The Hindu Business Line : Bid to protect threatened species, dwindling forests

Considering the rich biodiversity of Kerala, the need of the hour is to conserve it for posterity, says Dr J.K. Sharma, Director, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, in Thrissur district.

He told Business Line, "This goal will be unfulfilled unless accelerated research is conducted on complete or exhaustive inventorisation of plant and animal diversity and Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species to conserve and rehabilitate them in their own habitat."

According to Dr Sharma, there are 497 RET species. KFRI has relocated five possibly extinct species viz., Haplothismia exannulata, Albizia lathamii, Syzygium palghatense, Indica cynometroides and Nothopegia aureo-fulva.

Forest degradation

He said a recent study conducted by KFRI has found that 45 per cent of evergreen forest was degraded while that of moist deciduous 78 per cent, dry deciduous 64 per cent, sub tropical temperate 24 per cent and thus overall degradation in forests stood at 62 per cent.

He attributed the reasons for degradation of forests to population growth, urbanisation, habitat clearing for agriculture, poverty, household use of wood for cooking, climate change, consumerism, large engineering works, high input agriculture including rapid and widespread adoption of improved cultivars, large-scale industrial production, and dietary change, especially toward commodity crops and meat.

If the extent of total forest area in Kerala in 1940 was at 12,850 square kilometre, it fell to 9,770 sq. km. in 1965 and to 9,400 sq. km. in 1970 and it is estimated to be around 4,000 sq. km. at present out of the State's total land area of 38,863 sq. km.

The extent of magroves in Kerala is estimated at 4,200 hectare. However, according to the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment's State Forest Report 2003, Kerala's mangrove cover, comprising small and scattered patches, has been assessed for the first time and the total area covered is about 8 sq. km.

It said that the general trend of a decline in dense forests across the country, as revealed by the report, was evident in other southern states also. Karnataka has lost 3,695 sq. km. of its forest cover between 2001-2003.

In Kerala, the decrease is 2,144 sq. km. and in Andhra Pradesh it is 1,488 sq. km. The loss is marginal in Tamil Nadu with 492 sq. km. but it was as high as 18 sq. km. in Puducherry, which lost half of its dense forests in the past two years, said the report by the Forest Survey of India.

The Ministry, has, however, attributed the decrease to real as well as interpretational changes. However, environmentalists claimed that there could be no compensation for the loss of natural forests because open forests are often classified as degraded.