Namaskaram!

Right now I am at Edavanakkad in Vypin island in Ernakulam district. Here I have a friend named Manoj although I’m seeing him for the first time now. Manoj is sincerely engaged in afforestation programmes in Kerala. Before I introduce him to you, let me take two minutes to tell you a small thing. In 1975, Akira Kurosawa directed Dersu Uzala [The Hunter], a beautiful film I saw in 1987 for the first time, and many times later. It was produced by the Russian government, and Kurosawa went from Japan to Russia in order to make it. Recently, I happened to read the book [by Vladimir Arsenyev] on which the film was based, in which the original photographs of the characters can be seen. The hero of this memoir is a man who loves Nature deeply, like Jugalprasad in Aranyak [Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s novel].

Manoj leads a lifestyle that is similar to it. He is trained in electronics engineering, and is a product of Thrissur Engineering College. He worked in the field of computers for some time but is now thinking of taking a break from it, and devote his time for community building. That is, he is attempting to spread awareness among the new generation about our natural environment. We should pay some attention to the experiments he is doing here in this plot. For a long time, it has been customary to burn leaves in this compound. He is converting it into a Nature-friendly place. You can see that coconuts, nutmegs have fallen on the ground and sprouted. Let us find out from him about how all this came about. 

Namaskaram, Manoj.

Namaskaram.

Can you tell us about this garden plot? You say, you began this 24 years back. Is this the growth since then?

There was a small break in between. This is a 1.5 acre plot. My activities were first confined to 10 cents. I wanted to convert a small plot into a fruit-bearing orchard.

What was grown here in the beginning?

Largely coconut trees, a few mango and jack trees. There weren’t too many big trees.

The concept in those days was to keep the plot clean.

Yes. That was the concept.

So all the dry leaves had to be removed . . .

True, and the easiest way out was to burn them. When this was done regularly, all the seeds of mango, jack, wild jack and so on – that the birds brought in during the months of June and July, and sprouted – got destroyed. Instead of planting new saplings, it was merely enough to ensure all these naturally sprouting shoots were protected. If that had been done, we would have had a good ecosystem.

So you were convinced that burning leaves had to be stopped. Then onwards you began towork towards recapturing what was lost.

Yeah. Mulching was the main step. So I collected all the dry leaves, tree branches, coconut leaves and spathes, and spread them on the ground of the 10-cent plot. I knew I could not change the entire 1.5 acres all at once. But all the dry leaves and twigs I got from the entire garden plot were used for mulching in this 10-cent piece. And into this mulch, I deposited as many seeds as I could get – of mango, jack, wild jack, wild trees, and shade-giving trees. With the next rains, all of them would sprout. Besides, the thick mulch functioned as a sponge, and absorbed all the water.

In one-and-a-half years, this space came alive. Everything was done through non-violent means. Dragonflies and even spiders appeared. While burning was done in the rest of the plot, this 10-cent garden became a safe haven for the insects. The soil gained in fertility. I saw that mulching had great benefits. My attempt was not to do agriculture in the 1.5 acres but to allow everything to grow. I did not destroy anything that was commonly called weed or useless plants. But I simply gave more attention to fruit-bearing trees. I planted mostly jack seeds because it had been neglected for a long time. I was sure this would not become a monocrop. Biodiversity is important for the health of an ecosystem. So I strived towards that goal. Although initially I gave more importance to fruiting trees, now I permit everything, even wild trees, to grow here.

But I see nutmeg here . . .

I have not planted a single nutmeg tree in this plot. All of them came here naturally, with seeds falling from my neighbour’s nutmeg tree. Not a single tree is destroyed here, not even the weeds. Many of them get destroyed, many survive. A few die in heavy rain.

You turned towards Nature after meeting Johnsi sir, isn’t it? Professor John C. Jacob the famous environmentalist. He was living close by, and you went there to meet him, isn’t it so?

