Malabar Trogon_2011_Vol. 9 (3)

8/11/2019 Malabar Trogon_2011_Vol. 9 (3)

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EDITORIAL

High literacy has been hailed as an indicator of social development in Kerala since India'sindependence. This is true to a certain extent and is reflected in the fields of public health, hygiene and

awareness of social responsibilities like family planning. A direct outcome of high literacy is the

popularity of Malayalam newspapers and periodicals in Kerala. An average Keralite is addicted to the

newspaper, literally. A day in the remotest village in Kerala begins with men sitting in the local tea shop

with a newspaper in hand. It goes without saying that the Malayalam newspaper has tremendous

influence over the Kerala psyche.

As elsewhere in India, issues relating to the conservation of the environment have come up in

Kerala too, from time to time. The proposal to construct a dam across River Kunthi in Silent Valley in

the early 1980s and the resistance to this by some enlightened individuals of the general public now

this breed is referred to as environmentalists could be considered as the first instance here that was in

the limelight of the print media. It has been three decades since then, it is interesting to see how the local

press reacts to the environmental issues today.

One good example of how the print media could influence the public sentiment and policy

makers is the highlighting of the sufferings of the people in Kasaragode district who were the victims ofyears of aerial spraying of the pesticide endosulphan in the cashew plantations owned by the public

sector Plantation Corporation of Kerala. The press reports and photographs gave great impetus to the

sustained efforts of some committed individuals of the locality and their supporters from different parts

of Kerala. After a prolonged campaign, all the political heavyweights had to jump into the bandwagon

against the pesticide use which forced an adamant bureaucracy to budge and the use of the pesticide was

finally banned in the state.

But, the fourth estate had not been as enthusiastic as this on all the environmental issues.

Even if they were, it has been only at the beginning of the campaigns, soon interest dwindled and the

battle had to be continued by a small group of people indefinitely: we witness this in the case of the

conservation of Chalakudy River. Another problem is that most of the papers with a large circulation in

Kerala have a multitude of local editions and this, in a way, restricts the spread of a particular news item.

In many cases, the stand of the press is not clear and they even contradict. A few examples:

1. The closure of the highway that runs through Bandipur National Park during the night invited heated

opposition from certain quarters in Kerala, especially Wayanad district. Anyone who has driven

through this road at least once will be aware of the presence of wild animals and it needs only basic

reasoning to imagine the impact of heavy traffic on them, even during the day. Defying all logic, the

press was generally supportive of the protest against the closure; at the same time several newspapers

often carried photographs of animals hit by some vehicles and herds of elephants waiting beside the

road to cross over!

2. A public hearing was held at Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary in January 2011 to discuss the proposal of

bringing the adjacent Kottiyur and Thirunelly Reserve Forests under the protected area network. The

officials of the Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department, who initiated the meeting, elected

representatives of the panchayaths, members of the legislative assembly of Kerala, representatives of

the media and members of the general public were present. The people from the Thirunelly area

protested against the proposal citing examples of the human- animal conflicts that already existed there,

and argued that declaring the reserve forest as a sanctuary would aggravate the problem further; they

boycotted the meeting without waiting for any explanation from the Forest Department officials. The

villagers living on the periphery of Kottiyur also had such reservations, but the MLA of the locality

explained to them how it would be helpful to get sufficient funds to mitigate problems like human-

animal conflicts once the reserve forest was declared as a sanctuary. Her talk was very effective and

convinced the people. But, on the following day, all the newspapers carried reports only on the boycott

and there was not a word about the other happenings at the hearing.

These are just two instances of how a biased media can mislead public opinion. The same

story continues on the proposal of culling wild boar population. Newspapers in certain parts of Kannur

district carried reports of villagers being attacked by the wild boar almost every day! Generally, reports

on wildlife attacks are always exaggerated and the forest department officials are pictured as villains.

Far-reaching environmental issues like the proposal of Pathrakadavu project in place of Silent Valley,

the extensive illegal sand mining which has killed River Bharathapuzha, the destruction of mangroves

in various parts of the state, encroachment of the backwater systems all these momentarily catch the

fancy of the press, but never sustain it.

