My Science School

Montane in Latin means mountain. The northern Western Ghats rainforests, both montane and deciduous, cover the northern parts of the Western Ghats and spread across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka.

Both forest types have mostly tropical moist broadleaf trees. The bio-diversities of both the woods are astoundingly remarkable, and a substantial percentage of the country’s flora and fauna are endemic to these regions.

The montane rainforests cover 30,900 sq. km at an elevation of 1000 metres, and the forest trees are primarily evergreen and multi-storeyed.

Trees as tall as 45 m and various climbers, lianas, and epiphytic plants form the canopy’s upper layer network. The lower shelters consist of bamboos, palms, and canes. The thickness of foliage decreases as heights increase and gives way to hilly grasslands with patches of stunted forest growth, called Shola forests.

Many of the forest’s endemic fruit-eating birds like the Nilgiri wood-pigeon, Malabar grey hornbill, grey-headed bulbul, and the Malabar parakeet help maintain the forest architecture. The 138 species of frogs seen here are found nowhere else on the planet, and include the pig nose, an endangered living fossil that dates back to the Jurassic period!

The moist deciduous forests cover the eastern and western mountain slopes and surround the montane rainforests from a lower altitude. This ecosystem covers 48,200 sq. km, from the southern borders of Gujarat’s Gir forests and ending with the south Karnataka forests.

The deciduous forests are tropical and humid. The western slopes receive higher rainfall because of the blocking of the south-west monsoon winds, and the eastern slopes receive lesser rain because of the rain shadow caused by the same. The forest is characterized by several plant varieties, including teak and the Indian thorny bamboo. Many of its endemic plants have medicinal properties. Fauna species include the endangered lion-tailed Macaque, tiger, common leopard, Asian elephant, Indian bison, and sloth bear. Endemism is more pronounced in its bird species, including the spot-billed pelican, the lesser frolican, and three varieties of hornbills.

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Man can thrive only if Nature thrives. This realization has seen the sprouting and growth of several non-profit organizations that function solely for the benefit of nature. Two such critical non-profit organizations are the Rainforest Trust and The Rainforest Alliance.

The Rainforest Trust is a U.S. - based, highly transparent, and efficient non-profit organization functioning over the past 30 years with a mission to save endangered wildlife. The organization purchases rainforest areas that are threatened. It then ensures the protection of the land by entering into a partnership with conservation groups worldwide. The community is also engaged in the entire process.

A few of its notable conservation projects are the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation Project to save Ecuador’s endangered bird and animal species, and the partnership project with Burung Indonesia, to conserve Asian bird species.

Rainforest Alliance is yet another international non-profit organization that uses social and market forces to protect forests and their inhabitants. The Rainforest Alliance seal, which appears on products made from farm and forest products, is seen more or less as a valid symbol of sustainability. Various tourism businesses also use this seal as a certification for their various educational programmes on sustainability.

Businesses and start-ups that foster this sustainability are encouraged by many countries. For example, the agreement signed between the Costa Rican government and the American pharmaceutical company, Merck, ensures that a share of the profit gained from extracting its rainforest medicinal compounds is used to fund conservation projects. The country also invests in ecotourism projects to financially benefit the local economies.

At the global level, The United Nations’ REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Program offers financial support to 58-member countries. The fund is used to mitigate the extent of carbon emissions created by deforestation activities within these countries. Using this fund from REDD, the Democratic Republic of Congo has created an online National Forest Monitoring System that tracks and maps data on any deforestation activities happening in its protected areas and monitors measures under-taken by the national forestry department.

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Several corporations across the globe join hands with various international conservation organizations. Together, they sketch plans that mainly focus on reducing pollution, protecting threatened areas, and conserving biodiversity.

These functioning bodies mediate between various development interests, policymakers, scientists, local people, and activist groups to ensure conservation. Organizations like the International Conservation Union (IUCN), Conservation International (CI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) are a few examples of such mediators.

The various activities initiated by these groups include international conferences, the establishment of conservation projects at the local level, and maintaining parks and reserves.

Private foundations owned by wealthy individuals, such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and several others, are also known to provide substantial funding for these conservation projects.

