PALNI HILLS CONSERVATION COUNCIL 12th ANNUAL REPORT - 1996-97 The outgoing Executive Committee with the following members wishes to thank everybody for their co-operation during the past year and have pleasure to submit the Annual Report for 1996-97 1. R.Kannan President 2. Mrs.Pippa Mukherjee Secretary 3. Mr.C.Jeyakaran Treasurer 4. Fr.K.M.Matthew Vice - president 5. Mr.Navroz Mody Vice - president 6. Mrs.Girija Viraraghavan Joint - Secretary 7. Mr.J.Nath Executive Committee Member 8. Mr.M.S.Viraraghavan Executive Committee Member 9. Mr.S.Ramachandran Executive Committee Member 10. Mrs.Tara Murali Executive Committee Member 11. Mr.Nevil Moncher Executive Committee Member 12. Mrs.Rebecca Chacko Executive Committee Member This year the Executive committee met 11 times since the last Annual General Body meeting which was held on 14th June' 96. Membership The total membership of the council as on 31st March '97 was as follows: 1. Life Members - 140 2. Annual Members - 54 3. Institutional Members - 2 Introduction: It has been an eventful year with many activities of the council going as per plan. The tree growing activities through the tree nurseries have been good despite the late rains and poor monsoon. The government has also accorded priority to the declaration of a wild life sanctuary very soon at the Palni Hills and this it is hoped will soon become part of the protected areas in the country. The council's efforts have borne fruit atlast in the government accepting the sanctuary on principle. There are some areas of concern, especially the urban development at the Kodaikanal Township. Despite the verdict of the Apex Court against errant builders there is still a lot of room for improvement in implementation of the Master Plan by the state machinery. Perhaps more lobbying with the district level authorities in the coming months will see a change in unchecked urban growth that is suicidal. The Outgoing Executive Committee that met 11 times during the last one year herewith submits its report on the various activities that were carried out at the different field centres of the council. 1. UPPER PALNIS FIELD CENTRES Kodaikanal The main activity is based at our registered office. The tree nursery at the compound has been instrumental in collecting shola tree seeds and propagating the same. At present the nursery has a stock of 40 species most of which are indigenous and the number of seedlings stock is 20,000. During the past year about 10,000 shola tree seedlings have been distributed to all concerned with planting native trees. The council maintains two nurseries at Vilpatti and Pallangi. These mainly supplygrafts of temperate fruits like peach; plum and pear to farmers in their respective areas. Last year they supplied about 15,000 and 12,000 grafts respectively. The council maintains a Reference apiary here and has thus far selected six colonies of Apis cerana indica that are thriving and have produced honey in the last two months. The Kodaikanal lake is our major concern and despite repeated please no action has been taken by the state to prevent subterranean discharge of nutrients into the lake. The result has been increasing number of fish kills of the species Barbus tetrazona and proliferation of blue green algae Microcystis aeruginosa. During the past year there have been three instances of fish kills. The problems facing the Lake have been put forward at the meeting of, "Working group for policy formulation" on environmental pollution, that is being co-ordinated by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. The T N P C B are putting up a proposal to clean the lake in the next Five year Plan and it is hoped that the plan will bear fruit. Meanwhile the council continues with its effort in popularising the problems that are affecting the lake by involving student volunteers in Water quality Monitoring. The water quality as seen is getting worse and expert opinion is that water with such high levels of Microcystis should not be used for domestic purposes. The Council acknowledges the helping hand of the Kodaikanal Boat club in providing boats free of cost to the student volunteers for water sample collection. The water quality Monitoring kit has been upgraded with a gift of a digital pH meter from Ion Exchange India Our sincere thanks to them. Gundupatti tree planting programme The council is operating at this high altitude centre for the past five years. It is promoting tree based land use and orchard corpping with shelterbelts instead of annual crops that require frequent digging up of the soil and replacing plant materials. Thus far 55 ha of land have been brought under Soil and Water conservation measures. At these lands farmers have been provided with improved varieties of Temperate fruits like pears; plums and peaches. At present there are two nurseries that stock the grafted varieties of plum and peach. The farmers who were hesitant to take up the trees initially are now eagerly using seedlings and grafts provided by us. Melpallam tree and bee nursery This centre was opened a year ago as an apiary for selecting strains of Apis cerana indica that are resistant to the Thai Sac Brood virus. There is ample forage for the bees throughout the year as the Hill Banana thrives at this centre located 1,600 mts above sea level. There are 15 colonies that appear to be resistant to the virus and in future this will serve as a multiplication centre for bee colonies. The farmers of this area have requested us also to supply seedlings of coffee; shade trees and grafted pears and plums. Hence a small nursery 5,000 plants has been started here. This will supply the farmer's needs for planting materials. 