Tamil Nadu: Govt project at historic Longwood Shola forests in Nilgiris has citizens, ecologists fuming

It has stood there for aeons, serving nature with a delicate ecological balance and mankind with precious water and much more. But now, the historic Longwood Shola, a 116-hectare pristine forest at Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri district and the last of its kind in the region, is allegedly under threat, thanks to the forest department's attempt to set up a conservation centre.

Furious citizens and environmentalists, who have been protesting this move for quite some time now under the umbrella body of Longwood Shola Conservation Consortium, have launched an online petition to help stop this alleged ecological destruction.

Citizens have alleged that it all started in the name of setting up an 'Interpretation Centre'. Earlier this year, the forest department allegedly started construction work in the middle of the Longwood Shola, a reserve forest, severely damaging the ecology and upsetting its delicate balance. Forest officials say the project was conceived at a vacant site, and it's is still at the nascent stage.

Citizens’ protest

On March 31, 400 citizens assembled at the Kotagiri forest office and seized an earthmover used for the construction. The petition claimed that promises were made then that no more construction would take place. Following the promise, they returned the backhoe.

However, citizens now claim that concrete structures have been built in the section of Longwood Shola reserved for growing seedlings. Also, the District Forest Officer and Principal Forest Conservation Officer reportedly announced a plan to build a 6,000-sqft interpretation centre in the area earmarked for the nursery during the stakeholder consultation meeting on November 21.

Currently, activists and ecologists say they are in the dark about the ongoing work because they have no access to the site.

Claims and counter-claims

“The forest department has proceeded with the construction despite our protests. The Longwood Shola is a critical ecosystem that supports a wide range of species and provides livelihood to thousands of people,” said Dilip Srinivas of The Heritage Foundation, a Kotagiri-based organisation, working for environmental conservation.

Srinivas alleged that around 15 native trees had already been chopped to make way for the project, even though S Gowtham, the DFO of Ooty, told The Federal that “no trees have been cut”. “Shola forests are the pride of the Nilgiris, and to bring greater awareness and spread the message of its uniqueness, we plan to set up a conservation centre, in total sync with nature,” said Gowtham.

Srinivas, however, differs. "It is clearly a disaster in the making. As incredulous as it might sound, they plan to erect a watchtower in the middle of the forest, which is a wetland,” he claimed.

Gowtham further said that the forest department has held discussions with all the stakeholders. “It [the project] is still at the proposal stage, and let us not react as if the department has started the construction already,” he added.

To that, Srinivas claimed the stakeholders’ meeting was just an “eyewash”. “The forest department was not even willing to listen to our grievances or suggestions. All they wanted to say was that they were going ahead with the project. Apparently, Rs 5 crore has been allotted and, obviously, there will be a series of activities. That will lead to bigger footfall and an influx of vehicles, which would be devastating for this pristine forest,” said Srinivas.

What’s at stake?

So, what’s at stake if the forest department goes ahead with this project? First, of course, are the unique vegetation, including trees, plants, and vines, besides the wildlife that Longwood Shola is home to. Second, this urban forest directly provides 18 villages, or 10,000 households, in Kotagiri area with drinking water round the year.

“This project will seriously affect the flow of water to all villages. In fact, this ecosystem, though small in nature, feeds water to other districts, even Erode,” explained Srinivas.

Failing to stop the destruction on its own, the Longwood Shola Conservation Consortium has now appealed to all concerned citizens to come together to save Longwood Shola, which, incidentally, was granted the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy (QCC) accreditation earlier this year. QCC is a forest conservation programme across the commonwealth countries to conserve unique indigenous forests.

Vanishing sholas

And, the “shola” forests are unique to the hills of South India. The word comes from the Tamil “solai” meaning tropical rainforest. It is a local name given to these stunted tropical montane forests found in the valleys of the hilly regions of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. Some unique features of shola forests are persistent cloud cover and moisture-capturing abilities.

Godwin Bosco, an ecologist who works to restore the forests of Nilgiris and the Western Ghats in general, said shola forests like Longwood are some of the last remaining old-growth forests in the Kotagiri area. “Old-growth forests harbour more biodiversity and are crucial pockets to help retain the regenerative capacity of ecology,” he explained.

Bosco also explained that even among shola forests, Longwood is special. “One thing about Longwood is that it is in a sheltered valley; so, the shola trees are tall, and this is quite unique to a few of the shola patches in the plateau. Usually, they are stunted to varying degrees.”

India has reportedly lost 30 percent of its forest cover over the past decades. Every year, it reportedly continues to lose 0.28 percent of forests. The shola forests are particularly vulnerable, as more than 50 per cent of these have reportedly vanished since 1850.

According to Bosco, building infrastructure and tourism are some of the main forms of disturbance that reduce the defences such ecosystem to invading exotic species. “With changes in climate and pressures from chemical-intensive plantation land-use already adding up, it is imperative that these pockets are preserved without any displacing disturbances,” he stressed.

Activists are now planning to move the Madras High Court, it's learnt.