Yes, I would go to him occasionally. He used to publish a magazine titled Prasadam. I began to read it, and slowly realized that I did not know even the basics. Johnsi sir introduced me to a few books like The One-Straw Revolution [by Masanobu Fukuoka]. Soon I realized that merely reading books served no purpose. Something had to be done. That was how I turned to activities. With that, I began work on the 10-cent plot.

Your own?

Yes, the 10-cent plot. I can’t say I planted saplings. I did mulching, dropped seeds into it, and stopped burning altogether. With all this, the quality of the soil improved, seeds sprouted, insects, butterflies, dragon flies, spiders and others arrived. I could see the change. Fertility of the soil improved. The work of earthworms and microorganisms began. The earthworms were visible, of course. I was now convinced that there was nothing to gain by merely reading books if I did not experience these things myself. I realized I did not know anything at the fundamental level. That was when I started this activity of planting saplings. Initially I did it only here. Gradually, I started going to my friends’ plots on this mission. Now I do the same thing on a small scale in schools and colleges.

You say that the very concept of Nature conservation is wrong. Can you explain?

Sir [Johnsi] used to say that we know very little about Nature. How then can we set out to conserve it? He would recommend that we take from Nature only as much as we need, and give back in the same measure. That is what we can do.

Try to minimize our intervention, you mean?

That’s what I practise here – do mulching, drop seeds, and withdraw. Nature will take over. Every seed may not sprout but a few will. I do this in as non-violent a way as possible. I don’t use even organic pesticides, I don’t drive away any insect or creature. Of course, there are problems too.

Indeed! But the very word “organic pesticide” is a wrong one. “Organic” means living and “pesticide” connotes destruction. So the very usage is incorrect. What you now do is go to schools and encourage children to intervene, isn’t it? You spread awareness among them?

Yes. They call me on 5 June [World Environment Day], and ask me to convey a message, to create awareness among students. But as far as I know, the children are already aware of climate change, global warming and so on. They study about the concepts. But there are certain things that we cannot make them understand. In order to facilitate that, we need spaces like our kaavus [sacred groves], sea shores and forests where they can be taken. So we create a situation where experiential learning takes place. There is no point in talking about forests in a webinar. It is more profitable to take them to such spaces. They will most probably ask questions. In nearly all cases, children will understand what a kaavu is if we permit them to spend half an hour there. Then all we need to do is answer their questions. Usually we talk non-stop about Nature conservation. That will bore children to death.

Indeed, I have found many of these things to be true. I’m older than you by about 10 years. During my childhood, toys were difficult to get. People did not have money to spare. Even if  they did, not much was spent on toys, especially in middle-class and poorer households. But children would play with coconut shells, make a pair of scales with them using threads, or play with green leaves using their powers of imagination. Or, enter a cow shed and imagine it as a shop. That was how we grew up. In the course of such activities, we touched many leaves and plants, and when rain fell on the leaves, we distinguished them by their smell. But these days, children don’t know the smell of even the important plants. They either grow up in flats, or don’t go near plants or touch them.

The same is the case with dogs. Nearly every household owns a dog, and 90 percent of the dogs belong to foreign breeds like Labrador or Pomeranian. And children know all about every foreign breed but nothing about the native varieties. In our gardens too, we avoid indigenous plants and trees completely. Buildings are constructed and certain ornamental palms are planted. We have plenty of indigenous trees that bear flowers and have medicinal value but nobody raises them. After sometime, endless rows of the palms look monotonous. I don’t see any beauty in them. They look like pillars or electricity posts. Are your interventions meant to combat climate change?

The primary aim is to put children in touch with soil. We are invited to schools only if we have activities involving the putting up of a butterfly park or a fruit forest or a herbal garden. If we hold classes, the children will listen to us. But after sometime, they will forget what we said, just as they forget the subjects they are taught. So we have activities in place of classes. All children wish to get out of classrooms. So we allow them to go through various activities. In order for that to happen, we create such spaces for them. Setting up a butterfly park in the school compound will be an activity for a day because it involves the planting of saplings there. When they go through an activity, they learn a lot of things, like what a horsetail plant is, what a nectar plant is, and so on. They will be able to understand how delicate these things are.

