In southern India’s tea country, small but mighty efforts are brewing to bring back native forests

Restoring forests brings life back to NilgirisIn a small mountain fold just a few hundred metres below the region’s tallest peak, native trees planted 10 years ago have grown up to 4.5 metres tall. A stream flows amid the young trees that replaced nearly 7 acres of tea plants. “This whole place was tea plantations, and this stream was not flowing throughout the year,” said Bosco, the ecologist.”Since we began our restoration work, it flows through the year and the trees and bamboo have grown well along the stream.”The forests are known as Shola-grassland forests or cloud forests because they can capture moisture from high-altitude mist.Bosco said the plants and trees have “incredible capacity to provide for life” across the nearly 2,000 acres his organisation works to restore. The native trees maintain the microclimate underneath them by providing nutrients to the soil. That helps saplings and small plants grow even during hot, dry summers.The region is also home to several Indigenous communities, called Adivasi, many of them classified as highly vulnerable, with only a few thousand of their people remaining.Representatives of these Adivasi communities consider themselves the original custodians of the forests and have also restored forests in the region. They say such restoration initiatives are welcome.”When the British built tea estates, we were kicked out to the fringes of this district; our lands were lost and we lost our traditions because of deforestation,” said Mani Raman, who belongs to the Alu Kurumbar Adivasi community.”Such restoration work is good. By bringing the forests back, the wildlife and birds will get more food. Animals that have moved out of forests will have a place to live,” he said.



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