Jehangirpura Birds - Elaine's Pics

Elaine and I stopped at a small water tank near the village of Jehangirpura (near the FES office) on the way to work the other day. She snapped a few great shots of birds there, and we had a great time.

Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala)

Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis)

     3-in-1 surprise (only thought she was taking a picture of one bird)

                    White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)

Back in India

I'm now back and settled in India after being home, in the US, during late February and almost all of March. I'm now working directly for the Foundation of Ecological Security. Check-out their website: http://fes.org.in/

I'm living in Anand, Gujarat, a very different place than Madanapalle, and Andhra Pradesh for that matter. Now that I'm back in action, more posts will soon be on the way!

Birds of India

Here are a few birds photos I shot through the year. These photos were taken in either Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh (1-3) or Anand, Gujarat (4-7). 


1. Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

2. Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius)

3. Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii)

4. Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis)

5. Black Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa)

6. Lesser Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna javanica)

 7. Brahminy Starling (Sturnus pagodarum)

Crimson Rose

Here are a few pictures of a Crimson Rose (Atrophaneura hector) - a common swallowtail in India. I took these from my back porch in Madanapalle. Check out the Wikipedia link for more info on this species.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrophaneura_hector

Nagarjun Forest Reserve, Kathmandu

My partner, Elaine, and I have spent the holiday in Kathmandu, Nepal, and we are loving every minute of it! We took a day hike in the Nagarjun Forest Reserve just outside Kathmandu. Although it has been difficult to get much information on Nagarjun, it appears that its status as a reserve forest excludes all uses except recreation; at its summit, known as Jamacho Peak (approx. 2100 meters), is a Buddhist temple popular among pilgrims and the hiking trail is used by tourists and locals alike. The peak yields nice views of Kathmandu Valley as well as several of the famous mountains surrounding the Valley.

We really enjoyed the hike, and the forest was stunning. The trail begins at around 1500 meters and is a 5K hike to Jamacho Peak. There didn't seem to be drastic floral changes as altitude increased, although the trail opened-up into a grassy section (around 1800 meters) with wild berry shrubs (berberis asiatica) here and there. Although we noticed Chir Pine (pinus roxburghii) from the trail head in very small numbers, this beautiful species became ubiquitous at about 1760 meters. It was wonderful to see the many rhododendrons (rhododendron arboreum) of the forest, especially some of the very large specimens we found. The forest was decorated with many varieties of moss, and moss diversity seemed to increase as we neared the summit. One striking change was the increase of bamboo (dendrocalamus strictus) as we climbed, with only short plants at lower altitudes that increased to a maximum of around 10' at 2050 meters where the canopy was considerably more open.

At around 1800 meters, we noticed considerably more coppicing, indicating that trees in this forest were indeed cut at some point. Interestingly, we noticed that the coppicing appeared newer as we advanced up the trail, and at 1950 meters we actually encountered a group of 6 local women producing fuelwood and fodder on the hiking trail. Our guide said that, at times, local peoples were allowed to collect dry wood in the forest. However, while this group was collecting some dry wood, they had obviously cut wet wood as well and were in the process of bundling as we encountered them. Lopped and topped trees on and off the trail corroborated that cutting for wood had occurred recently and in the past. We observed them bundling, but were only able to identify rhododendron among the species they collected, although there were others we could not identify. We attempted to converse with the group of collectors about their activity, but they were reluctant to engage with us, and our guide was reluctant to help us speak to them. Similarly, our guide seemed to white wash their collecting activities until we showed we were aware of illicit felling from our work in India, at which point he was more open about the potential illegality of the collectors' activities, along with other illicit forest uses that may occur in the forest.

As I indicate above, it has been difficult to obtain much solid information about the reserve forest, so I am not wholly certain as to the rules that would apply regarding the use of a Reserve Forest, although it is my impression that no use whatsoever is legally allowed. The forest was guarded at the entrance by armed members of the military and we paid an entrance fee. So, it may be that the fuelwood collectors were able to make a deal with the guards to enter the forest for collecting, or perhaps they snuck in through a back entrance. The forest showed lots of evidence of use for fuelwood, and perhaps timber, so it seems that local people have some degree of regular access and are dependent, to some extent, on the forest despite its Reserve status.

