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World after 5 th Extinction

V Featured Topic : We are at…. WAR RISK (Concluding Part)

V Editors’ Desk : Whose Forest is This!!

V Post Editorial : Forest

Interrupted

V Story Room : Arnab Basu A day trip to “Sangam”

V Theme Poster : The Cold War Orangutan of Bukit Lawang, Sumatra The global arms race after 1945 produced incalculable accelerations of every tool of destruction. One of the smallest weapons, though multiplied almost countless times, has been (1961-1975), as the U.S. Air the land mine. Some one hundred million unexploded anti- Force applied Agent Orange personnel mines remain around the planet, littering rural and other defoliants to the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and many other war-torn countries, forests of Indochina. In grievously retarding the restoration of post-war farms, pastures, addition to fourteen million forests, and water regimes. These and a Pandora's box of other tons of bombs and shells, weapons have spread through many unstable regions of the American planes sprayed forty- post-colonial world—Africa and elsewhere. Grim contributions four million litres of Agent to wars both civil and trans-boundary, have also extracted a Orange and twenty-eight widespread ecological toll on forests, savannas, and farmlands. million litres of other defoliants over Vietnam. The result was Equally widespread, by the time the Cold War ended in 1990, serious damage to 1.7 million long-term pollution effects of military industry left many hectares of upland forest and locations severely poisoned. Weapons production sites and mangrove marshes, widespread testing grounds in the United States required massively soil poisoning or loss of soil, expensive clean-ups of a broad spectrum of toxic wastes. Even and destruction of wildlife and more appalling, large areas of Soviet and Eastern European land fish habitat. and air had become virtual wastelands, and even the Arctic Ocean, north of Russia was severely polluted. Chemical warfare Most potent of all in the post- reached a new level of destruction in the Second Vietnam War 1945 years, the nuclear

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technology became the most ominous environmental threat in history, though its greatest impact resulted from the peacetime armament race rather than from actual war. Until international nuclear-testing freeze conventions came into effect, weapons testing sites, such as Soviet sites in Central Asia and Britain's testing grounds in central Australia, became uninhabitable for almost all forms of life. And in the southern Pacific Ocean, islands and their coastal reefs, their civilian populations entirely

removed by force, became unfit for life as a result of American Johnson B. Lyndon - and French nuclear weapons testing. Beyond that, in the nuclear industrial complex, many weapons production and storage sites became highly radioactive. In the United States,

nuclear facilities in Washington state, Colorado, and elsewhere States United the of President man can no longer walk with became radioactive sewers. Soviet nuclear weapons sites were thing more than the miracles of even more radioactive. the beauty salvage and destroyed t through with it." it." with through t Finally, twentieth-century warfare has made a major contribution to warming of the global atmosphere. Military establishments consume great amounts of fossil fuels, contributing directly to global warming. The Persian Gulf War of 1991 was the most notorious case of atmospheric pollution in wartime, as the plumes of burning oil wells darkened skies for months, far downwind. It now seems that the fires caused less regional and global air pollution than was feared in their immediate aftermath, though they precipitated heavy pollution on nearby deserts, farmlands, and the Gulf's waters.

In the present state of research, there is a wide need for more studies of the long-term ecological legacies of warfare. The immediate impacts of conflicts are far easier to assess, especially, since the wars of the nineteenth century. But they do not necessarily represent the ecological or agro-ecological viability of the longer run, as this also reflects the great capacities of societies to restore damaged landscapes to productivity. The great marshes of southern Iraq are a dramatic recent example of restoration. In the aftermath of the Gulf War is destroyed, it can never be recaptured. And once ld as it was in the beginning, not just after we go we after just not beginning, the in was it as ld of 1991, Saddam Hussein retaliated against the tribal sheikhs been has what restore we must destruction, from it and Shia population of the south by diverting the flow of the itude rather than contempt, we must leave them some Tigris and Euphrates rivers, turning some 90% of the marshes wasted.” be hissustenance and into a desert wasteland. After his overthrow early in the present Iraq war, a coalition of local people, private volunteer organizations and the United Nations Environmental Program began a program of re-flooding the marshlands. In spite of continued violence in the region, roughly one third of the marshes have been restored to something like their previous health for both the Marsh Arabs and the fecundity of fish, migratory birds, and other species. This example suggests, the long history of restoration work deserves greater emphasis than most of our narratives of wars' impacts acknowledge.