Activist groups like the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Amazon Watch, and Greenpeace are equally important. These sponsors serve as watchdogs of projects and raise voice against commercial companies responsible for deforestation. They also urge consumers to boycott products that are not eco-friendly and are influential in raising awareness through publicizing conservation activities.

Such organizations and their activities have gone a long way in encouraging better ecological sustainability.

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Here is an easy activity for you. Collect a map of the ‘Rainforests of the World’ and lay it on your table. (If you don’t get one, you can search online as well). Observe closely. What do you see?

The entire Asian continent appears colourless, as if it was barren. But what of India and other south-eastern countries? Do you see splashes of green here and there? The bright splashes of green that define the landscape of India and some other areas in the region are actually tropical rainforests!

India is one of the 12 mega-biodiversity nations in the world, thanks to its species richness and endemism. The rainforests found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Eastern Himalayas, and the Western Ghats are like a painter’s canvas, strewn with blue streaks of major river systems, fertile, rich red soil, and multi-coloured strokes of indigenous cultural richness!

The Indian rainforests are like living laboratories. The complexities of the various ecological, biological and evolutionary processes that happen in these natural workshops make it the most intricately patterned ecosystem on the Earth! These rainforests, be they of the Eastern Himalayas or of the Western Ghats, are strikingly different from each other in characteristics.

Despite these differences however, over 80 per cent of the Country’s endemic flora and fauna are found in these rainforests.

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It would not be wrong to say that nature and Man sometimes go hand-in-hand in destroying the rainforests. A single cyclone or flood, or a mining site or oil plantation can tear down an entire rainforest which must have taken millions of years to form! Several animal and plant species can vanish from the Earth just like that!

Shocking but true, tropical rainforests are vanishing from the Earth’s face at a rate of 80,000 acres every day. Whatever area remains is just the size of the United States and China combined and hardly holds its original richness.

Growing international concern and efforts seem futile. Deforestation still thrusts its negative impact upon species extinction and exhaustion of resources.

However, experts opine that the pace of this devastation can be slowed down or even stopped or reversed. But how?

The answer is forest conservation, a feasible and more effective approach undertaken by various people and organizations. The efforts under this approach follow the principle of sustainable use of forest reserves. Thus, diminishing rainforests are restored, rehabilitated, and developed to a great extent. Establishing protected areas too can go a long way in realizing long-term benefits for mankind.

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Countries that are wealthy in terms of rainforests and their valuable resources are generally not the world’s most prosperous in terms of money. The local inhabitants and indigenous tribes that live in or around rainforests largely depend on these natural resources for their daily sustenance. Lack of enough education and professional skills compel them to merely survive on whatever resources they can find from the forests.

Often, conservation measures to protect rainforests are well-intentioned, but not of much benefit to the local inhabitants. When steps are under-taken towards erosion prevention, flood control, fisheries protection, and so on, these forest Inhabitants are often thrown out of their natural habitats. This pushes them further into dire poverty.

Because of this, many governments are in the horns of a dilemma and choose not to do anything in the matter; this too is not an acceptable option. Conservation of rainforests can be said to be successful only when the nation’s economic stability is balanced by the inhabitants’ wellness and the ecosystem’s sustainability. This is indeed a tall order, difficult to achieve.

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Since the beginning of early civilization, the role played by the people of the forests in conserving biodiversity has been incredibly remarkable.

Flora and fauna preserved by these people serve them as sources of wild edible food and antidotes for various ailments. The traditional knowledge they have acquired and handed down over generations have been of great value.

However, encroachment by outsiders to commercialize the valuable forest resources has tampered with this peaceful coexistence and made survival extremely difficult.

Many of the indigenes survive by practicing farming using the slash and burn method. But prolonged use of this method of cultivation depletes the soil of its fertility. The land becomes barren, and much of the endemic vegetation is exhausted.

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that encourages outside tourists to get involved in responsible travel to these natural lands. The primary purpose is to ensure forest conservation by enlightening tourists and fostering respect towards indigenous culture and human rights. The funds received from this sector are used for the well-being of the natives and indirectly fulfill the needs of ecological conservation.

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This may sound ironic, but Mother Nature can sometimes be her own worst enemy! Rainforests, we know, function as the Earth’s lungs. But what is a rainforest without rain?

Severe droughts occur when nature decides to stop raining for prolonged seasons. Then, lives within these rainforests either perish from thirst or succumb to pests, diseases, and even forest fires!

