Landscapes for Life

(The ‘Kanha as a Moveable Feast’ Series)

This article series derives its spirit from ‘A Moveable Feast’ a memoir written by the famous American author Ernest Hemingway. In his memoir, he wrote that if one has lived somewhere passionately, it remains with you, nourishes you, wherever you go. My long years at Kanha have been something of that kind - a landscape of memories, reflections, animals, seasons, panoramas, and, of course, questions that still travel with me, long after I bade it goodbye.

Namdapha TR by Anant Zanjale

It was a bright spring morning, and, seated under the thatched, wood-framed umbrella in front of the forest rest house, I scanned the heart-warmingly panoramic landscape through field glasses to follow the alarm calls of chital. I zoomed in on a small pack of wild dogs chasing a herd of chital in the nearby grassland before disappearing into the distance. The grassland stretched all around, joining and crossing the meandering, narrow Halon River. The grassy expanse gradually blurred, turning into the shrubby undergrowth of the stately sal and mixed forests that sloped up onto the hills. Under the sunlight and shade, many different hues of green, grey, and yellowish brown were splashed and scattered all over the wilderness. I was in the Supkhar forest range of Kanha tiger reserve. This area falls within a non-tourism zone and has recently been in the national news because of the reintroduction of wild buffaloes, a species that went locally extinct several decades ago.

I strolled down to the famous heritage rest house, a sort of heritage building, and marvelled at the ingenuity of the foresters of a bygone era. Built in 1910, it is located amid a grove of sal and pine (a coniferous species) trees overlooking the picturesque grassy expanse and rolling hills. A rather pleasing, though unusual, association of broadl-eaf and needle-leaf trees considerably adds to the floristics of this site. The British actually planted these pines in the early decades of the last century to cover large bare patches in the forest. No less than an official heritage rest house, its steeply sloping, high roof is thatched with a local grass, technically known as Heteropogon contortus. The layers of thatch, deftly arranged and fastened to bamboo plaits, rest on wooden battens and long rafters and are replaced once every three years. The layers of thatch keep temperatures within tolerable levels even in the last week of May, when the temperature hovers around 45 degrees Celsius. This remarkable workmanship has been mastered by the descendants of the tribal people who once lived in this village, which has now been relocated, and who handed down this skill. Interestingly, and commendably, the management has chosen to retain the building without electricity to this day!

Tiger family in Pench TR by the Pench management

My surroundings were unpolluted, clean, and salubrious. And, if I may say so, the air was no more impure than it had been around 150 years ago, the period supposedly associated with the uncontrolled and devastating industrialization responsible for today’s climate-related plight. I was distraught at how pollution was wreaking havoc on the environment and the lives of our fellow citizens in the country. I was, however, neither on an island far off the mainland nor on a hill far above the plain, but, as I said earlier, at Supkhar, in the Halon Valley, part of the Kanha tiger reserve.

Clashes with Climate

Almost every month, we feel the vagaries of the climate: excessive rainfall or drought-like conditions during the monsoon; insufficient cold in winter; and prolonged summers with higher average temperatures. Much has been written about global warming becoming a serious threat to our survival. Throughout the country, we have faced economic and developmental constraints, while prominent stakeholders around the world show no signs of reducing carbon emissions. Experts have warned that a rise of only 2 degrees Celsius in global temperatures will become the tipping point for irreversible climate change in the near future. Estimates by the UN Climate Change Secretariat suggest that the collective pledges of nations can limit the rise in global temperatures to only about 2.7 degrees Celsius, which is much higher than the projected threshold. Some have voiced concern that temperatures may even rise by 3.6 degrees Celsius. There are several other unresolved issues related to desirable emission cuts, promises, and green funds for technologies to cope with climate change.

The World Health Organisation reports that 13 Indian cities rank among the 20 most polluted cities in the world. Currently, many options are being considered to minimise pollution, at least in some of the country’s mega-cities. These options range from regulating vehicle movement every day and restricting the entry of heavy vehicles during the daytime to prohibiting emissions from small factories. Besides, a host of climate-change technologies, ranging from preparing smart grids and using LED lights to using bio-diesel, driving hybrid cars, and using solar and wind energy, are also being discussed. However, the most important and only natural instrument for mitigating and adapting to climate change has remained less discussed and underrepresented. The protected-area network (PA network) of our country can also play a crucial role in supporting the mitigation of and adaptation to national climate change.

