MANYAM A NEWSLETTER ON THE EASTERN GHATS VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2017 WILDMEAT TO KITCHENW ARE : THE USE OF LOCAL INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FLORA AND FAUNA IN THE EASTERN GHATS IN LOOKOUT FOR 2 The traditional forest dwelling tribes of the ing bamboo seeds could be beneficial for T H E ADAVI CHAAPA Eastern Ghats live alongside nature’s boun- both the livelihood requirements of local | ARISTO MENDIS ty not just in the form of faunal and floral communities and the environment. diversity, but also in the wild varieties of SEEDING IN BA M- 3 crops. In this issue, we once again bring to Continuing on this theme, Syed Subhani BOO: A BOON FOR you articles from organizations and individu- talks about the potential of harvesting the THE POOR | R A N J I T K . SAHU AND BIDYUT MO- als working across the Eastern Ghats on rich untapped natural resources for income HANTY conservation issues and opportunities for generation for supplementing livelihoods PALMYRA AND BA M- 4 local communities. among forest dwelling communities in the BOO AS MFP | S Y E D Eastern Ghats, in particular, the widely avail- SUBHANI Aristo Mendis, a researcher working on able Palmyra fiber and bamboo sheaths. ecology and conservation, talks about the status of the Indian pangolin in the northern Chitrangada Choudhury describes how some REDISCOVERING 5 LOST VARIETIES OF Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, where tribal communities in Odisha’s Koraput dis- RICE IN ODISHA | CHITRANGADA this endangered insectivorous mammal is trict are rediscovering traditional wild varie- CHOUDHURY fighting for survival, battling intense hunting ties of rice, in this hotspot of millet diversity pressure driven by the demand for its in the Eastern Ghats. scales and meat. MAMMALS OF 6 PAPIKONDA NP | We hope that these articles reveal some in- VIKRAM ADITYA Ranjit K. Sahu and Bidyut Mohanty talk teresting insights into the relationships be- about the importance of the various species tween people and the landscape. of bamboo for ensuring food security and nutrition of tribal communities across the - Vikram Aditya Eastern Ghats. They emphasize how utiliz- MANYAM Page 2 IN LOOKOUT FOR THE ADAVI CHAAPA | ARISTO MENDIS Tribal communities, while describing the studying and conserving the pangolin, would sometimes refer to it as Ada- animal in the wild a daunt- vi Chaapa, which means ‘Fish of the Forest’, ing task. Like for most cryp- as a reference to its scaly skin. They would tic, rare and nocturnal ani- also mention that it has become increasingly mals, researchers have re- difficult to spot a pangolin in the wild. lied on secondary data to study the species and their The Eastern Ghats, an understudied land- ecology. I worked on a pro- scape is continuously being subjected to ject headed by Vikram Ad- multiple anthropogenic threats, while also itya (PhD Student, Ashoka being home to a good population of tribal Trust for Research in Ecolo- communities, residing in remote (and at gy and the Environment), to times inaccessible) villages. Many of these assess the status and distri- tribals actively carry out shifting cultivation, bution of the Indian Pango- creating ‘podus’ of cultivable land in hilltops lin in the northern Eastern and elevated grounds (Podu – Local term in Ghats, during which we in- Northern Andhra Pradesh referring to a teracted with tribal commu- patch of shifting cultivated land). Barren nity members, to gather lo- - An image of the scale of a hunted patches of podus now remain spread out in cal ecological knowledge on the Eastern Ghats landscape, slowly recover- the pangolin, while also doc- Pangolin in the northern Eastern ing and regrowing to their natural state. umenting the hunting prac- Ghats tices carried out in the land- The tribal communities here are mostly de- scape and their impacts on the pangolin. void of basic amenities like electricity, clean The immediate future plans of the project water, and access to motorable roads. But it involve making use of sign surveys of feels as though they are willingly living in iso- pangolin scrape marks, and camera trap lated and relatively ‘wilder’ landscapes, by based studies to assess the pangolin’s choice. It is a common sight to spot tribals presence, status and distribution . “Inquiring elder carrying a set of home-made bow and arrows generations of the with them. As a form of recreation, cultural The interesting aspect of the interactions habit or just seeking for some bushmeat, with tribal communities was getting a tribal communities tribals are often spotted in ‘hunting parties’, glimpse at their lives, and how they influ- about the pangolin comprising of five or more members, roam- ence the surroundings. Inquiring elders ing the forests of the Eastern Ghats, looking of the tribal communities, about the pan- helped reveal that for an adventure, and connecting with their