................................................................................................................. 23 3.3.2 Geology and Soil .................................................................................................. 25