Indian Wildlife Club Ezine (April, 2005)

- Dr. Susan Sharma

Termite mounds are marvels of engineering. Deep inside, the insects farm a fungus, their only food. It must be kept at exactly 30 degree centigrade, while the temperatures outside can range from 2 degrees at night to 40 degrees during the day.

They do it by venting breezes in at the base of the mound, down into chambers cooled by wet mud carried up from water tables far below, and up through a flue to the peak. Toiling with the tireless, compulsive work ethic of all ants, they constantly dig new vents and plug old ones to regulate the temperature.

Engineers are now beginning to look at the feats of these creatures more closely. Harare in Africa has built an office building taking cooling cues from termites.

In India , our ancestors observed and got inspired by nature in almost everything they did. They built cave homes which had excellent cooling using circulation of air. There is a more recent Hawa Mahal in Jaipur which use natural air circulation for cooling.

In Uttara Kannada, Huthu (anthill) indicates water at short depths — say within 20 to 25 feet. The reasoning here is that the white ants bring wet soil from not-so-deep in the ground.

Methods to improve the natural durability and strength of the soil – commonly referred to as Soil Stabilization – have been practiced in many countries. Stabilizers such as natural oils, plant juices, animal dung and crushed anthills; have been used for many centuries in India and African countries. In Zimbabwe , white ants are regarded as beneficial insects and protected because they provide the farmers with cheap natural fertilizer. When applying the soil, farmers ensure that the anthills are not destroyed in order to rely on them again after some years of recovery. The productivity of the land is reported as having increased.

India 's commercial capital Mumbai, has these structures which are in tune with nature.

This month no one have given all right answers, greenlifesociety@yahoo.com and scjmainpuri@yahoomail.co.in have given 8 right answers.

Saraswati Kavula

Seetabai the village headman's wife cooked the food for us. It was rice, dal with some curry. It must have taken a lot of effort for them. Our tour fees included paying Rs.20 for hiring a bed per person, cooking and food charges to the lady and fees for the village men who acted as guides for us in the forest trails. We all stayed inside the local primary school. The villagers were too shy to speak to us. But it was an effort to bridge the gap between the tribal folk and the city dwellers, to remove the misconceptions and also to use true spirit of eco-tourism to bring some livelihood for the local people. Our discussion continued after the meal. We decided to drop the idea of going into the forest late night as we had to leave early next morning.

The next day, we started our walk around 7.30am , into the forest surrounding Maisampet and at the edge of the village; there was the VSS *( Vana Samrakshana Samiti-Forest Protection Society) community room. Through the window, we could see some skins of spotted deer hanging inside the room from the ceiling. “Where are these skins from?” Waheed asked the head man. “They were taken out for the Diwali celebrations!” the headman replied.

“These are old skins which they use for traditional rituals. Now if there was a journalist, he would have taken a photo of this and immediately with headlines, it would come out in the papers, “Animal hunting under the nose of the DFO”. The villagers hate us because we tell them to not cut the trees and not to kill wild animals. They see me with suspicion, because I would book cases on them. But the district administration and the ITDA should be strict with them. They keep giving all kinds of goodies to these people and never bother to make them responsible. But fortunately, this time we have a good  collector, she is a lady. She warned the villagers that if they cut the forest their ration and other amenities will be stopped. That is the way these people should be dealt with”.

Before we could leave the village, he called out our attention; I thought he was going to show us some special bird or something.

“Before we leave the village I wish to show you all something here, look at this village. The houses resemble simple sheds, but just take a closer look; they must have cut at least 20-30 teak trees to make this shed. This is excellent teak which is judged by its grain and colour. Some fellow from the city when they come and say, why don't you sell it to us, they simply pull down the house and sell it for some money. Then they go into the forest and cut down another 20 trees to make a new shelter. If we book a case on them, they speak about the tribal rights to the forest. But I think there has to be some line drawn somewhere. The NGO's keep going against the establishment and the press is too happy to give coverage to them. When something happens here in the forest, it should be brought to our notice. People go to the press directly. Now, I would have no idea what has happened. My boss would read the news in the press and simply ask me to answer or sometimes they suspend people, since there will be pressure from Hyderabad . There needs to be better understanding between all parties concerned.” He lamented.

“Sir, you may speak for yourself, but all the people in the department are not like you. Our present DFO of Jannaram Mr. Vinod Babu had been very pro-active; he understood our views and has co-operated immensely in our conservation work. He was instrumental in removing the unauthorized settlements of the Meena tribe which came in from Rajasthan and simply settled in the middle of the forest with their huge cattle. They are not original tribes of Andhra. But since the lambadas have been declared scheduled tribes here in A.P, so many of these people from Rajasthan come and settle in this state. But

before that we had to go from pillar to post in the department trying to get people's attention to the issue. Most of the time, the people in the forest department do not know a thing about wild life or eco-systems or about plant species. What will they protect?” Imran asked him.

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Photo credits: Cut trees by Saraswati Kavula

Settlers in the middle of the forest by Asif Siddiqui

*VSS is a grass root community group part of the Joint Forest Management programme of the state government.

( To be continued)