Naturalists, on their part, should be aware of the part the media can play on several

conservation issues in Kerala. Having a good interaction with the press is very important. Giving the

correct information and cross checking the accuracy of the reporting also will enhance the cause.

C. Sashikumar

Layout: Babu balanPh: 09633390101

Vol. 9(3)

Sept-Dec. 2011

Executive CommitteePresident

Dr. T.N. Vijayakumar

Secretary

Dr. Muhamed Jafer Palot

Vice President

Mr. Sathyan. N.K

Jt. Secretary

Mr. C.J. Thomas

Treasurer

Dr. Muhamed Rafeek A.P.M.Members

Dr. Dinesan Cheruvat

Dr. K. KishorekumarMr. K.G.Bimalnath

Mr. V. Syam

Mr. S. Arjun

Mr. T. Ajithkumar

Dr. Vijayanthi

Dr. K. Fousy

Mr. Muralikrishnan. V.P

Dr.Rajesh K.P

Mr. O. JayarajanDr. Zeenath

Mr. Abdul Riyaz. K.

Mr. Madhuraj. T.V.Mr. Vijesh Vallikunnu

Editor

Mr. C. Sashikumar

Editorial Board

Dr. Dinesan CheruvatMr. Babu Kambrath

Dr. K.P. Rajesh

Mr. V.C. Balakrishnan

Mr. Praveen. J

Prof. I.G. Bhaskara PanikkerNature Education Officer

Dr. K. Kishorekumar

Cover: Orange Awlet

Photographs:Balakrishnan Valappil

Printing:

Magic Prints, Calicut

Mr. Balakrishnan Valappil

Contact Address:Malabar Natural History Society,

Sushila Mandir,B.G Road, Nadakkavu P.O.,

Calicut - 673 011, Ph: 09447470439,Email:

[email protected],

Membership details:Ordinary -Rs.100/-,

Life - Rs. 2000/-,Institutional - Rs. 250/-,

Student - Rs. 50/- (upto 12th standard)


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Conservation for Extraction Part-I1

Historical Antecedents of Forest Reservation in Colonial TravancoreAmruth M.

Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur.

[email protected] instrument, the knife, that carved out the new, rudimentary forest was the razor-sharp interest in the production

of a single commodity.Having come to see the forest as a commodity, scientific forestry set about refashioning it as a

commodity machine. Utilitarian simplification in the forest was an effective way of maximizing wood production in the short

and intermediate term. Ultimately, however, its emphasis on yield and paper profits, its relatively short time horizon, and,

above all, the vast array of consequences it had resolutely bracketed came back to haunt it.

James C. Scott (1998)Seeing Like a State

In this multi-part paper I shall describe the efforts made from 1850s to 1940s in creating government-forest estatein Travancore. These efforts were made with the aid of conceptual armoury drawn from the emergent science of Continental

Forestry. I will demonstrate how nature/forests began to be viewed as a resource and how it was utilised in an effort to govern

nature to enhance production and productivity. Here, ideas of improvement and progress are treated as developmental

reasons. We will proceed by examining key episodes in the introduction of Continental Forestry ideals under the Colonial

conditions. Thrust will be to demonstrate how forestry aimed to conserve forests for future production and consumption.Before embarking on a description of the measures adopted for establishing a government forest estate by means of

reservation of forests, it is necessary to understand the contexts and historical antecedents of these developments.

Historical Antecedents

This section will provide the historical context in which the measures to create forests was introduced in Travancoreth

towards the last decades of the 19 century. Forests of Travancore were linked to the world system of trade for centuries. But,

there was no systematic scheme envisaged for improvement of forests prior to second half of 19 century.

European and Arabian trade at the South-Western Coast of India from sixteenth to eighteenth centuries were2

predominantly in spices and condiments, most of which were procured from the forested inlands. The consistency and

volume of trade in historical accounts suggest that there existed collection and supply networks and merchant guilds3 th

developed due to trade. By late 17 century, European traders began to exert considerable political influence on the local

rulers with regards to the monopolistic trade rights on pepper and other merchandise. The goods thus collected served asth th

capital for inland trade also. Towards the end of 17 century and early decades of the 18 century, the trade centres were beganto be dominated by the foreign trading companies. However, their gaze had not fallen on the forestland from where most of the

spices originated to flow to these centres. Gradually, centralised political power was extended to the whole of the territory,

especially following the entry of chartered trading companies of England and France, and it culminating in Colonialth 4

domination by the end of 18 century.