2. MIDDLE PALNIS FIELD CENTRES Siruvattukkadu Kombai centre This centre is home to about 100 families of tribals of the Palni Hills and the council has been instrumental in providing the basic amenities to the ethnic people. It has organised a Tribal Co-operative for collecting Minor Forest Produce. Saving endangered Grizzed Giant Squirrel is a priority for this centre. As the government school here is not functioning properly the council has been conducting literacy classes for tribals in the evenings. This is being conducted in two settlements. A tree nursery caters to the needs of the small farmers of the enclave. Last year the farmers have lifted 10,000 seedlings from this nursery. The present stock is about 7,000 plants and it will be increased to 15,000 for next year' supply. This centre also serves as an important point for our tree seed collecting activities. The council maintains an Experimental apiary where both the ecotypes of Apis cerana are kept in hives for observation. There are now 15 colonies of bees at this centre. Thus far the council has provided five wells for drinking water in settlements that are not served by the government. These are providing the residents of the area through out the year with clean drinking water. Patlankadu bee nursery Located at 1,300 mts above sea level this centre on top of the Marudhanadhi watershed is home to 30 colonies of Apis cerana indica. This centre serves to select the hill variety of the Asian Hive bee. As it is surrounded by patches of evergreen forest and lands cultivated with mixed crops of coffee; banana and chow-chow it is providing forage for bees for 8-9 months of the year. The centre also maintains a small nursery which supplied farmers with coffee seedlings and rooted pepper cuttings numbering 3,000 last year. Semmadioothu nursery Located on the banks of the Kodaganar this nursery caters to the needs of Pulaiyar tribes for coffee seedlings; pepper cuttings and shade tree requirements. The nursery supplied about 5,000 plants last year to the tribal farmers. The current stock is 4,000 seedlings and it is proposed to raise the stock to 10,000 seedlings as the farmers are very keen on growing tree based crops. The nursery also maintains 10 colonies of Apis cerana indica and serves as a Shola Conservation Apiary. Kollangarayar centre This centre located on the South Western slopes of Palni Hills in the Amburuvi Block above Periyakulam. The nursery here caters to the needs of the Paliyar families who have been assigned land by government. Last year 13,600 seedlings of 10 different varieties were supplied to the tribals here. From this centre studies are conducted to assess the dependence of tribals on forests. To throw light on the situation in other tribal hamlets numbering 45 spread out at the hills a survey has been designed to gather data on the tribal involvement with the forests in about 20 settlements in the coming year. 3. FOOTHILL TREE GROWING CENTRES Athoor tree and bee nursery The centre is situated at the foothills where the Kodaganar enters the plains. The tree nursery during the past year has raised and distributed 35,000 tree seedlings to small farmers in this watershed. The nursery is located at the Kamaraj Sagar Dam that provides drinking water to Dindigul Town. The Dindigul Municipality have been kind enough to provide us with water and land for the nursery, our sincere thanks to them. As the cultivated crops and adjoining forest areas provide good forage for bees, the council has maintained about 35 colonies of A c i in this watershed. Some of these are maintained at small farmer's fields and have produced honey. Farmers have evinced interest in taking up bee keeping as part of their Mixed farming activity. It is proposed to start a Beekeeping training Programme at this centre soon. Genguvarpatti environment centre The centre located on the Kodaikanal Ghat Road entering the hills runs a tree Nursery that caters to the needs of the farmers who cultivate their dry lands in the vicinity. During the past year it has supplied farmers with 37,000 tree seedlings of 40 different varieties and they have been plated in about 85 acres. The Reuben Arboretum planted in 1994 is growing fast and presents a good green cover at the foothills. A formal function was held to honour our patron member Dr. Rachel Reuben who supplemented here earlier assistance with a generous donation for improving the water and soil conservation works. Our heartfelt thanks for her commitment to the cause of conservation. Last year the tree planting at the centre was augumented with 2,500 seedlings of 44 varieties of trees. The Environment Centre Building planned for the year could not be built. It is hoped that the same will be constructed in the coming months. The centre has organised many training programmes in ecological agriculture for farmers, students, and other N G O 's respectively. Kudhirayar tree planting programme The centre is located on the Kudhirayar Dam which was built across the river in 1990. The centre is located on land provided by the Public Works Department. Our sincere thanks to the P W D for co-operating with the councils effort to provide farmers in this area with tree seedlings and fruit grafts. The tree nursery last year