Barasingha in Kanha TR by Sunil Kumar Singh

Protected Area Network

It has been the government’s policy to set aside or reserve a certain percentage of the total forest or geographical area exclusively for wildlife conservation. These areas are known as protected areas. Generally, protected areas refer only to sanctuaries and national parks. Technically, however, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, also provides for the creation of conservation reserves on government land and community reserves on private land. These protected areas, especially sanctuaries and national parks, are created on the basis of certain criteria, particularly their wildlife potential, the status of endangered species, ecological and/or connectivity significance, or their being part of a hitherto unrepresented biogeographical area. In this way, almost every protected area is endowed with remarkable ecological, floral, faunal, and geomorphological significance. Seven protected areas have also been designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. No territorial or general forestry operations are allowed in these protected areas, and everything is subordinated to wildlife conservation. Each PA is managed under a conservation or management plan, with clear management goals and objectives, prescribed conservation practices, and a basic framework for periodic evaluation. No wonder these PAs, with their higher degree of protection, support a very significant percentage of the country’s wildlife populations. There are now around 573 sanctuaries, 107 national parks, 115 conservation reserves, and 220 community reserves in the country. Besides, around 58 PAs have been notified as the core or critical tiger habitats (CTHs) of tiger reserves. The PA network also includes several marine protected areas, which protect and improve marine biodiversity and marine ecosystems. The marine ecosystem is extremely diverse, with geomorphological and climatic variations along the coast. Coastal and marine habitats include nearshore areas, gulf waters, creeks, tidal and mudflats, mangroves, marshes, wetlands, and estuaries. While the forest cover of the country is around 21% of the total geographical area, the PA network covers around 1.75 lakh square kilometers, which is 5.25% of the country’s geographical area. India is unique in its richness of biodiversity because of its diverse physiography and climatic conditions. It also ranks eighth among the 17 mega-diverse countries in the world.

Environmental Impacts

Mindless deforestation and the unchecked release of industrial and greenhouse gases - expressed in equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide as a 'carbon footprint' - have led to serious environmental pollution and global warming, with a consequent rise in temperatures and the melting of glaciers. These changes have caused rising sea levels, frequent floods, landslides, avalanches, increased wind speeds, powerful storm surges, severe droughts and desertification, and fires. Many areas of the country are also facing water shortages, and in the future, the trend may further change water availability. The normal hydrological cycle—the movement of water between the land, sea, and atmosphere through evaporation and rainfall—is also feared to be adversely affected in the future. Climate change is also affecting the quantity and quality of water, which may, in turn, seriously affect food availability and utilisation. We already face a lack of clean water in many parts of the country, with negative effects on public health. Climate change and environmental degradation also disturb natural ecosystems and rapidly reproduce reservoir species, causing the prevalence and abundance of pathogens, disease-causing bacteria, and viruses. Health is also likely to be threatened by vector-borne and new infectious diseases that are sensitive to temperature and rainfall. Changes in the climate may also adversely affect the resilience, or natural functions, of managed forests.

Chital in Kanha TR by Sudhir Mishra

Role of Protected Areas

Addressing environmental and climate change issues requires a persistent, multipronged strategy, and the PA network is a very important natural instrument for helping human communities moderate and adapt to inevitable climatic changes. While the role of managed forests and other ecosystems is also important, the PA network offers some significant advantages over these options. Operating under an effective framework, protected areas have a firm legal standing and are also committed to long-term protection against biotic pressures. Besides, their objective-oriented planning, governance, and effectiveness evaluation are also well documented. Further, protected areas sometimes remain the only natural or semi-natural habitats in ecoregions or large areas. Being special areas for biodiversity conservation, protected-area management cadres have more opportunities for capacity-building and expertise development, and consequently are better equipped to respond to new information about local environmental changes. These areas generally have well-planned sources of data for ecological monitoring and are also supported by networks of national and international experts and activists who provide periodic alerts and advice.

Protected areas can reduce forest fragmentation and degradation through stringent protection and best management practices for biodiversity conservation. Experts say that effective protection of these areas will also enhance carbon sequestration and lessen their susceptibility to climate change. Protected areas are a proven instrument for maintaining forest cover over large areas. They also strengthen the resilience of ecosystems and landscapes to climate change and provide security through their genetic resources and ecosystem services. While bamboo has disappeared from many areas of central India because of heavy cattle grazing and frequent fires, the species is supported by several protected areas.

Although the country does not have much land under natural grasslands, large grassy expanses are also supposed to be significant stores of carbon. Grasslands managed within protected areas can significantly add to carbon storage. The conversion or degradation of grasslands outside PAs tends to increase carbon losses and may also turn them into major carbon “sources” for the atmosphere. The reclamation of agricultural land through the relocation of villages from protected areas and its development into excellent grassland are also reported to add to carbon sequestration. There is already a ban on cattle grazing in protected areas, and even this small preventive measure can lead to increased sequestration. Restoring unproductive and degraded agricultural land to natural vegetation is another effective way of achieving carbon sequestration.

Grey slender loris in Anshi-Dandeli TR by Anant Zanjale

Protected areas are crucial for minimizing the impacts of a wide range of natural adversities and disasters in different habitat types. They absorb excessive rainfall and control stream flow by gradually releasing water into the soil and the streams and rivers of the watershed. They provide space for floodwaters to spread and reduce their damaging potential. Water also percolates down through the soil. Ecological loss from uncontrolled fires is kept to a minimum in protected areas through effective fire-management plans and regular fire-protection measures. Ecologists also attribute fragmentation and increased fire hazards to the desiccation of ground vegetation outside established protected areas. Reduced cattle grazing, the resultant decrease in trampling and soil compaction, and the maintenance of drought-resistant plant species also support drought-prevention initiatives and minimize desertification. Management practices in certain protected areas bind soil and stabilize loose rocks, thereby preventing landslides, mudslides, and avalanches. Forests also cushion the effects of earthquakes and avalanches, thereby helping to prevent these disasters. Protected areas also reduce and prevent the disastrous effects of hurricanes and storms. The Sundarbans is credited with shielding inland areas from cyclones. Mangroves, the typical vegetation of saline coastal habitats that face a harsh climatic interface between sea and land, can reduce the impact of storm waves, and these coasts suffer less damage than areas without mangrove shelter.