It was substantiated that after 1792 an important shift took place in terms of sources of the capital that financed the5

Colonial activities in Travancore (as elsewhere in the south-western coast). This shift in policy had long-lasting impacts on

shaping the Land Revenue Administration and consequent interventions in the forestlands of newly annexed regions. Land

revenue became important source of financing the Colonial project in comparison to trade surplus. The shift occurred was

coterminous with annexation of Malabar and incorporation of the Princely States of Cochin and Travancore to the territories of

English East India Company.

The two consecutive treaties with the Company, the first in 1795 and the second in 1805, left Travancore with only a

nominal autonomy in adopting the measures or reforms suggested by the paramount power. The provisions of the treaty of1795 bound Travancore to closely adhere to the advices as the English Government shall occasionally judge it necessary to

offer on matters relating to state finances, collection of revenue, administration of justice, extension of commerce,6

encouragement of trade, agriculture and industry. Of course, British paramountcy had deemed itself fit to make advices in7

most matters. The second treaty of 1805 revised tributes, raising it almost ten times more than that of the previous. The period8

that followed the second treaty witnessed the revolt of 1808 in Travancore and subsequently Col. John Munroe assuming the9

offices of Dewan and Resident. This situation was especially conducive for British to wield power in all the matters of the

State. The Resident virtually assumed the power of throne on grounds of the fragile political situation in the State. Therefore,

the period of Col. Munroe as British Resident of the State witnessed a radical restructuring of the States general10

administration in line with that prevailed in British India. Among the successive reformation and reorganisation of the

revenue administration in the Travancore the most crucial one was that of Munroes period (1811-15). The characteristic

feature of this reform is a conscious effort for emulating the similar system prevalent in the Madras Presidency.

The revenue administration, therefore, became the most influential and authoritative apparatus of the state. The tributes and11the land revenue became the most important source of income in Travancore as elsewhere. This dependence on the land

revenue meant drawing the State policies towards the land revenue settlements as a measure of intensification of agriculture12

based production. Following the transfer of territories to the British Crown in late 1850s extension of the land put to

productive purposes received a new impetus.

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Focus on Timber

It is well known that the affairs of forests were keenly observed and controlled by the British paramountcy as the fine

timbers for various purposes, especially teak for the Royal Navys seafaring vessels, had assumed strategic importance in the

domination of maritime trade. The interest of the Travancore government on the forests was mainly to maximize the revenueth

for which it was hard-pressed due to the payment of tributes to paramountcy. In early decades of the 19 century, the growing13

scarcity of fine timber in the forests, due to indiscriminate felling by private agencies, had already become a concern. As a

result, more attention fell on the affairs of forests, especially on timber. The office of Conservator was among the first three14

British offices that were created in the State which in a way indicates the importance given to forests by the colonial power.th

During the second decade of 19 century, almost half of the total land area (approximately 8754 sq. km. out of the

16458 sq. km.) of the State was forested, while the area of forests in the metropolitan countries such as Britain was15

insignificantly small. Early Colonial interests on the forests were on spices and timber. Among the forest spices, cardamomth

was a state monopoly for nearly a century until late 19 century. There were inquiries on the availability of teak timber from theth 16 th

forests of the Malabar Coast right from the late 18 century. As early as in the late 18 century a timber depot was opened at17

Aleppey during the period of Dewan Raja Kesava Das. A post of Conservator was created in early 1800s to organise18

extraction and supply of the timber to the depots in Aleppey to be sold to the British-Indian dockyards for shipbuilding.