supplied and helped plant 35,000 tree seedlings and 2,500 fruit grafts at farmers fields in this watershed. But due to the severe drought conditions prevailing at the nurseries of Kallapuram and Andipatti the seedlings from there have been shifted to the main nursery at Kudhirayar. The centre also maintains 10 colonies of Apis cerana indica and 6 colonies of Dammer bees (Trigona species) The Paliyar tribes resident adjacent to the centre are keen honey hunters. It is this aquaintence with bees that makes them suitable for being trained into Hive Beekeeping. The centre proposes to start a Beekeeping training programme for the Tribal men and women here in the coming months. There has been an overwhelming demand for the Adult Literacy class conducted by our staff at the centre in the evenings. To cope with the increasing number of children we may have to hire one more teacher for the evening classes. 4. PLAINS TREE GROWING CENTRES Kadavakurichi Watershed management project Located in the plains near the town of Nilakkottai this has been the show piece effort of the council to start a co-operation in watershed protection involving villagers and Forest Department. The council runs community centres in five villages of the Kadavakurichi Hillock. Evening classes for village children is the main activity of these centres. About 300 children attend the classes regularly. Our project staff have facilitated the organising of five womens sangams; five Youth clubs and two Farmers clubs sponsored by NABARD besides organising five village planning committees. The are nineteen villages around the Reserved forest and we have done Participatory Rural Appraisal in all the places. Plans have been drawn to involve all the villages in the Kadavakurichi Watershed Development Project. A map of 1:500 scale for each of the 19 villages have been drawn showing land use patterns within the forest area and agricultural lands. At the five watersheds 4 tree nurseries were maintained and they supplied about 29,000 tree seedlings to farmers in the area. The Joint Forest Management Plan in co-operation with the Forest Department has not materialised yet, due to weak government policy in this matter. Viruveedu tree planting programme The centre is located of the banks of the river Vaigai in 10 acres of land owned by council. Despite the poor rainfall in the North East monsoon in 1996 this centre has managed planting of 40,000 multipurpose tree seedlings at farmers fields and 2,000 fruit grafts. Due to the severe drought the programme of using sewage water for growing fodder has been temporarily suspended. It is proposed to start the same once water supply in the borewell improves. The bamboo plantation of 4 acres has suffered as well due the drought. A drip irrigation system will be installed to irrigate the same in the coming months. An interesting development in the area has been cultivation of Moringa pterigosperma in the dry lands with minimal irrigation. The council maintains 10 colonies of bees that forage well on the flowers for about 8 months. We propose to initiate farmers into beekeeping as part of their mixed farming activity for augumenting their incomes and better pollination of crops in this dry belt. 5. ODDUKKAM TREE SEED CENTRE The tree seed centre has been vital for maintaining diversity of species in our tree growing effort. During the past year the centre has raised and distributed 40,000 tree seedlings to farmers in that area. The seed centre also collected seeds for about 70 species of trees and distributed the same for a cost to all concerned with growing their own nurseries. The total quantity of seeds was 1250 kilograms. The T S C has been given assistance in its work by the Small project fund; G T Z, New Delhi to upgrade the activities of the centre. The grant is for improved seed collection from different provenances; better seed processing methods; documentation; increased amount of seed collection and sale to make the seed centre a commercially viable venture. The grant also involves a revolving fund which will be matched by the councils' seed sale and help the Tree Seed Centre operate once the grant period is over. At present the seed centre operates from premises given by the Dindigul Municipality and takes care of 139 acres of municipal lands. Our thanks for the Dindigul Municipality for allowing us to use the land. The Tree Seed Centre proposes to organise training programmes for farmers; nurserymen and other N G O s in various aspects of tree growing in the coming months. 6. WORKSHOP TO REVIVE Apis cerana indica The council in its efforts to revive beekeeping with Apis cerana indica organised a workshop from June 15 to 19th 1996 at Kodaikanal. The event was attended by apiarists and scientsts concerned with the Asian Hive Bee. There was also participation from Nepal; Sweden; Denmark and Tanzania. The proceedings were divided between presentation of papers and field visits to our experimental apiaries. The Central Bee Research and Training Institute sent the Asst. director and three scientists to participate in the workshop. There was good interaction between beekeepers from different regions and sharing of knowledge and experience in tackling the virus. All participants appreciated the role played by the Council and the Swedish for Nature Conservation in taking up the cause of reviving the Asian Hive Bee. The recommendations that emerged out of the workshop urged the P H C C to intensify its efforts to conserve Bee species of Palni Hills; develop appropriate technology for Apis cerana indica and spread the practical knowledge to farmers and beekeepers in the region. The proceedings of the workshop have been published and are available for all concerned with beekeeping. 