“We are against exporting our rare herbs to foreign countries and making money out of it. We will have to pay money and buy these from foreigners at a later stage,” Lakshmikutty, a 70-year-old tribal healer said at a programme here on Saturday.
She was talking about rare and endangered medicinal plants and herbs found in the forests of her homeland at an interaction with schoolchildren organised by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) and Agri Friends Cultural Association.
Around 300 students from eight schools in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts participated in the event titled ‘Kaattarivu, Naattarivu, Kadalarivu' on World Environment Day.
Tribal healers Lakshmikutty, Valakudy Chandran Kani and Sivaprasad E.M. from Mottamoodu tribal settlement colony, near Ponmudi, were the ‘traditional knowledge holders' who interacted with the students in the ‘Kaattarivu' session where they shared with the students the secrets of the ‘Sahya' ranges and the Agasthyakoodam forests.
They spoke about rare herbs, such as Amritapala, Valiyarayan, Malayarayan and Palakam, and its astounding medicinal values. Replying to queries, they said how tourism and development had affected the forests and its natural resources and how tribal people, the keepers of forest, became refugees in their own land. “Vandalism passes for tourism mostly. Tourist, mostly youngsters, think they can do anything in the forests,” she said.
“Agasthya Muni told our forefathers not to rely on hunting for food. He asked us to feed on the fruits and nuts available aplenty in the forest instead of killing animals,” Lakshmikutty, who has also authored books on herbs and tribal medicinal practices, said.
In the session on ‘Kadalarivu,' students interacted with traditional fishermen John J.T., Joseph Lopaz and Ambrose. They spoke about the different methods of fishing, the flip sides of modern fishing methods, the varieties of fish and techniques of predicting wind direction and water currents.
“Traditionally, we had specific nets for different types of fish, depending upon the size. With the advent of modern techniques like trawling, all fish are caught together. It also causes irrevocable damage to the seabed and reefs,” Mr. Joseph said. Benefits of organic farming, the importance of traditional crop varieties, traditional agriculture methods etc., were among the topics of discussed in ‘Nattarivu.' Farmers Manoharan Nair, Peringavila Sali, Santhosh and 83-year-old veteran vegetable farmer Malakhi Nadar were the speakers.
S. Rajashekharan of the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), A. Biju Kumar of the Department of Aquatic Biology, University of Kerala, and C.R. Rajagopal of Nattarivu Padana Kendram, Thrissur, were the moderators of the sessions respectively.
The programme was inaugurated by Food Minister C. Divakaran.