“If future are generations to us remember with grat wor the of glimpse a them leave must We technology. save and side the country protect not only “We must and charm of our cities … Once our natural splendor wither will hisspirit nature, at wonder or beauty

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In an affidavit to the apex court in Jun 2004, Government of Editors’ Desk: India, admitted to the historical injustice that have been levied upon tribes and co- habitants of the woods of the Whose Forest is This??? subcontinent started by WPA, On 29th December 2006, an Act of Parliament, a path-breaking 1972 followed by FCA, 1980 legislation, has received the assent of the President of India that was in the name of acknowledges the injustice meted out to India’s forest dwellers, environmental protection, as particularly tribes. The act is “The Scheduled Tribes and Other these acts were at loggerheads Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, vis a vis recognising the rights 2006” popularly known as Forest Right Act, 2006. In the of the tribes, an immediate preamble of the law it was claimed that the act recognised the need to address to the customary and historical rights of scheduled and non-scheduled situation has arisen. Latter tribe communities, who have been residing in forests in India 2004 the National Advisory but whose rights couldn’t be recorded earlier and undo the Council ultimately decided to “Historical Injustice” done to the tribes and forest dwellers since find a solution to this problem pre-independence. FRA recognised that jungle dwellers have once and for all. After equal rights in the forests to the flora and fauna and they are an discussing with the Ministry of important and integral part of forests. The provision that was Environment and Forestry and enshrined in FRA recognised that forest inhabitants would be various Tribal Activist Groups, involved in sustainable development, conservation of it was decided that a new biodiversity and maintenance of the ecological balance, as they legislation was needed to be have a vast habitual knowledge on this. In that way, not only formulated to recognise and the rights were given to customary forest dwellers for usage of protect the rights of Scheduled forest resources but also for its management and governance. tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. With the A Legislation, to be a successful one, requires other acts enactment of FRA 2006, a governing the similar subject and the spirit of state during radical shift of power and implementation. It this case, neither has been witnessed. To governance of the forest took understand the problem better, we have to go back decades ago. place. FRA recognised the The Forest policy of 1952 maintained that for the conservation “citizens” of the jungle as an and protection of forests, it was important to control the essential part in the exploitation of the minor forest produce. When the Forest conservation of forests. The (Conservation) Act 1980 was brought into action, situation got locals of forest started taking worse. It took all the forest lands under the control of the Union part in decision making Government and still allowed the old colonial acts to play their process, more and more, in parts in the name of good and development. It put the regard to conservation of forest aborigines at the mercy of the bureaucratic system. Human and they have been given residents of the jungle for centuries were not allowed to graze access to forest resources to inside forest and allowed to collect even minor forest produce live on. A process of against high value permits. All their agricultural lands came sustainable development under the forest, which was allocated before, now called off started. overnight. Along with those pro-colonial bureaucratic legislations, in the name of conservation, the commercialisation Meanwhile, some other of forest made the situation even worse. Where they managed to developments occurred. The live on minor forest produce paying high permit fees, were FCA 1980 stipulated that forest under tremendous exploitation by forest department lands could only be used for bureaucracy and local forest contractors. Forest guards had a “non-forest” purposes like cut in minor forest products and the nexus of contractors and cultivation of tea, coffee, high ranked forest officers forced them to work for free, spices, rubber, palms, oil- exploiting their illiteracy and poor economic condition. The bearing plants, horticultural Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was amended in the year 1999 crops, medicinal plants or any and restricted the rights of the Natives in Wildlife Sanctuaries purpose other than and National Parks, even further. Since the tribes were being reforestation, against a exploited from all the sectors, it brought the indigenous together compensatory afforestation of and a social movement uniting the tribes initiated, voicing their any other “non-forest” area. It discontent with the present system. deterred forest diversion by

