The Hindu : Kerala News : Wildlife habitat likely to be lost

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 03, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Wildlife habitat likely to be lost

Roy Mathew

Proposed site for space institute is dense forest rich in endemic flora

FACING THE AXE: The densely forested area at Maruthuamala that has been handed over to ISRO for setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.

PONMUDI (Thiruvananthapuram district): The development of the campus for the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Maruthuamala, near Ponmudi, is likely lead to destruction of a wildlife habitat and endemic flora (plants confined to a region).

A visit to the location, adjoining the Ponmudi tea estate, reveals that the proposed site is a dense forest located at an altitude of about 1,000 metres. The upper portion consists of sholas with reed breaks. But grasslands associated with sholas are absent there, possibly because they had been converted into plantations.

Elephant dung has been seen amidst the reed breaks suggesting that wild elephants frequent the area. A junta at the estate boundary indicates that it is part of reserved or vested forests.

As one goes down the sloppy terrain, the character of the forest changes almost suddenly. Shola species give way to a myriad of evergreen trees and brooks. A few of the trees are up to five metres in girth. The soil is moist and home to many species. While the undergrowth is thin in some places, bushes and small plants block the way on the northern side. Surveyors have cut through the reed breaks and bushes to mark the area to be handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

A sambar deer has been sighted in the bushes, indicating that hunters are active in the area. Boulders are found to have been moved and soil dug up in order to catch some reptilian species hiding under a rock formation.

The ISRO requires plain areas for development of recreational facilities on the campus as per its advertisement in December 2006. However, there is no level ground at Maruthuamala. Large boulders would have to be blasted and slopes levelled, after clearing the dense forest, for any kind of construction there.

Construction of road to the location would be difficult and time-consuming. Though two routes have been identified, both have to traverse high gradients and rocky and unstable terrain. The development is likely to lead to water shortage in the area, as the streams would dry up with the destruction of the forests.

The forests are a continuation of the evergreen forests at Agasthayarkoodam and its environs, which form a biodiversity hotspot. It is the habitat of several species endemic to the southern end of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka such as the jewel orchid (Anoectochilus elatus). Besides the jewel orchid, a few more orchids, including Oberonia verticillata, could be spotted during a four-hour trek through the Maruthuamala forest. (Oberonia verticillata, named after the Greek god of wine, occur only in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.) Begonia and Commelina species have been found on the wet rocks. (Commelina is named after Jan Commelin, the famous Dutch botanist who helped Van Rheede in writing ‘Hortus Malabaricus’). The species Cullenia excelsa (exarillata) also occur here, indicating that it is a potential habitat of the lion tailed macaque. (The fruit of excelsa is the staple diet of the monkey.)