7. MINOR FIELD STUDIES Status and population of G G S It is five years since the centre at SVK Kombai was opened to save endangered Grizzled Giant Squirrel, Ratufa macroura indica. Hence it was felt that a census will reveal the current status. A student of M.S. (Ecology) from Salim Ali School of Ecology, Pondicherry University was assigned to study the same for two months at Kombai. She has reported that the population of the squirrel has increased from the previous 30 nos per sq.km to 50 nos per sp.km at the SVK Kombai enclave. Checklist of birds of Palni Hills Diversity of species is the strength and nature's strategy for survival among life forms. A study was conducted to assess the diversity of bird life at various elevations of the Palni Hills. A student of M.Sc Environmental Sciences Division, Bishop Heber college, Trichy studied and prepared a checklist of Avifauna at different centres of the Council. It was found that S V K Kombai had the maximum number followed by Kudhirayar. Nesting Behaviour and Characteristics of Apis cerana indica The feral nests of the Asian Hive bee present us with clues for mimmicking in fabrication of modern hives. This further helps in reducing the tendency of the Hive Bee from absconding. A study was conducted by a researcher from Bishop Heber college on feral Nests and comb construction in them at various altitudes of Palni Hills. The ensuing report has presented us with valuable data for constructing a suitable hive for the Asian Hive Bee at the Palni Hills. 8. BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE The Council has been trying to set models for Sustainable Agricultural Practices and has conducted two seminars in Ecological Agriculture. To convince farmers in Biodynamic Agriculture, the council in colloboration with New Zealand Biodynamic Outreach conducted a training programme for trainers at Shenbaganur for two months. The same was attended by 10 persons. 9. LEGAL MATTERS Following the Supreme Court Judgement on the demolition of Pleasant Stay Hotel, a contempt petition has been filed by the government against the hotel for failure against demolition. The High court has given further time to the Hotel to proceed with the demolition. It may become necessary for the Council to pursue the contempt order as procrastination by the Hotel threatens to subvert the Apex Court order. The council's plea to the government to facilitate the process of granting permission to residences locally has had a positive response and the collector has now been authorised to grant such permissions. This move will facilitate legitimate building activity to fulfill the genuine housing needs of the local population. The council has also emphasized to the government that the hundreds of demolition orders sent out by the township authorities are an attempt to confuse and mislead the court and public by equating minor violations on residential premises with the illegal construction of commercial enterprises which have sprung up in collusion with corrupt local authorities. The P H C C has raised objections with the state and central governments, about the proposal to demolish the La Providence seminary built in 1845 and construct a 76 room hotel in its place. The site had been classified "agricultural" in view of its location on the watershed of the lake and marsh and changed to 'commercial' in July '93 without the due process of law. 10. CONCLUSION World over forests are declining. Tamil Nadu and palni Hills are no exception. There has been a drop in the funding from the central agencies for tree planting efforts. We have come across situations where trees planted by the councils effort have borne fruit and produced useful small timer. But there have also been cases where the wood has gone to cook some ones' food or worse, burn bricks and retread tyres. The challenge is how to persuade farmers to keep trees standing on their land for longer and longer duration. Natural Resource Management for sustainable resource base is a priority. Despite the odds during the past year the council through its 16 tree nursries has managed to plant 3,00,000 trees. The co-operation of our field and office staff has been excellent in this venture. Our sincere thanks to them. The works have been made possible by grants for projects from donor agencies who share our commitment to the casue of conservation. The following agencies have helped us with the various projects. 1. CAPART - DANIDA - Palni Hills Watershed Management Project 2. Swedish Society for Nature Conservation - Sustainable Development project 3. National Afforestation and Eco-development Board Palni Hills Tree Planting project 4. Small project fund - G T Z Tree Seed centre 5. S I D A - Kadavakurichi Watershed Management Project The councils acknowledges their constribution and hopes for future co-operation in our efforts. The council has enjoyed good co-operation from the Forest departments of Mannar Thrumalai and Madurai districts. Our thanks for their help in planting trees and protecting existing forests at the Palni Hills. Finally we thank our auditors M/s.Madhavan & Elango who have efficiently audited the accounts for the year. R.Kannan President Date: 28-5-97