Towards 1820s, it was reported that teak at the most accessible parts of the river basins that were leased out to the private

contractors for extraction were exhausted of timber. Subsequently extraction of teak by private contractors was replaced by the19

direct operation by government agency under the supervision of a British officer. Initially the offices of the Conservator and

Commercial Agent were held by a single officer. The original purpose of Commercial Agency was sale of Sirkarpepper alone.Later monopoly commodities such as cardamom, teak timber and other forest produces were also sold by the Commercial

Agent. It also functioned as a trustworthy medium of supplying all valuable foreign articles of merchandize required for the20

use of Palace and State. The duties of the Conservator and Commercial Agent were separated in early 1820s. The first

fulltime Conservator was a British, Urban Verres Munro, son of Col.Munro, the British Resident at Travancore. The

conservancy did not mean conservation in its presently used sense. Concern of the office of the conservator was confined to

overseeing the supply and sale of the timber in the timber yard at the Aleppey.

Manpower was limited and the Department was manned by personnel who usually had no prior experience or expertise in

forestry. Major activities of the Department were procuring of timber and hill produce to government Commercial Agent,

levying of river duty on the timber transported, and issuance of regulations and proclamations for controlling hill cultivation

and forest offences. A few proclamations for restricting the extraction of state monopoly produces were issued during the

period. The Conservators territories within the State were loosely defined either in terms of occurrences of the royal timber or

in terms of the watch stations it maintained to check unauthorised transportation of timber through rivers.

Apart from the intensification of agriculture based production, there were also attempts of extending area under

plantation crops. For instance, Travancore responded to the demand for land by European planters favourably by fixing21

concessional rent and moderate taxes. State also incurred expenses of developing communication networks much necessary

for increasing accessibility to hitherto unopened territories / plantation zones in the hills. These policies favoured the

intentions of European planters who were interested in growing subtropical cash crops in the higher altitudes; gradually22

resulting in the large-scale plantations in the High Ranges. In the wake of establishment of coffee plantations in the High

Ranges by J.D. Munro, the then Dewan of Travancore observed:

The Sircar feels satisfied that the country would largely benefit by the introduction of the capital, skill and enterprise

of European gentlemen in utilising tracts of valuable land, which for the most part would otherwise be untouched for

generations. It has accordingly been the anxious desire of the Sircar to afford facilities for planters(RAT1862-63: 13).

Extension of plantations meant alteration of forested lands. During the European / Arabian trade, the companies were

never involved in production. Rather they confined to the costal area. Only after the British began to concentrate on the

production, the forestlands came under their surveillance; this was consequential in the alteration of forests.Domesticating Nature-Usefulness of Knowledge

thAs mentioned earlier, in the early 19 century, the locus of control on forests was on the produce. This was

operationalised through monopolisation or controlling of the transportation and trade of these forests produces. Gradually the

attention and locus of control had shifted to forestland and its productivity. Timber such as rosewood and anjilywere declared23

as monopolies along with teak by 1844. Sandalwood and ebony were made so in 1865. Similarly, a score of other forest

produces such as wax, ivory and cardamom were also made state monopolies. There were stringent regulations on capturing

and killing of wild elephants. Further, by 1873 itself two Assistant Conservators of the Department were posted at Malayattoor

and Collacadavoo, as these locations were the principal stations to which the timber felled in the forests [were] brought and24

sent out to various parts. Though these aspects of control on timber and hill produces and their procurement and sale were

often taken for the forest conservancy, the organized drive for improvement of the forestlands on the basis of Forestry was to25

begin only in the post-1860s. This change was coterminous with similar development of the tropical forestry and commercial26

plantation agriculture in other parts of the British-India. In 1864, following statement appeared in the Report on theAdministration of Travancore:

it is the belief of the Sirkar that the management of the forests is yet susceptible of much improvement.

MALABAR TROGON - VOL.9(3) 3


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There are parts of forests where there is magnificent timber which ought to be, but which cannot be, brought down;

first because there are no roads, and secondly, because Elephant-power, considered indispensable, is limited. The renovation

of the forests which are being worked, is left entirely to natural processes.It is the intention of the Sirkar to arrange for the

Conservator visiting some of the best worked forests of British India, with a view to see if any particular instruction is to be

gained. (RAT 1864-65: 52)

Need for improving the forests, making the forest work more efficiently and improved timber productivity are well

reflected in the above statement. Travancore attempted to replicate British Indian system of forest administration. Timberextraction at the direct supervision of the government necessitated establishment of a network of labours, contractors and

traders. Activities such as capture of elephants and their training proved to be an indispensable part of the scheme.

