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Home / Agriculture / Coffee Forest Symbiosisby Dr. Anand Titus and Geeta N. Pereira Page 1 | Page 2 Readers are requested to refer the article BIODIVERSITY IN RELATION TO COFFEE PLANTATIONS for a better understanding of the present article. India has been home to coffee for almost 200 years and has always been and still remains shade grown. However, with the winds of globalization and liberalization reaching the Indian shores, Forest grown Indian coffee is making inroads in the West as a specialty coffee. The coffee grown under the shade of forest trees has a unique taste of nature in the cupping quality. There are three key ideas here. This uniqueness is not only the result of the forest factor but also due to the fact that the coffee habitats are an integral part of multicrops, herbs and spices. In addition, Indian coffee plantations harbor thousands of species of old diverse and significant species of rare birds, insects and endangered wildlife. Nature lovers can appreciate the beauty and variety of trees by simply taking a walk inside the Shade grown Indian coffee Plantation. It is like walking hand in hand with nature. One can hear different species of birds singing, especially at dawn and at dusk, we are greeted with a sonata of natural sounds. The amazing fact is that coffee habitat and nature bring out the best chemistry in sustaining each others needs. Many foreigners who visit the plantation remark that Indian coffee plantations are bird and game sanctuaries. The architectural detail of the coffee mountain is astounding.
These coffee ranges are home to wildlife sanctuaries, National parks, Tiger reserves, and biodiversity plantations. The Bandipur National park flanked by Nagarahole National park, Madhumalai wild life sanctuary and Wayanad wildlife sanctuary, together constitute the protected NILGIRI BIOSPHERE reserve, which is India’s first biosphere reserve. This reserve is a key breeding landscape for tigers, elephants, sambars, and other mega fauna distributed across the three states of Karnataka, Kerala and TamilNadu. Indian coffee is a proud partner of this biosphere reserve. In the literal sense the Indian coffee farmer has always been an asset to the Nation as well as to the global community by being a pro active nature conservationist first and secondly by growing earth friendly Indian coffee.
This article is intended to be an eye-opener or a window to the world of coffee lovers worldwide in allowing them to appreciate the role of Indian coffee farmers in maintaining the fragile forest cover and its inhabitants. It provides an opportunity to observe the complexity of nature both on the forest floor and the coffee canopy. With the unique flora and fauna, the coffee mountain allows one to experience the sights, sounds, smells and life of the forest canopy. In recent years, the coffee landscape had changed for the worse, but a new awareness is catching up with the present generation in rectifying some of the past mistakes. The new generation of coffee farmers are paying undivided attention into A forestation programmes.
World Environment day, commemorated each year on June 5th is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment. It’s perhaps a good occasion to sit back and take stock of the state of our environment. We need to give mother earth a chance to repair itself from man made problems like deforestation and rapid Industrialization. Our commitment for a better earth must be articulated in terms of future generations. Forest Cover in IndiaThe forest survey of India states that the forest cover in the country is 63 million hectares, literally covering 19% of the geographical area of the country. More than 25 million hectares of this forest land is degraded resulting in barely 10% of the land under forests. The scientific truth spells out that for any country to maintain its ecological integrity, the forest cover should be at least 33%. In such a depressed scenario, the coffee planters in the country come to the rescue of the Governments by not only protecting forests but also converting barren hills into dense forests by planting millions of saplings. It is an established fact that coffee planters are largely responsible in stopping the dwindling of forest resources. Shade loving coffee farms often provide a safe haven for the biotic community. The State of Karnataka produces approximately 70% of India’s shade grown coffee. Karnataka ranks 18th in the Country in terms of forest cover with 19.3% of its land covered by forests. 70% of these biodiverse forests come under the Western Ghat range recognized world over as one among the 18 hotspots of the world.
World ScenarioThe World Resources Institute has indicated that more than 80 per cent of the planet’s natural forests have already been destroyed. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 53,000 square miles of tropical forests were destroyed each year during the early 1980’s. Of this 21,000 square miles of tropical rainforests were deforested annually in South America, most of this in the Amazon basin. Forests air condition the planet and regulate its temperature. The Amazon forest act as the lungs of the earth. They inhale carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. Matter of fact, these forests are prime generators of the earth’s oxygen.
Significance of Coffee ForestsMan-made Forests Marginal lands or grasslands are slowly and steadily converted to bio-rich coffee plantations by first growing a cover crop of legumes like Sesbania and Daincha, followed by growing millions of trees, which acts as shade for wildlife and birds. These manmade forests also serve to harvest rain as well as preserve the sensitive ecology of the region. A single large tree can release up to 400 gallons of water into the atmosphere each day. One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people every day. One acre of trees absorbs enough carbon dioxide per year to match that emitted by driving a car 26,000 miles. Meanwhile, urban neighborhoods with mature trees can be up to 11 degrees cooler in summer heat than neighborhoods without trees. Furthermore, large trees remove 60-70 times more pollution than small trees.
Critical Period5O years back, the Plantation scene was totally different. There were more wild animal species than the number of coffee planters put together. Our forefathers were sensible people. Men with vision and uncommon, commonsense. They were excellent observer’s of natural life. They had it at the back of their mind the LIVE & LETLIVE live approach. One could see Leopards, Tigers, Elephants, Rabbits, bison’s, sambar, reptiles, spotted deer, wild bore, Green pigeons, and cranes, at the waterholes inside the Plantation. Literally, every plantation with their extensive lakes provided a safe haven. During the migration periods as well as during the mating season, seldom would any Planter venture out hunting. Also during the hunting season, care was taken such that the female of the species was not hunted down. Wild fruit trees were allowed to grow in the valleys along with shrubs and herbs and this thick jungle of shrubs and thorn bushes used to be the lodge as well as food baskets for wildlife. The big cats were selectively shot only because they were man eaters. Planters never killed wildlife indiscriminately. They never used to overdo things. Today the situation is pathetic. The forest itself is in trouble. The wildlife numbers have declined alarmingly due to over hunting and clearing of restricted zones within the coffee forest. Deforestation and extension of Plantations has also made the task of conserving that much difficult. Planters and their guns far out number the wildlife population. Migrations are earmarked as opportunities for poaching. All that remains are fragments of a once pristine wildlife habitat. Extension of coffee plantations too is an undesirable trait because it leads to mechanization of the forest in terms of leveling and clearing of shrubs and exposing the virgin land to direct sunlight. Dr. Romulus Whitaker , a leading conservationist from the United States is of the opinion that the Western Ghats is one of the largest unbroken pieces of forest. Cutting even a single tree in the dense Western Ghats can cause severe damage to thousands of beneficial microorganisms. The destruction of the natural environment was rapid in the last five decades.
The International Union of Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) has released a RED LIST of THREATENED Species. This list uses scientific criteria in classifying species into one of eight categories. EXTINCT; EXTINCT IN THE WILD; CRITICALLY ENDANGERED; ENDANGERED; VULNERABLE; LOWER RISK; DATA DEFICIENT and NOT EVALUATED. A species is classified as threatened if it falls in the Critically Endangered, Endangered, or vulnerable categories. The March, 2004 red list states that nearly 30 per cent of the primate species are in the threatened category.
Table 2. Globally Threatened Animals Occurring in India by Status Category.
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