Storms are the windy villains! We read earlier how liana vines climb onto canopy roofs and stretch their arms around surrounding trees, big or small. When the power of the storms overrides the strength of the trees, they crash and bring down neighbouring inter-twined trees to the floor! Cyclones and typhoons, which are massive tropical storms, can cause almost irreparable destruction!

Volcanoes, the fiery villains, are known for their smoky black gases and boiling lava. These eruptions carry on for several days, and pollute the atmospheric air with poisonous gases. The avalanche of lava, along with pieces of rocks ejected by a volcano, melt and burn plants and animals that stand along its path of flow.

Surprisingly, volcano soils are blessed with plenty of nutrient matter. Once the lava cools down, the area turns into fertile land for new plant life to sprout again.

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Just take a look at the little and big things around you. What do you see? Newspapers, books, wooden furniture, medicines, and what not! Has it occurred to you that most of them were once part of rainforests? Wood pulp, the chief raw material used in the paper industry, is obtained by chopping off thousands of rainforest trees every day. A large area of the Sumatran rainforest has been cleared and turned into a plantation of a single plant species just for wood pulp!

Animals of the rainforests are not spared, too. Leather industries that solely rely on animal skin, and the food sector that finds a promising economy in the bushmeat market, have caused the extinction of hundreds of species of forest animals.

Animals function as vital seed dispersers within the ecosystem. Massive hunting and poaching of these ‘seed spreaders’ affect the wildlife population and cause an imbalance in the overall richness of the plant and animal density.

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Man and his activities are like the air we breathe in. You may not see them, but their presence can be felt in every nook and corner of the world. For example, a war between two Asian countries can uproot a rainforest in South America or Australia.

Let us go deeper.

Much of the arms, weapons, and other war defence machinery needed during wars, are made using forest resources such as timber and rocks. Nations at war often have to buy or sell weapons from huge companies or foreign countries. The debts thus incurred are usually paid back by selling these forest assets to the provider. Forest land is cleared off to set up military or refugee camps as well.

Road construction is another grave concern. As read earlier, many of the resources required by men are within the inaccessible interiors of the forests. Activities like oil extraction, mining, ranching, etc., force the governments or private companies to destroy thousands of trees and supporting vegetation that stand as obstacles.

Illegal timber trade and animal poaching too flourish under these circumstances. Animals are threatened and move out of their peaceful dwellings. The humidity and temperature of the soil and air are also affected adversely.

The pollution arising from such activities has affected the purity of the air and the quality of water in the rivers of rainforests to an almost irreparable extent! Acid rain, an after-effect of air pollution, causes the burning of vegetation. Acidification of soil and water is also a common problem that questions the sustainability of rainforests.

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As the human race multiplies in numbers, Man’s need for more living space, wood, fuel, and other resources remains unsatisfied. Rainforests are treasure houses of varied resources. These resources are made available for human use by mining, oil extraction, and construction of dams for power.

Mining is done in places that have rich deposits of valuable minerals. The dense structure of rainforests makes it difficult to access such mineral hotspots. Trees and other natural resources which obstruct accessibility are then wiped out to construct roads. Trees also provide charcoal, a much-needed raw material in the iron ore minefields. Gold mining is the deadliest of all. Harmful mercury needed for gold extraction enters uncontrollably into the soil and water bodies, destroying the plant and aquatic world in and around.

Oil extraction comes along with many similar threats. Along with forest destruction, it also causes oil spillage and release of harmful by-products into the air and water channels, causing severe harm to the organic world.

Hydroelectric power is affordable, clean, and an excellent form of renewable energy. However, the harnessing of this energy form comes along with its demerits too. The construction of large hydroelectric dams results in flooding. Large acres of rainforest land get submerged or washed away. Trees clog and decay in these waters and results in the perishing of thousands of plant and animal life.

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Do you own a pet dog or cat at home? What do you feed them? If your answer is pet food, then you need to do a little rethinking.

Cattle feed and pet meals are a curse to the rainforest ecosystem.

How is this? Palm oil, as we know, is an essential ingredient in the food industry and is extracted from the fruit of the palm tree. Palm fruits have a nut-like centre called kernel that is rich in protein. These protein-rich kernels appear as by-products and are chopped and mashed up to make palm-kernel cakes, a chief ingredient used in pet food.