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putting a compensation value on forest resources calculated for traditional forest dwellers since a period of 50 years on the basis of the net present value of the colonial era. Question is not diverted forest with cost of afforestation added to it. A only how CAF rules take due Compensatory Afforestation fund Management and Planning cognisance of rules under FRA Authority was, therefore, constituted in 2004 by a direction of Act and uphold the right of apex court dated October 30, 2002. The ad-hoc CAMPA became consent of gram sabha, but it operational when Supreme Court intervened in this matter is also time for necessary again in 2006. The purpose of the CAMPA was to create a fund administrative reforms of the where all the payments received towards compensatory forest department. The afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal government needs to see that compensatory afforestation and net present value of the diverted over a period of time forest forest land will be deposited. The net present value is the bureaucracy is oriented to amount that someone has to pay for diverting forest land for acknowledge and appreciate non-forest purposes. The amount was to be determined by an that as public servants their expert committee appointed by the Centre and the CAMPA was role has to be subservient to to manage and utilise the same. It also directed that all the requirement of gram sabha funds deposited on behalf of the CAMPA to other who governs the forest departments/state governments would be transferred to the resources. Any lesser than this account managed by the authority. But soon after the purpose would be detrimental for of the CAMPA failed to perform. In the CAG report 2013, it was implementation of both the found that only 61% of the fund released by the CAMPA to acts, public resources and authorities, had been utilised and in over a year the fund grassroots democracy. reached to 41,000 crores and kept in nationalised banks in the absence of a formal institutional arrangement. This led to the formulation of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill 2015 and has been ultimately passed in upper houses of parliament in July 28, 2016. With the implementation of the CAF 2015, again the recognition of rights of tribes and other traditional forest dwellers have been challenged. It was important to unlock this fund through proper institutional mechanism so that the funds could be routed back to the people, with whom forest rights were vested by the Parliament. But unfortunately, in the recently passed CAF bill, funds are being vested with forest bureaucracy in a way that it gives them absolute power to decide where and what kind of plantations will be done. On the other hand, the power vested with gram sabha for due consent in areas eligible for FRA has been conveniently bypassed. And here lies the problem. FRA shifted power out of the hands of the forest bureaucracy, and used a fair justice framework to give power back to the people on ground. Forest department registered its resistance to passage of FRA Act in 2006. Since the conflict between control exercised by forest department and rights of the people on their forest resources, goes back to colonial times and is deep rooted, this development needs to be seen beyond the dichotomy of political parties i.e. the ruling party and the opposition. The forest bureaucracy despite passage of FRA act, through Forest Development Authority and with Joint forest management (JFM) schemes tried to ignore the existence of FRA. Forest Development Corporations continued with their business of trading in non-timber forest produce; transit passes were required for people to take out their non-timber forest produce as usual; and on top of business as usual there has been continuous non-cooperation approach followed by forest department in settling rights under FRA.

Now, with the enactment of CAF Bill 2015, the power is again being transferred to the forest bureaucracy, which was enjoying the overall control over forests of India and exploiting tribes and 4 | Page E-mail: [email protected] Website : www.exploringnature.org.in

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State government and the Asian Nature Conservation Post Editorial: Forest Interrupted Foundation, have a mean number of 3,017 Asian elephants — which is 35% of the total number of elephants

found in the contiguous Dr. Arun Venkataraman Brahmagiri-Nilgiri and 14% of the national numbers. The

reserves also hold nationally The proposed Nanjangud- and internationally significant Nilambur railway track would populations of other threatened affect the ecology of the and protected species such as region, disturbing the spatial the gaur and the Asiatic dhole, distribution of grazing not to mention several endemic resources and movement of species of birds found along wild animals, opines Arun the Western Ghats. Venkataraman The vegetation types here include Southern Tropical Dry, Deciduous and South Tropical (Originally published in Deccan Herald, 20 th September, 2016. Re- Moist Deciduous Forests. They published in Holocene, after obtaining permission from author) are characterised by Some recent reports state that the proposed revival of intermittent patches of Nanjangud-Nilambur railway track, is the worst recurring grasslands supporting a high nightmare that a conservationist can suffer. In a Kafkaesque ungulate biomass. These scenario, the railway line will pass through the core area of grasslands play a vital role in Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park, disastrously dividing keeping mega-herbivores such this landscape into two fragments and precipitating an as elephants and gaur, ecological catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. dispersed across the park. During the dry season from Bandipur — along with the contiguous Nagarhole Tiger Reserve March to May, when water is — provides 1,517 sq km of wildlife habitat and is part of a larger scarce across most of the complex of tiger reserves and protected areas which include the reserve, a large population of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. elephants and gaurs occupies While the project still needs several approvals from national and the moist deciduous forests in state agencies, the mere concept of the project is worrisome. The Wayanad and the grass-laden proposed railway line will pass through Chikkabaragi Eco- banks of the Kabini reservoir sensitive Zone and the Hediyala and the Moolehole ranges nestled between Bandipur and which are ‘inviolate’ core areas. This involves a track alignment Nagarhole. Large sections of of 22 km, out of which nearly 12 km pass through Bandipur the park are bone dry and and the remaining 10 km through the adjoining Wayanad devoid of mega-herbivores. Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala. With the advent of pre- Population growth is good monsoon, the entire area is transformed into a verdant The track will nullify decades of conservation efforts, which have pastureland. The change is finally resulted in improved wildlife numbers. According to the sudden, with grasses flush in National Tiger Conservation Authority, in its 2014 nation-wide the area with a mere hint of population estimate, the entire complex is thought to hold a increase in moisture in winds mean number of 570 Bengal tigers of which Bandipur and coming from the west! This Nagarhole have 221 tigers. This accounts for more than a flush moves down a northeast quarter of tigers within the country and is now considered the to southwest rainfall gradient. single largest population of tigers in the world. Given the Young grass tends to be far precarious status of tigers elsewhere in Asia with several more nutritious and the mega- populations recently going extinct or on the brink of extinction, herbivores move along the the importance of this population needs little justification. gradient seeking this. In addition, both reserves are a part of the Mysore Elephant The need for making up for Reserve and, according to the 2012 estimate carried out by the reduced nutrition in the dry