Another case of mishandling vulnerable people's place in the natural environment

A few months back, I wrote about the policy and philosophical issues surrounding the tenuous access and rights afforded to traditional dwellers of a national park in Botswana. Similar issues were reported regarding the Ogiek in Kenya by the New York Times on 14th November of this year:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/world/africa/15kenya.html?ref=africa

The Ogiek are traditional dwellers of the Mau Forest in Kenya, wherein they have hunted and collected non-timber forest products (NTFP) for subsistence. The article reports that the Ogiek's lifestyle and livelihoods have been under threat from harmful forest policies since the time of British colonialism, when the British removed native flora from the Mau Forest in order to plant non-native tree species for the production of timber. This practice was common British forest policy and was certainly known here in India, where forest dependent peoples were similarly impacted by having their means of subsistence and livelihood diminished through timber-oriented forest transformations.

The ecosystemic changes caused by timber-oriented forest conversions have devastating short and long term impacts on forest dependent peoples since the goods and services provided to such people by well-functioning, native ecosystems are lost after such disruptions. Typically, the non-native tree species replacing the native ones removed from forests are scarcely beneficial to forest dependent peoples who rely on forests for food, energy, and other products to consume directly or sell. In the case of the Ogiek, honey is a mainstay. In short, when forests are drastically changed, the ecosystem dies and with it the livelihoods of people in those forests.

Presently, the Kenyan government is pledging to evict all inhabitants of the Mau Forest, which includes the Ogiek as well as other who were misguidedly given parcels in the forest in the past. Destruction of the Mao forest ecosystem has significantly decreased its productive capacity for water, a resource the nation relies on. The article describes the government's plans to evict forest inhabitants as a move toward conservation and restoration. This may or may not be true, as there is also speculation that renewed interest in timber activities could be also be behind the new policy.

Despite the government's intentions, there are clear lessons to be learned about forced exclusion of people from the lands they depend on. The most important of these lessons is simple: it doesn't work. For people who are highly integrated in direct dependence on ecosystems for subsistence and livelihoods, real exclusion from said resources is not often possible. People continue to use the resource, although in less sustainable ways and, under the exclusionary policies, illegally. Strongly supportive, participatory approaches to changing forest-dependent people's reliance have shown much more success throughout the developing world. These policies give people a stake in protecting and conserving resources such as forests while allowing them to use the forest in ways consistent with its preservation.

In this case, another, newer population of Mao Forest inhabitants are also stakeholders. These are not traditionally forest-dependent people like the Ogiek, but those who have been handed parcels of land in the past and have cultivated agriculture there - a practice that, along with timber extraction, has led to the Mao Forest's degradation in the first place. Although relocation and exclusion of these people may be more feasible given their shorter tenure in the forest and their status as agriculturalists, they too will resist and likely use the forest illegally after exclusionary policies are undertaken.

By all signs, this case is a mess created by decades of policies abusive to ecosystems and people. All evidence from the social and natural science of forest management points to the need for a new policy that will include forest dependent people in forest conservation and preservation, not exclude them. Let's now hope the government of Kenya can heed this evidence.

 

Gardenia Gummifera

In the course of my study of human and natural systems in India, I'm looking at the dependence on a particular tree species - Gardenia Gummifera or Bikki, its common name in Telugu. Endemic to India, it is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, although it is sparsely distributed. It occurs as a shrub or small tree in dry, deciduous woodlands. Bikki produces a small, sweet fruit, which is collected by villagers in our study area to sell and for personal consumption. The wood is sometimes harvested for fuelwood, although less so than other species. Non-human fruit predators include slothbears, goats and sheep, and wild boars. Other threats include the extract of gum. It flowers in March and produces fruit between April and August. Like other trees in local forests, it is susceptible to seasonal fires, which pose a threat to regeneration.

Photo: Tiffany Knight