Right now I’m standing in front of a Miyawaki forest close to the Bekal beach near the Bekal fort in Kasaragod. A total of 1650 saplings were planted on a ten-cent plot on 5 November 2020. The problem that occurred here is unlike the one we saw at Munakkal beach, which suffered a sea surge. At Bekal beach, the salty wind posed a threat because it affected the growth of plants facing the sea. So we fixed a green net to shield them. The phenomenon of blowing salty winds seems to have subsided because the plants are coming back to health. But the solution lies not in fixing a net but planting protective layers of plants like Garden quinine, Glory bower or Headache tree. We have fixed a network of wires at a height of six feet in order to hold the trees and prevent them from toppling over. Therefore, we don’t have to tie the plants to stakes. Here, nearly all the plants have shot up to more than eight feet in eight months.
Although this is beach area, many of the plants, that we feared would not do well, have actually survived. The Indian rosewood, for instance. Let’s take a closer look at the trees in this Miyawaki forest. Before that, let me tell you that the phenomenon we noticed at Munakkal beach was sea surge. It affected the burflower and jack trees but the mango trees flourished. Here, there was no instance of sea surge. But strong salty winds damaged mango leaves severely. Now for a more detailed examination of the trees inside.
This is Malabar tamarind. Like it, the strychnine tree hasn’t done well. Its growth is very slow. This is star apple. This is a banyan. It is nearly 16 feet tall. Pala indigo tree is higher than 10 feet. Portia tree too has grown 10 feet in height. I can’t recognize this one. Maybe it is Thingam. This is blackboard tree. It had withered when the sea breeze blew. But now it is growing afresh. What I’m holding now is Indian trumpet tree. Mango tree. Pala indigo. Tamarind tree. Cannonball tree. This is sacred fig. The other one is banyan. Its leaves don’t look healthy. But the leaves of most trees are returning to health either because the salty winds stopped or because we fixed the nets. The growth of the plants on this side is relatively poor. Most have lost their crests but there are signs of new sprouts now, like Malabar tamarind. So also Golden shower. This is either Emetic nut tree or Pithraj. Blackboard tree is coming back. Indian trumpet tree looks okay. Star fruit tree. This is either Mahua or Arjun tree. Golden shower is putting out new leaves. Guava tree had lost nearly all its leaves. But it is returning to full health. This is a grand citrus tree that has beautifully overcome the problem of withering. Malay gooseberry tree looks untouched. What is noteworthy is that pruning has been done well. This is wild cinnamon. Ashoka. Curry leaf tree. This is some flowering tree that I cannot recognize. Maybe it is night flowering jasmine. Portia tree has grown more than 10 feet high. Vetiver hasn’t suffered any damage. It has been pruned. If cultivated near sea shores, it can withstand salty winds. This is Malay gooseberry tree. Indian trumpet tree. This is sage-leaved alangium. Portia tree. Its leaves look unhealthy. Flame-of-the-forest. Spotted sterculia. Malabar nut tree. Beechwood. Both are beechwood, and are twice my height. Wild jack. Poonspar tree. Elephant apple. Champak beyond it. It has put out buds. Here is a mango tree that is growing well because it is protected from sea winds. The mango tree on the other side had lost all its leaves. Here maybe because the winds didn’t penetrate, the problem was averted. Oleander has lost all its leaves but it is growing back. Portia tree is more than 10 feet tall. Indian rosewood looks healthy. As all these trees have been intermixed, their leaves are hard to distinguish. This, I think, is Marking nut tree. It causes itching at the merest touch. Tamarind tree. Guava tree is full of leaves. Jungli almond. Flame-of-the-forest. Ashoka. The leaves look slightly damaged. Bilimbi. Look at its fruits. False Ashoka. When Ashoka is hard to find, Ayurvedic physicians these days take the bark of False Ashoka to make their concoctions. Egg fruit tree, a foreign species. I have never heard of anyone enjoying its taste. I don’t know if it requires any processing to make it tasty. Banyan. Spanish cherry tree. Jungli almond. Spanish cherry. Indian bael that looks healthy. So also cluster fig tree. Orange jasmine tree. I don’t know if another of this species is planted anywhere else. I’m seeing it for the first time. This is the real Rudraksha. I did not imagine the jack tree would grow so well near the sea shore. But there it is. We had planted it as part of an experiment. Curry leaf tree looks good. This is red sandal tree. It is difficult to distinguish red sandal from Malabar kino. Malabar kino has five leaves in one branch while red sandal has three. This is neem. Yellow oleander. A red oleander also stands close by. The yellow oleander has a speciality. Its fruits used to fascinate us when we were school children. We used to call them sayippin kaya [white man’s fruit]. It looks like a helmeted foreigner. Maybe in olden times, foreigners wore helmets of a similar shape as they went hunting in the forest. If we draw a face on the fruit, the resemblance becomes evident. We used to play with such fruits. I suggest you grow the yellow oleander so that you can see these fruits. This is a good Rudraksha. This one, Ajwain caraway. It shows healthy growth. While the cluster fig exposed to salty winds had withered, the one here looks okay. It has grown more than 12 feet high.
When we put up Miyawaki forests, we tell everyone that there is no need to fear pests. That is because pests that destroy one species will not attack another. This particular plant is full of a certain worm’s eggs that are hatching. After some time, they will go away. They may not attack the Jungli almond over there. Each of the different species is attacked by a different species of worms. That is the advantage of intermixing species. Beechwood is known for its medicinal properties and is useful as timber too. This is nutmeg that has not grown at all. A few minutes back, didn’t I tell you about Glory bower I saw here? Well, it is not Glory bower but Warty marble tree. Most people mistake it for Rudraksha. This has put out fruits. Here, look at it. This has been growing here for quite some time now. The local labourers who came here six years back claim that it was here even before their arrival. It has successfully withstood salty winds, sea surge and stagnant water. Trees of this kind should be planted in layers in the outer ring of the Miyawaki forest, on the side closer to the sea shore so that they act as a curtain or a protective wall and allow other plants to grow. They are firmly fixed to the soil. Maybe they belong to the mangrove species. Let experts tell us that.
Now, I’m on the Bekal beach outside the Miyawaki forest that stands beyond that green net there. It is hardly 100 metres away from the sea. Behind me you’ll be able to see the Bekal Fort. As the forest is so close to the sea, it is especially exposed to strong winds and sea surges. Yet the trees have grown fairly well. We have already seen the Miyawaki forest. The plot is special in many ways. It covers an area of merely 10 cents but all the trees show luxuriant growth despite unfavourable conditions.
One of the most serious complaints raised against Miyawaki forests is that they are very expensive. Usually, only 100 trees are planted in 10 cents of land. Social forestry practices permit only 40. But we planted more than 1,600 saplings. Besides, you can see that coir pith and cow dung powder have been spread very generously here. Sea sand is hardly visible. So in eight months, despite sea water coming very close to it, this forest has grown splendidly. Indeed, the salty winds inflicted some damage. It may happen again. But we have found a solution to it from this very plot. Layers of vetiver and Glory bower will afford protection to some extent. If you look around, you will see that nearly all the trees in this region appear unhealthy. They are affected by the wind and other natural causes. Headache tree is perhaps the only species that remains unaffected by these conditions. Amidst all this, our forest has grown this much. In the next two or three years, if no major natural disasters strike this area, let us hope all these trees will grow strong enough to withstand natural calamities, or at least delay and lessen their impact. Let us wait and watch it grow further. After a year, we shall post newer pictures of this forest.