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season is so intense that when one encounters elephants grazing in these flushes, they are seldom disturbed even if one Exploration Series – 7 were to drive into the midst of a herd. Wagh Aala Patil

Impediments on the way Kolara Segment

If one were to assume that an overland track is eventually V 14 th January 2017 conceived and built, such dispersal of mega-herbivores would be seriously impeded. Raising sections of the track to permit 09:00hrs : Nagpur to Kolara movement through underpasses would require an intimate by Road. knowledge of the spatial distribution of grazing resources that 12:00hrs : Reach Kolara fluctuate drastically from year to year. Herbivores take the Kamp at Chimur. shortest distance to reach resource to optimise energy usage, and this would lead to crossing of tracks and hence, high 14:00hrs : 1st Safari at collision rates with trains. The impacts of an extended Kolara Gate. construction period would also be highly significant. 18:30hrs : Return to Kolara A large number of other threatened and protected mammals Camp. such as tigers, leopards, Asiatic dholes and sloth bears live in V 15 th January 2017 the area and it’s illogical to expect that all of them will restrict themselves to the usage of underpasses. Even with regulation of 06:30hrs : 2nd Safari at speeds and other restrictions on train passage we are likely to Kolara Gate. see colossal mortality through collisions. Solid waste discarded 11:30hrs : Return to Kolara from trains, which unfortunately litters nearly all tracks in our Camp. country, would attract wildlife, further increasing chances of collisions. It is presently impossible to predict what impact the 14:00hrs : 1st Safari at noise of trains is likely to have on the wildlife in the area. One Kolara Gate. must keep in mind that this is a pristine area which has had little human disturbance in the past, and probably with one of 18:30hrs : Return to Kolara Camp. the highest mammal biomass in the country or even in Asia living under near ideal conditions. V 16 th January 2017

The Wayanad area is largely agrarian and dominated by coffee 06:30hrs : 2nd Safari at plantations and other commodity crops. One wonders what Kolara Gate. trade this railway line will actually enhance. Furthermore, there are two types of traffic travelling between Wayanad, Mysuru and 11:30hrs : Return to Kolara Bengaluru: commuters who work in these two cities and visit Camp. their homes in the Wayanad and Nilgiri areas for holidays or on 14:00hrs : 1st Safari at weekends and those who holiday there during tourist seasons. Kolara Gate. The volume of service offered by the state transport services of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and private transport 18:30hrs : Return to Kolara companies should be sufficient to meet the needs. Camp. In fact, the High Court in Kerala rejected the project in 2013, astutely noting that “it is also pertinent to mention that there is road connectivity between these two places and it is not a case where other form of transportation is missing or unavailable.”

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Upstream on the Kaveri is the well-known Shivanasamudra Story Room: Falls with its hydro-electric power station, which was set

up already in 1902.