Forests of Mahendragiri which was managed by the Revenue Department were brought under the Conservator in

1882. This act was a response to the indiscriminate felling and consequent directive passed by Madras Presidency. In the pre-

reservation period (i.e. prior to 1890s), such incidents of inclusion of forest tracts to the Forest Departments jurisdiction were

frequent. Majority of the forest tracts in the State, excepting the land under the supervision of Superintendent of Cardamom27

and a small portion in the Southern Travancore, came under the jurisdiction of the Conservator by then.

Another significant development in pre-reservation era was a change in the land revenue policy that occurred around 1883.28

New policy emphasised taxing the fertility (productive potential) of land whereas the old one taxed the actual crop produced.

One of the consequences of adopting this criterion was the creation of newer productivity categories of land that belonged to

definite tax-tariff. The land is taxed on these tariff rates even if it was not cultivated. In an address to the land owners of

Travancore, Dewan explained the reason behind this reform as below:It is true that only a portion of the land yields any return at present, and that the vacant portion even if planted at once,

would take probably 7 or 8 years to come into bearing, but surely the unplanted portion can be and a matter of fact, turned to

account in a hundred ways. The coconut plant does not interfere with the ground being cultivated, with anything the owner

likes to grow. He can and does grow vegetables, plantains, arrowroot, yams and edible roots of all kinds. It can be no hardship

to pay a trifle for land which can be put profitable account in so many ways. It is true that the owner pays little or nothing for

such land now, but that is precisely why he does not care to work, why he is lazy and earns so little, and why his cultivation,

such as it is, is so slovenly. The sooner the cultivators in Travancore are made to see that if they take up land they are bound to

pay for it, the better for them and the country in general. They will become much more useful and active members of the

community than they are. (RAT 1882-83: cxxiii)

This was a manifestation of the States aspirations for making its subjects more enterprising in the production of29

wealth by making improvements on land. The rationale behind the shift of attention from crops to fertility of land

subsequently influenced the perception on forms of land use also. The changed treatment of forest as land, as opposed to the

standing crop of timber, also justified the reservation of forests and charting out territories for improvement of its value with30

the aid of specific management inputs. This was a criterion already followed in the British-Indian revenue settlements. But in

Travancore, the shift was coterminous with the shift in forest policy. The Forest Act, which came into effect in 1888, classified

forests in terms of its productive potential of timber. Similarly, choice of plantation sites was also made by considering their

productivity and land value. Therefore, these logics of reforms significantly recast the idea of what forests ought to be. From

this historical background let us return to the forestry discourse under colonial conditions.

The political-economic rationale inherent in forestry discourses were often bundled along with other legitimising

discourses of colonialism and modernisation. In a deeper sense, this logic formed the leading thread of practice. However,

there were crevices between the rationale and practices. This rationality was different from the rationality of other competing31

discourses on desiccation and shifting cultivation. This is to argue that, although colonialism is all about control of economy,32

the self-justification of it could be achieved only through the Orientalist discourse. Orientalism represented the Occident as

progressed and Orient as yet to be progressed or primitive. Therefore, when the notions of progress and primitive are invoked,

they imply certain notions of altered ways of production for which society should be reordered; only then the economic end isensured. In a way, this provided new measures of civility, progress and improvement. To achieve this end, novel mechanisms

and institutions of calculative procedure were introduced.

In the forthcoming section I would sketch the process of realignment of institutions to a more amenable modular form33

for enabling legibility . This legibility was rendered by practice of Eurocentric/modern knowledge which in turn

simultaneously constituted hybrid forms of knowledge. This knowledge constituted new objects; created diverse new

regulatory strategies; mechanisms, technologies, institutions, policies, language regimes and calculations. This enabled34

strategies of control and action from distance and proximity.

Achieving such controls required an appraisal of existing forest governance and finding out its defects for better

conservancy of forests. This requirement was necessitated by the increased demand for wood and timber which had to be met

by intensification of extraction. The idea of sustained yield that was already in circulation demanded the quantification of

available resources over space and time. It was found that what is equally important is phasing and planning of extraction;

where, techniques of Continental Forestry came in handy. However, existence of suitable administrative machinery, legal

provisions and well-demarcated forest territory, which are the prerequisites for introducing Sustained Yield Principles, werelacking in the State. Moreover, by early 1880s, it was being strongly felt that the forest had much room for improvement,

35provided the Department is reconstituted to suit the changed times. Timber prices had escalated so much that the existent



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rates of seigniorage were redundant. Besides, valuable forests were being destroyed due to kumarior hill cultivation and by36

fires which in the absence of legislation could not have been checked.

