Siddis to the rescue of wilderness

story and pictures by Jayashree Nandi

copyright: The Times of India

Sidgaon: Depleting forests, species bordering on extinction and rapid clearances for development projects. The Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that is home to some of the rarest animals and insects, is under threat with over 15 plant species on the verge of extinction. Primary among them are the spices and agarbhatti varieties that are feared to soon disappear completely from these rain forests that are a visual treat.

While different small and big movements have attempted to steer attention towards the Ghats, some indigenous tribes are now taking up conservation work to revive these dying species. A number of Siddi (tribal) families, migrants from the coastal town of Yellapur settled in the dense patch of Sidgaon, have taken up conservation.

The tribal women are setting up nurseries and planting wild species. They have planted thousands of saplings of five varieties, including Canarium Strictum (a rare variety of incense), Garcinia Indica or Kokum and some wildpickle mangoes. There are just 40 to 50 trees of Canarium Strictum left in the zone, says Prakruti project coordinator Mahabaleshwar Hegde. The endemic species are the most vulnerable. Not just trees, even grasses like Hittalande that grow in swamps are almost extinct due to impacts of climate change. Trees like Matti are flowering two months before the scheduled month, changing the entire cycle of flowering and fruiting.

“Tribes like Siddis live in close proximity to forests and their knowledge is more in-depth. We need to respect their traditional knowledge andhelp them get market access for the forest produce so that they can earn as well as sustainably harvest the forest produce,” said Appiko Movement leader Panduranga Hegde. According to him, the impact of climate change on the forests, especially forest patterns, are very drastic indeed.

“We walk 20 to 30 km everyday to find some of these trees and during rains it’s difficult because of leeches. But there are not manytakers for the forest produce. We sell it in different cities through NGOs and get some money. The untimely rains have affected the forests hugely,” said Venkataraman Siddi, a member of the community, who is actively involved in conservation work. Recently hydroxy citric acid, a fat reducing medicine, was found in Uppage, after which it has become popular in the international market. “Since it is an endemic variety and there is a huge hype about organic fat reducing methods, it is fetching a good price. We send it toEurope and America,” adds Mahabaleshwar.

The tribals, originally forest collectors from Africa, don’t remember anything of their culture today. They are being taught to harvest medicinal plants like Tinaspora, Aloe Vera, Asparagus and others. “India is our country now and these forests are our home. All we remember of Africa is our dance — Dhamani,” says Venkataraman. mailto:Venkataraman.toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com

THE DYING SPECIES

● Cinnamon - over extraction and wrong harvesting

● Uppage (GarciniaGummigatta) - over extraction and lopping of branches insteadof removal of fruits

● Kokum (Garciniaindica) - very little regeneration as seeds are taken away forcommercial purposes.

● Canarium Strictum orDhoop - over-extraction.

Pictures courtesy: Debasis Sen

story by Prema Rajaram

Char Madhupursudanpur (Nadia): The name is as obscure as the setting. Char Madhupursudanpur, also commonly referred to as Charjatrasidi, didn't even exist till some decades ago. Tchar or silt-bed emerged from the river Hooghly just over 30 years ago. People spotted the fertile land and a small hamlet sprung up. And stayed that way.

It's not as though the 3,000-odd who inhabit Charjatrasidi were nomads. They were reisdents of Hooghly district but lost their land to erosion as the river changed course more than three decades ago. The land finally emerged in Nadia district jurisdiction and they scrambled to grab it. They did get the land but lost their identity as ration cards and voter ID cards became invalid. Though they did manage to get a new set of ration cards issued, red tape prevented them from voting.

For three decades, their travails have not found mention. But then, how many have heard of Charjatrasidi? In the vast expanse of the state of West Bengal, a hamlet of 3,000 in a mid-river existence is but an obscure dot.

They would, perhaps, have been consigned to oblivion for several years more had not state chief electoral officer (CEO) Debasis Sen heard the voices striving for identity. And he acted promptly, brusing aside red tape and getting the names of 1,260 eligible voters enrolled. Finally, after a wait that's been as long as the Left Front has been in power in the state, the people of Charjatrasidi will trek down to the polling booth and vote.

The electronic photo-identity card (EPIC) has not just returned to them dignity as citizens of India, it has also handed them the right to choose the representative in local elections and ensure that amenities like electricity, water, health and education are delivered. Those settled in towns and cities will, perhaps, never be able to realize the value that an EPIC holds for the common man. Indeed, some would dismiss the delight and gratitude that Charjatrasidi's residents displayed when Sen handed them the EPICs, as foolish. But is it so?

FLOATING LIVES

By Subhro Niyogi

Ghoramara (Sunderbans): Rajabala Maity stared in awe as a blank white screen turned into life with images and sound. The septuagenarian, a resident of Ghoramara island in the Sunderbans, had never seen a movie before.

Then, one-time fellow islander Sheikh Lalmohan, appeared on screen. He was on a boat, trying to locate the spot where he once lived. But all that could be seen was endless water. “We had a house and a farmland here. Today, we are penniless,” said Lalmohan, one of the 6,000-odd inhabitants of Ghoramara who have lost everything to erosion since 1996 and become refugees at Sagar island.

Maity dabbed the tears and slipped out of the makeshift tent 15 minutes into the show. She had battled with the existential crisis too long to be enamored by it anymore.

That’s the hard reality of life on Ghoramara islands, half of which has been washed away over the past 25 years. The 9 sq km island of the 1970s has been whittled down to less than 3.7 sq km. Two other islands in the vicinity — Lohachara and Bedford — have disappeared. Others islands like Shikarpur, Gobindapur, Bankimpur and Boatkhali have also been affected. That Ghoramara was chosen for the global premiere of Mean Sea Level, a film on the plight of the islanders, didn’t mean much to either Maity or the 5,000-odd islanders who remain. They live in anxiety, always aware that the river is continually gnawing away.

The movie by Delhi-based research and advocacy organization Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) may, however, trigger a change that global agreements have failed to achieve if it reaches the world stage. The 59-minute documentary is slated to be screened at the Bonn conference where negotiations on emission reduction are to take place ahead of the Copenhagen summit.


Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, who released the film on Wednesday to an audience that was its protagonist, drove home the point. “This movie is on Ghoramara that is not just any island. It is symbolic of a problem that transcends local, region and national boundaries. It is the face of global warming and climate change, the biggest problem facing earth. I have come to learn about how it is affecting your lives. You have the capability to tell the world about it,” Gandhi said.
“That is precisely what Mean Sea Level does,” said CSE director Sunita Narain. “It the complex web of disaster created by unwise interventions upstream and rising sea level in the simple narrative of the islanders. The voices of climate change victims and refugees must be heard,” she a