Wild elephants in Corbett TR by Anant Zanjale

These areas also maintain the water supply in regions of fragmented or denuded landscapes. Being similar to a Turkish towel, with unique, extra-long, absorbent cotton fibres, they absorb and then gradually release water into the soil, plants, and streams. In this way, they are more dependable for capturing and storing rainfall during the rainy season and ensuring water availability throughout the year. Protected areas minimise net water flow, resulting in low runoff. They also harbour the sources of many important rivers and streams and are more dependable during drier seasons. The Western Ghats have many reservoirs that are important for power supply.

Against the backdrop of a scarcity of clean water, well-managed protected areas ensure better water quality, with lower levels of sediment, deposits, and contaminants. Natural wetlands and grasslands also play an important role in reducing the level of contamination in water. The quality of such water is generally better than that obtained from ordinary catchment areas.

Effectively managed protected areas may also help control the emergence and rapid spread of a wide range of diseases, including malaria, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, and filariasis. These diseases are reported to be caused by massive ecological disturbances.

Mudumalai TR by Anant Zanjale

PAs are extremely reliable sites for introduction and reintroduction of important wildlife species. Many of these ecologically restored, well protected nature reserves are ideal sites for monitoring and expansion of such species. More recently, the reintroduction of barasingha into Satpura, Bandhavgarh; Indian gaur into Bandhavgarh and Sanjay, and wild buffaloes into Kanha are very significant efforts under these concepts.  

Crop wild relatives are also conserved in protected areas. These plant species are the main source of much of the genetic material used in crop breeding. This resource is, however, under threat, mainly because of habitat loss, and climate change is feared to aggravate the situation in the future. Special strategies are required to ensure food supplies by protecting these relatives and landraces.

Experts have found a significant connection between forest protection and the incidence of several childhood diseases in rural communities. Protected areas also harbour vital sources of important traditional medicines used against widespread diseases. They support a wide range of natural genetic resources, providing material for commercial medicines.

Protected areas are generally established for biodiversity conservation. They offer special conservation benefits for species and ecological processes that cannot survive in surrounding landscapes. They are also generally the only remaining natural or semi-natural areas in large ecoregions and support significant populations of rare and threatened species not found elsewhere. Experts suggest that the greater the biodiversity of a protected area, the more resilient it is in maintaining its functions compared with other ecosystems. Besides, greater biodiversity also makes it more robust and better able to adapt to climate change.

In Wild Ass Sanctuary, Gujarat by Anant Zanjale

Strengthening the PA Network

Strengthening the protected-area network is, like every far-sighted undertaking, an avant-garde rather than a rear-guard intervention. Currently, an abysmally small area of our country is included in the protected-area network. No doubt, India is a fast-developing country with tremendous economic aspirations. While it has its own demographic and economic constraints, the National Wildlife Action Plan (2017–31) has committed to shifting the conservation strategy from a purely protected-area-centric model to a broader landscape approach. Interestingly, in the earlier Action Plan, the PA networe area was proposed to be expanded to 10 percent of the total landmass of the country. There is, however, an urgent need to expand several core zones of our tiger reserves and national parks through voluntary and consensual relocations of villages, supported by attractive incentives and packages. The number of protected areas may also be increased to achieve this objective. However, it needs to be kept in mind that the larger the area, the better and more robust the ecosystem. We also need to connect protected areas and old-growth forests within landscapes through biological linkages or corridors, as protected areas do not function properly in isolation but only as part of a larger landscape. Such expansion and connectivity considerably add to the resilience of protected areas and help them cope with local climate change.

Substantial parts of the country’s landscapes are under immense biotic pressure and have been rendered scrappy, with hopelessly fragmented forests, low cover value for wildlife, and degraded, weed-infested plains. These areas are occupied by the typically Indian combination of large human and cattle populations and a vast range of land uses that do not support forests and vegetation cover. In this bleak scenario, no linkages can be made effective without people’s cooperation. The conservation of natural resources is regarded as an integrated biological and social process and requires an understanding of the target communities, especially their socioeconomic aspirations and cultural likes and dislikes. Past experience suggests that people’s livelihoods and their ability to be meaningfully involved in conservation planning and practice are critical to environmental conservation. The restoration of these landscapes and corridors is enormous in scale and requires new approaches to dealing with the human aspects of this undertaking. A wide range of confidence-building measures, from sustainable-livelihood, poverty-alleviation, and health-improvement programmes to employment generation and socio-cultural upliftment, needs to be undertaken. We also need to involve multidisciplinary teams of experts and professionals in the planning process and harness the talent and expertise of prominent non-governmental organizations in human-development-related programmes for nature conservation.