golin, helped reveal that there is a de- there is a demand instincts. Not surprisingly, hunting for bush- mand and local market for Pangolins in meat is, and has been, an integral part of parts of the Eastern Ghats of northern and local market for their lives. The cost that certain wild species Andhra Pradesh. Tribals would describe Pangolins in parts of face due to this activity is something I am their few encounters with the pangolins, unable to side towards or comment about. and some admitted to having hunted northern Andhra pangolins for its meat in the past. Tribals Pradesh” Currently, all eight species of pangolins are claimed that the meat of the Pangolin is being poached for their scale and body parts. a delicacy of sorts. Nothing conclusive India is home to the Endangered Indian Pan- although has been identified as to the golin (Manis crassicaudata); and the Critical- source of demand for the scales of the ly Endangered Chinese Pangolin Manis pen- Pangolin in the market. Some tribals tadactyla (IUCN Redlist of Threatened Taxa). were aware of the demand for the pango- The pangolin’s cryptic nature, coupled with lin and the price it fetched but appeared its heavy demand in wildlife trade, has made too hesitant to reveal too much about the VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 3 reasons for its disappearance and how they contribute immediate future for the Adavi Chaapa, seems to be to such impacts. They also mentioned that this de- grim at the moment, but hope still lives on for the scaly mand is probably only a decade old, increasing suspi- anteater if we reach out to such tribal communities and cion whether this demand is from Asian countries like collaborate to save them. China, who have been documented to use pangolin scales for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). -Aristo Mendis has completed his Masters in Ecology from Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. He is an independent During our pursuit to know more about the Adavi researcher with interest in avian and mammal ecology espe- Chaapa, our discussions with the locals made us real- cially the conservation of the Pangolins ize that understanding of the lifestyles of tribal commu- nities residing here was equally as important as under- Images by author. standing the landscape and its ecological entities. The SEEDING IN BAMBOO: A BOON FOR THE POOR | RANJIT K. SAHU AND BIDYUT MOHANTY Bamboo is a perennial grass found across India, where would also promote the conservation of bamboos and it is not only grows in the wild but is also planted in thereby the dependent native fauna and flora in these large scale in many states. Among the many bamboo forests. It may be emphasized that forest bamboo seeds species found in India, Bambusa arundinacea, B. are naturally grown and organic as per commercial tech- tulda, B. vulgaris, Melocanna baccifera, nologies. Thus, the problem of pesticides and other con- Dendrocalamus s t r i c t u s , O c h l a n d r a taminants entering food are practically absent. Addition- travancorica, Oxytenanthera ally, since the operation is mainly limited to maintaining stocksii, and Thyrsostachys oliveri are commercially a clean area around the clumps for seed collection, it important. Bamboo plays an important role in food could employ women in tribal areas. The absence of oth- and nutritional security of tribal communities across er operating costs makes this a relatively low-cost ven- India, who use it for food, shelter, furniture, ture for surrounding tribal communities, employing wom- handicrafts, medicines, and various ethno-religious en as seed gatherers and contributing to their empower- purposes. Therefore, bamboo is among the most ment. important resources to be leveraged towards the alleviation of rural poverty, employment generation, empowerment of women and environmental rejuvenation. Bamboo is endemic to the Eastern Ghats of Odisha, which is also home to several tribes who have been living here for centuries. There is extensive bamboo flowering across Odisha’s Eastern Ghats. This article emphasizes the importance of bamboo seeds as a natural resource to the common people and forest dwellers of the Eastern Ghats as well other handicrafts of India including the north eastern states. The large amount of seeds produced due to synchronized flowering in bamboos leads to rapid increase in rodent population, which also feed on domestic grains leading to famine. Thus, flowering and seed set in bamboo have long been considered as an Bamboo seeds are similar in nutritional composition to indicator of a natural calamity like drought or famine. those of many of the staple cereal crops. Only about 100 However, the utilization of bamboo seeds for livelihood tons of about 25000 tons of seeds produced during purposes could be beneficial for both the local 1985-1986 were collected. Thus, these seeds were lost communities and the environment.