Oil palms of the rainforests are homes for the orang-utans. Massive logging of oil palms to boost the palm oil sector has led to the annihilation of these poor tree-dwellers!

According to the IUCN, the total number of orang-utans has declined to its half over the past ten years. Today, the Sumatran orang-utans have been labelled as critically endangered and the Bornean orang-utans as endangered.

A recent surge in awareness of the issue has prompted several palm oil companies to develop more sustainable technologies in the palm oil manufacturing process. It has also ensured better conservation of these natural habitats. However, efforts in realizing the same approach in the pet kernel meal sector are not successful. Hence, the problem remains a grave issue.

So, it is up to you to make sure that the smile on your pet’s face is not the cry of a poor orang-utan!

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The chair that you lazily lounge on or the papers that you scribble on were once tall trees in a forest somewhere! Rainforests are Mother Nature’s gift to mankind.

Trees form the basic structure of every rainforest. They are not just friends of the natural ecosystem, but also an irreplaceable element in the commercial sector. For example, hardwood trees like Mahogany fetch a huge profit in the furniture market. The wood pulp from the softwoods of the Canadian coniferous trees forms the raw material for making paper.

However, such large profits rule the market only for short terms. Forest resources are mostly non-renewable. A commercially valuable tree that probably takes decades to grow can be uprooted in just a few minutes! As the tree falls to the ground, it crushes several other smaller trees. A forest area can be wiped off in just a few days but will probably never recover at all!

Paving roads for mining minerals require the clearing of large forest areas. This creates hidden opportunities for illegal trade of timber and poaching of wild animals for bushmeat. Almost 90 per cent of the West African rainforests have disappeared. Apes and gorillas are killed and sold on roadsides and markets. Experts fear that at least 1/10th of the world’s total timber reaches the markets through illegal logging practices.

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Forests are the elixir of life. You may be thousands of kilometres away from one, but the air you breathe in or the comforts you enjoy in your room are more or less connected with or controlled by these jungles.

Rainforests are not just trees standing together. It is a spectacular ecosystem of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, bacteria, and even abiotic elements such as soil, air, and water.

Better living conditions and advancements in the health sector have resulted in a longer lifespan and increased birth rates. Man, and his constant demand for space, food, and other comforts, put an equal demand upon raw materials, a majority of which are found only within these rainforests. Hence, forest trees are felled for timber or destroyed for gaining access to mining.

Other major reasons behind deforestation are, increased population in rainforest areas, excessive demand for tropical hardwoods, cattle grazing, palm oil, and soya plantations, and construction of hydroelectric dams.

The destruction of the rainforests directly affects other ecosystems throughout the world. The latter part of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st have witnessed about half of the world’s total rainforest areas being wiped away because of deforestation.

However, media coverage on grave issues such as global warming and climatic changes has raised better awareness of sustainable practices to ensure forest conservation.

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The Chimbu tribal folks live in dispersed settlements all across the central highland rainforests of Papua New Guinea. Their houses are oval or rectangular with low thatched roofs. The Chimbu practise subsistence agriculture through shifting cultivation.

Subsistence agriculture is the practice of cultivating just what is required to meet their needs. Crops include sweet potatoes, bananas, and beans. In shifting cultivation, a plot is extensively used for few years to cultivate crops. It is then ploughed and left barren without sowing for several years. These plots are never abandoned but handed down to other members of the family.

Pigs are revered as valuable assets for trade and as an exchange item during their highly ceremonial rituals. The Chimbus are famous for their strikingly huge headdresses made from bird feathers and their body decorations.

The Tlingit tribes inhabit the temperate rainforests that line the Pacific north-western coast of Northern America. Tlingit means ‘People of the Tides’. The land, caressed by sea inlets, rivers, and streams, is plentiful with diverse and edible aquatic life such as sea oysters, clams, crab, salmon, and herring. Seaweeds such as kelps are harvested and used in soups.

The inland Tlingit tribes hunt deer, elk, mountain goats, and rabbits for food and gather or harvest berries, nuts, and wild celery.

The Tlingit culture is multifaceted and gives much emphasis on family and relationships. Houses are made of planks and are fastened together without using nails or any other kind of adhesive.

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