The Telanganaku Haritha Haram is laying bare certain crucial facts with regard to vegetation in given areas, especially the identity of tree species that are dwindling fast or have vanished already. For instance, in the erstwhile united Adilabad district, the THH has revealed that key species such as the anduk (Boswellia serrata) and tiruman (Anogeissus latifolia) are on the verge of extinction and needs to be saved urgently.
“A scientific study should be taken up besides the plantation so that we know the current status of various tree species in our forests,” suggested botany professor E.N. Murthy of Satavahana University, Karimnagar, who has conducted studies earlier in these parts. “Being armed with such knowledge will help in bringing back the forest areas to their original state,” he added as he talked of the relevance of a study.
Not that the Forest Department is unaware of the importance of all the different species that make the forests in Adilabad. Efforts in planting local species could be seen in every forest division across the old district, but it should mostly happen through natural regeneration, according to experts.
“The anduk, a tall tree with silver coloured trunk, has now become rare here and we are trying to raise as many trees of this species as possible through the process of natural regeneration. A 50-hectare area in the Bheempur block on Kerameri hills has been earmarked for natural regeneration of all the local species that are still available here,” disclosed Kerameri Forest Range Officer Syed Mazharuddin.
Biotic interference
“We have controlled biotic interference in this area owing to which natural regeneration of different species has been made possible. A 100-metre sample plot has 23 recently-generated saplings of anduk and 50 of tiruman, another species that is going extinct in these forests,” the forest official added.
The anduk, which yields gum and is a medicinal tree, usually grows on the hilly slopes in the forests of Adilabad, Kerameri, Bejjur and Chennur, to name a few places. Before anyone realised, the numbers of these trees dwindled drastically and now, only a handful of fully-grown trees survive in these forests.
The species has dwindled owing to an altruistic move by the Forest Department that went wrong about two decades ago.
The department had implemented gum extraction from anduk as part of Community Forest Management in order to improve the income sources of forest communities.
“The unchecked tapping of gum by way of slashing trunks had the trees die rapidly. These trees are not as sturdy as other species,” said a forest official in Adilabad.