As a consequence, in 1884, a Joint Committee on Administration of Travancore Forests, consisting of senior officers

of forest, revenue and other departments, was constituted to look into the matters of forest administration and report on its

defects. In the joint Report, the Committee expressed their conviction that there existed an urgent need for a revision of the

system of administration of forests in the State. Assistant Conservator, T.F. Bourdillon, was assigned the duty of preparing a

detailed report on the modalities of effecting these changes. The Committee also made proposals for reserving forests and formaking an enactment similar to that of Madras Forest Act. Subsequently, a draft regulation was prepared. Travancore

promulgated the first Forest Regulation in 1888 for want of a comprehensive legislative enactment for the proper protection37

of forests. The Act emulated Madras Forest Act (1882) which was in turn a modified version of Indian Forest Act brought out

in 1878. Indian Forest Act had provisions for forming two kinds of forests the reserved forests and protected forests. In case

of reserved forest, the right to use it was exclusively vested with the government, boundaries of which were clearly demarcated

and others could use it only with government permission. Whereas the protected forests were those Government forests that

were not yet been surveyed and temporarily been open to limited private use. Madras Government declined to implement the

Indian Forest Act of 1878 as the rights of the villagers over the forests were such as to prevent the formation of exclusive State

Reserves. Madras Forest Act also was framed in the same general lines as the Indian Forest Act. However, the procedures38

relating to the constitution of reserved forests were made more people-friendly and simple.

The regulation of 1888 was revised and expanded in 1893 with provisions for asserting state rights over the

monopoly forest produces. The regulation of 1888 concerned only about the reservation forests; this was retained in the 189339

regulation more or less fully. The Government was aware of the controversies such bills and regulations created in other40

British-Indian Provinces. Finally, the forest regulation was passed in Travancore and it prohibited most of activities that had41

been practiced laymen in the forests. The Travancore Forest Regulation was formulated in close compliance with the similar

acts of Madras and British-India. The Forest Rules along with the forest regulation provided a detailed framework for

translating the ideals of the Continental Forestry into practice. The legal framework formed the crucial invention and

contrivance that empowered the foresters to assert the rightness of their specialised knowledge over the ignorant by

labelling their practices as criminal.

To suit the operationalisation of the new legal instruments, the Forest Department was completely reorganised by theth

turn of 20 century by dividing the territory under its jurisdiction into Divisions and Ranges on the lines of the British Forest

Administration. As in the case of other Acts and policies, in this instance also Travancore replicated British-Indian

administrative courses, of course with a time lag in comparison to Bengal and Madras. The objective of passing forest

regulation was to consolidate all activities to a forest territory that was exclusively owned by the state. This was made possible

by extinguishment of the private rights once and for all; this process was called forest settlement; where, the wordsettlement stands for settlement of private rights. State owned Forest Estate was a requirement for practicing the Continental

42Forestry that was originally constituted as one of the cameral sciences in the 18 and 19 century Germany and France.

The condition that made such reforms necessary is reflected in a retrospective statement made in the year 1930s by

the official historian.

No rules were issued for the guidance of the department; no forest demarcation was done; no survey was carried out;

no fire-protection was attempted; no roads and bridle-paths were opened in the forests; and no rest-houses or camping sheds

were constructed to facilitate inspection. The unsystematic felling and removal of timber was another grave menace to forest

growth. No process of extraction under any working plan was contemplated, while smuggling was rampant, and the

insufficiency and inefficiency of the small illiterate, irresponsible preventive staff employed to combat the evil was all but

notorious. Nor was the complicated, unreliable and unmethodical manner of keeping accounts in the departments calculated to

enhance its prestige. (Iyer 1998: 321)

The need of the time was a departure from this chaos. What is aimed at was institutionalisation and modernisation offorest governance. In the part-II of this we will examine some key process in the creation of a normalised forest in Travancore.