In the present system, we do not have many activities, so the children don’t get new experiences. They learn something, take exams, and collect certificates but no real transformation takes place. For several years now, I have been collecting seeds, planting saplings, and doing it continuously. I have gained knowledge in the course of this activity, through natural means. Our children too know a lot of things but because neither they nor their teachers are involved in any activity, they don’t know how to do things. Now, the mango seed which they have with them, after eating the fruit, becomes a sapling. But, generally speaking, they wait for saplings that are distributed on June 5 as part of social forestry programmes. Children will not do any planting unless they are given saplings by their teachers or parents. In a similar fashion, they see all birds as their enemies. They see only the negative aspects of things. The curry leaf tree and the African bird’s eye chilly plant we see here and there grew because birds’ droppings contained those seeds. But we do not think of such things. Instead, we buy seeds, dry them in smoke, and plant them. This does not teach children the life cycle of plants. Alongside these efforts, you are also trying to grow mangroves, aren’t you?

Yes, primarily I used to grow only fruit trees. There is a Matsyafed [Kerala State Co- operative Federation for Fisheries Development Ltd] farm close by whose Manager is known to me. One day he suggested that I grow mangroves because tourists visit that area and mangroves, he felt, would make it more attractive. I went to a mangrove research centre at Puthuvype and met Raghuraj sir. Since I knew nothing about mangroves, I began studying it. Later I started study tours for children from schools all over Ernakulam.

That campus covers 65 acres and is under the control of KUFOS [Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies]. Raghuraj sir arranges a two-hour presentation which points to the importance of mangroves and how they help protect our fish wealth. Like rainforests, mangroves protect our coasts. It is an ecosystem and true mangroves come in 16 varieties. Then there are around mangrove associates that include 50 species of plants. I began to get more information about it. Mangroves have five to ten times more ability than rainforests to store carbon.

Is it so? I wasn’t aware of it.

That’s not all. It also provides food for a lot of creatures that live among it.

Protein content in its leaves is higher.

This is Vypin island, and what we have here basically is Pokkali paddy and fish. If we have more mangroves, our fish wealth will improve because mangroves are the kindergartens of fish.

A long time back, I went to Kuttanad to learn more about mangroves. There is a fisheries unit at Kumarakam that is associated with agriculture. The authorities there said that once
upon a time, Kerala coast was rich in mangroves. We destroyed all of that in the name of land reclamation.

It takes place even now for various reasons. We still haven’t fully understood its importance, even those of us who live in Vypin. So we began a collective named Grassroots, and we have been involved in small activities for nearly a year now. We started a mangrove nursery, collected seeds of Loop-root and Large-leaved orange mangroves, started a nursery with 1,500 mangrove saplings. We have done three plantings of both varieties so far, near Pokkali paddy fields. A lot more needs to be done. But one individual alone cannot pull it off. Kallan Pokkudan did it on his own. But this has to be taken by the community.

We have a lot of environment organizations and collectives. It is easy to get saplings of fruit- bearing trees from nurseries. But mangrove saplings are not easy to procure. It is not necessary that we use only saplings. If we choose, we can collect seeds, and plant them in the same way as rice saplings are planted in the fields. It is easy to plant saplings of fruit trees on land but mangrove saplings are totally different.

We should be prepared to step into mire, get our hands and legs dirty.

Besides, there is some risk involved in planting them on the shores of lakes or on Pokkali fields. Small children cannot be allowed to do that. Only physically fit adults can step into such areas. We need boats too.

Meteorologists say that by 2050, the city of Kochi will be under water. If sea levels rise even by a metre, as part of climate change, 50 cities of the world, including Kochi, will get inundated. Do you have hopes that we will be able to plant mangroves all along our coast by then?

We in Vypin will be the first to go under water. This island is 25 km long. What I understand is that in the last year, there has been sea surge at Chellanam and Nayarambalam. Sea walls have crumbled at various spots. We imagine that sea walls, breakwaters, geobags and tetrapods are what protect us. We have been building sea walls for the past 60 years, and all the tetrapods are sinking into the sea. That is evident if you go to our beaches. But we are wondering whether we can create bio walls. It is not possible to plant mangroves on silver sand. Look at the native species that grow on sea shores. They are largely Portia tree, sea hibiscus, Indian almond, Mastwood tree, and the whistling pine tree that is planted as part of social forestry projects. None of them are indigenous trees.