The water flows very fast through the gorge, gouging pits in the rocky riverbed. The climb down is steep and the rocks are slippery, making it very dangerous to swim in the

Arnab Basu

Mekedatu (Kannada: ) is a location along Kaveri in Kanakapura Taluk. Sangama is the place where Arkavati river. Drownings continue to merges with Kaveri. From this point, about 3.5 kilometers occur here, although people downstream, the river Kaveri flows through a deep and narrow are warned about the danger gorge. Mekedatu' means 'goat's leap' in Kannada). The name by a small board and writings comes from an incident which is believed to be witnessed by on the rocks. herdsmen in that area a long time ago. It is said that a goat being chased by a tiger, made a desperate attempt to save its life A lot of tourists visit this place, by leaping from one side of the gorge and managed to cross over a high number of people drown the raging river below, whereas the tiger did not attempt to in the river, either while replicate this feat, and abandoned the chase. The point where swimming or slipping off the the goat leapt, has widened since then, from erosion caused by cliff. It is a very dangerous the river Cauvery. It is about 100 km from Bengaluru via place. The 4 feet shallow water Kanakapura. is very deceiving as it seems harmless but has claimed the There is also some life of hundreds of people in mythological significance to the past years. The water this place (both Sangama and current is very fast, and a Mekedatu). As per one person can drown in minutes. version, the goat (meke) that Just a small slip might be is believed to have leapt fatal. There are also crocodiles across the Kaveri was Lord in the water. The place lacks Shiva in disguise. On both warning signs in several rocky precipices of the gorge, places, crocodiles and slippery one can find strange holes, whose shapes resemble goats' surfaces make it one of the hooves, though several times larger. It is believed that only riskiest tourist spots. The rock divine goats could have marked their 'footprints' in such hard surface near cliff, both during rocks. rainy season or during dry At Mekedaatu, the Kaveri season, is very slippery and runs through a deep, narrow deceiving. Many of the deaths ravine of hard granite rock. took away young lives of The river, which is more than students, who ventured near 150 meters wide at the the cliffs drown here. confluence (at Sangama) flows From Kanakapura it is exactly through the hardly 10-meter- 26 km. One has to drive more wide gorge at Mekedatu. One interior into the villages to can see the ferocious flow of reach this place. On the way all that water, displaying Bernoulli's theorem. It is said that a there are boards showing goat could leap over it, giving the falls the name Goat's Leap. directions to Mekedaatu and 7 | Page E-mail: [email protected] Website : www.exploringnature.org.in

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Sangama, both are the same, it is just that one has to reach Sangama to go Mekedaatu. For Team Exploring Nature

After reaching Sangama one needs to take a boat ride to reach Editors’ Desk : the other side of the river and then can board a bus which Dwaipayan Ghosh Arnab Basu keeps running every half an hour till 5 in the evening. 5.30 pm is the last bus from Mekedaatu to Sangama. After that no Review : civilians are allowed in this place. Anwesha Ghatak

One can also walk to Mekedaatu after getting off from the boat Title & Logo Design : as it takes around 5 to 6 km to reach Mekedaatu from the Arijit Das Majumder Sangama if you don't want to board the bus. Saikat Chakraborty

On the way to Mekedaatu there is a fishing camp called Newsletter Design : Galibore Fishing Camp. So if someone misses the Mekedaatu Dwaipayan Ghosh board can reach by seeing this fishing camp board as well, Arnab Basu because this is also on the way.

34 km south from Mekedaatu, one can also find Chunchi falls. The Arkavati (Kannada: ಅಕವ ) is an important mountain river in Karnataka, India, originating at Nandi Hills of Chikkaballapura district. It is a tributary of the Kaveri, which it joins at 34 km south of Kanakapura, called Sangama in Kannada, after flowing through ramanagara and Kanakapura. The river drains into the Chikkarayappanahalli Lake near Kanivenarayanapura. Kumudavathi and Vrishabhavathi rivers are tributaries to this river. It forms Chunchi falls near Haroshivanahalli.

The river is used by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to provide 135 million litres of drinking water per day to the city of Bengaluru, or about 20% of the entire city's water. As it is filtered in the nearby mountain aquifer, the water is fresh and crystal clear. The water is taken from two reservoirs built on the river, the Hesaraghatta (or Hesseraggatta), which was built in 1894, and the Tippagondanahalli Reservoir (or T G Halli), which was built in 1933. There is Manchanabele dam that is across the river further downstream.

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Theme Poster

:: Orangutan of Bukit Lawang, Sumatra – Photo by Arnab Basu:

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