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Ward,B.S, & Conner,P.E. (1863)[1994]. Geographical and Statistical Memoir of the Survey of the Travancore and Cochin States Executed

under the Superintendence of Lieutenants Ward and Conner from July 1816 to the end of the Year 1820 Vol. I. Reprinted StateEditor, Gazetteers Department, Trivandrum.

1. This is an extract from a forthcoming monograph titled Governing 'Man' and 'Nature' in Colonial Travancore.

2. Major i t ems o f t r ade inc luded : peppe r , g inge r , co i r , c innamon , sea l ing wax , c love , ca rdamom,

myrobalan,indigo,tamarind, Myrrh, zerumbet, camphor, cubebs, nutmeg, sandal, zedoary etc.

3. Mathew (1999 :180-221)

4.Roughly in the mid-18 century, one of the Kingdom - Venad - consolidated and extended command over the smaller principalities with the

aid of English East India Company to form Travancore.

5.Tharakan (1999: 360-401)

6.Aitchison (1983) quoted in Rammohan (1996: 13)

7. Enhanced from Rs. 78,000 to more than Rs. 8,00,000 (Varghese 1970, quoted in Chundamannil 1993: 13)

8.Revolt of 1808 was lead by Dewan Velu Thambi Dalawa.

9.Resident was the diplomatic representative of the British Paramaountcy in Princely States. Col. John Munroe was the Resident of the

Travancore from 1810 to 1819. His assuming of the office of the Dewan and Resident simultaneously, was responsible for enabling revenue

reform.

10. These reforms had further implications of weakening of the existing upper-caste dominated power structure in State. For a detailed

treatment of the impact of the revolt of 1808, leading to a near total annexation of State by British, and subsequent reforms in the line of

British-India, see Rammohan (1996: 11-17).The structure of the upper caste dominated state administration, including revenue and

justice up to the lower rung at village level, was affected by the reforms.

11.The new modes of land revenue system also had decisive influence on various social and production relations, especially, effecting a shift

towards increasingly monetised economy, among almost all strata of society. (Ludden 1999: 170-72) For instance, during 1867-68, the

revenue from the paddy land in Travancore was Rs. 11,13,006, while the same from garden land Rs. 4,02,804, out of the total revenue Rs.

16,69,316 from land. This means that, the revenue due to paddy amounted to roughly 67 percent of total land revenue. The gross revenue

from all sources were about 52 lacs (RAT 1867-68 : 32).

12. Ludden (1999:159-70 )

13. Mann (2001)

14. The other two were, offices of political resident and the commercial agent (Rammohan 1996: 95).

15. According to Bourdillon, the average acreage of forest per 100 persons in Travancore and United Kingdom was respectively 90 and 6

(Bourdillon 1993: 122).th

16. Mann (2001: 9-26). By the end of the 18 century the British in effect replaced the Arabs as buyers of teak timber for their construction of

the sea going vessels (Chundamannil 1993 : 12).

17. Chundamannil (1993. :12)

18. Chundamannil (1993:13)

19. Ward and Conner (1863 : 41)

20. RAT (1874-75: 56)

21. Concessional land rent announced in this regard continued to be the same for both food and cash crops. Declining state income from

conventional trade and restrictions on imports of rice were also been reasons for adopting measures for promoting paddy cultivation(Rammohan 2006 : 15-22).

22. Augmenting of the revenue flow continued to be the motive behind most of the policies and proclamations announced in Travancore



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pale lower mandible. The pale

supercilium was broad, long,

edged dark above and extended

well behind the eye. The dark eye-

stripe also was prominent and

extended behind the eye,

alongside the supercilium. The

throat was white and the underpart

was whitish, with buffish breast

Sighting of Paddyfield WarblerAcrocephalus agricolaand the first photographic record of the species from Kerala

Mujeeb Panchili

Panchili House, Kaithappoil , Thamarassery, Kozhikode, Kerala

[email protected]

pertaining to the utilisation of land, especially those intended to facilitate expansion of food and cash crop cultivation in the forested lands,th th

even in late 19 and early 20 centuries.