I’m told that the whistling pine trees will die before long. In fact, in the event of tsunamis, they are the first to fall.

Here we have instances of sea surge in Kuzhupally beach during certain months. Whenever that happens, these trees get uprooted. We planted them on the silver beach sand only because no other tree was grown there. Some were of the opinion that we should try planting Mastwood tree.

Or, Portia tree.

So we plant saplings of trees that are indigenous. To its east is the Beach Road. There it is possible to plant golden bamboo or the common self-heal plant [Prunella vulgaris].

But from our experience, we know that golden bamboo gets washed away in floods. Small Egyptian balsam plants survive. At Venjarammoodu, we saw clumps of golden bamboo flow through the Vamanapuram river. It takes only one bamboo shoot to knock off a whole clump. I don’t think golden bamboo will serve your purpose.

At Munakkal beach many such species were planted as part of a project. There, the golden bamboo survived.

But you should remember that 3,200 saplings were planted by us in a 20-cent piece of land on Munakkal beach to make a Miyawaki forest. Have you seen the video?

Yes.

There was a sea surge that took place after a gap of 15 years. We had planted a forest just a year earlier, and we lost 50 plants. The first to go was the Burflower tree although that was one species that had grown in the most robust manner. All of them perished in a single day. Later, however, new sprouts appeared. When we conducted a survey, we found that out of a total of 1,100 saplings that had been planted in the first round, 56 got destroyed. The rest remain there. That’s because they are clumped together. We had scientists like Dr Shaji and Dr Mathew Dan on our team, and we went by their advice.

The saplings of plants and trees that are most resistant to sea breeze – like mangrove, vetiver and garden quinine – were planted at the outermost ring. In the inner ring, were Mastwood tree, Portia tree, Malabar tamarind and others. Deep inside, we can have the usual plants and trees. Such a collection will stand. We knew that screwpine too could be planted but we did not get an opportunity to do it. But discussions are still going on whether it is suitable or not. In the meanwhile tetrapods are being laid. Nothing seems to be happening except discussions.

If we can ensure community participation without wasting a second, we may be able to save Kochi. We cannot claim that Vypin will not go under water but we can at least delay that prospect. Nobody likes to go away from their native place. But if we create the right circumstances, ordinary people will be able to continue living here. This is an island with the highest population density. All we have here are small plots of 5- and 10 cents. Where are we to go? Relocation is not easy.

As per the Punargriham Project, people living in coastal areas are encouraged to leave their residences, with the government promising Rs 10 lakhs as compensation. But people are reluctant to leave their homes. They will continue to live there until it becomes utterly impossible to survive.

You are not only involved in afforestation. You have set apart your life for spreading awareness in the community and among members of the new generation. Have you completely abandoned your engineering career?

Many people seek me out. And everyday I’m learning something new. I think this can be done in any landscape. It is not challenging to put up a forest in fertile land. I had been to Thiruvannamala where I saw a group named The Forest Way. It is involved in eco- restoration of Arunachala hills. There was not a single plant on Arunachala hills earlier. Today, it has a stream. That is the level of dedication they show. It does not rain there, and it is plagued by forest fires. Here, we get 300 centimetres of rain but what do we do with it? When those people put in so much hard work with so much sincerity there, all we have to do here is to plant a sapling, or replant a sapling that has sprouted naturally.

Most of the time, we approach many subjects from a theoretical point of view. Some adopt a practical approach. But there are very few people who integrate both approaches, teach the next generation, caution them about the dangers awaiting us in the future, and suggest remedies. Manoj is one such person. If you require his help in Ernakulam district or elsewhere, to put up forests or to teach about afforestation or to get involved in community participation, you may get in touch with him. We shall give you his mobile number. Please feel free to contact him directly.