23. Chundamannil (1993 :12-13)

24. RAT (1872-74: 82)

25. See Rammohan (1996: 95-106), According to him, there was a demand explosion for timber in the post 1860s which would have

prompted State to make initiatives for improvement of forests.

26.The British Indian Forest Department establishment had a formal beginning in 1864 with Dietrich Brandis as In sp ec to r Gene ra l ofForests (Chundamannil 1993: 20). The first version of Indian Forest Act was brought out in 1865, soon after the institution of the Forest

Department. It was replaced by a more 'sophisticated' Act in 1878.

27. The Cardamom Hills was under the control of Conservator until 1869. It was thereafter transferred to Cardamom Department which

started functioning in 1823. The forests in South Travancore was under the direct control of the Revenue Department (RAT 1872-74: 82) also

see Nair, Chundamannil and Muhammad (1984 : 53).th

28.Reforms in the revenue administration that took place in the early 19 century under the zealous initiative of Col. Munroe as the British

Resident involved annexation of the land and property owned by the temples. This brought to focus the land as a source of revenue. The

assessment of tax was based on the actual produce from land. The new system of assessment all lands were classified based on the

productivity classification and determining the possible maximum yield from cultivation of each of these categories of land.th

29. See the Address by the Dewan of Travancore to the Leading Landholders, on 24 March 1883 (RAT 1882-83: cvii-cxxv). Such policies

had already been in practice in Madras Presidency. However, for us what is interesting is the change in the general logic in taxation and locus

of control (RAT 1882-83: cxxiii).

30. It may be noted that, in Travancore, the policy of reservation of forests was followed on the basis of the report of the committee onimprovement of forests -1884. However, both these policies were coterminous.

31.See Grove (1994) for a scholarly treatment on colonial Desiccation Discourses.

32.See Said (1978)

33.See Scott (1998) for the specific meaning in which the word 'legibility' is used here.

34. 'Action at a Distance', See Latour (1987) cited in Miller and Rose (1993: 76).

35.RAT(1882-83 : 53). Also see Rammohan (1996: 96-97), where he demonstrated that there was a demand-explosion for timber around

1860s. It is also stated that The quantity of teak exports from Tiruvitamkur doubled between 1882 and 1892. Between 1860 and 1900, the

value of timber of all kinds exported expanded by more than seven-fold.

36. RAT (1882-83: 53)

37. RAT (1890-91:113)

38. The Indian Forest Act was passed in 1878; the Madras Forest Act was delayed by four years because of the strong disagreement prevailed

among the cadres of foresters in the Presidency on annexing forests as intended in Indian Forest Act. Majority of the foresters in the MadrasPresidency were sympathetic to the needs of villagers. Resultantly the Madras Act was more liberal than the Indian Forest Act. I have not

ventured a comparison of the provisions of the Acts of Madras and Travancore, but it is glaringly evident that the provisions such as village

forest is lacking in the Travancore Act.

39. TFM (1917: 1-2)

40. As introduction to bill, T.Rajaram Rao provided a detailed introduction for the Act. In the very beginning of the Introduction he stated that

While the working of Forest laws is causing much heart-burning and complaint in British India, the introduction of a Bill passing a law on

the same subject in this country requires special explanation.. (TFM 1917: 1)

41. TFM (1917: 13-17)

42. Rajan (1998).

Here, I place on record the sighting ofPaddyfield Warbler Acrocephalus agricola in a

paddyfield at Thamarassery, Kozhikode district.

Date and time: 29 December 2011, 9am to 10am.

Description: Very much like Blyth's Reed-

WarblerA. dumetorum, but had a rufous tinge onits back, rump and sides of breast; the bill was

shorter than that of Blyth's and had a dark tip with


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Fluttering of Birds in Malayalam PoetryRajeswari C

Guest Lecturer, Department of Malayalam, Mercy College, Palakkad

Love of nature is an innate emotional expression of a poet. In his/her creation, many poets have used birds andanimals as symbolic representations of human life. Among all wild creatures, the bird has always been closest to human kind

because flight and song make birds exceptionally noticeable in every sort of environment and can easily be observed and

appreciated. Thus, birds become important poetic imagery in the thoughts and creativity of poets.

While referring to seasons, life and culture, birds have profoundly influenced the minds of Malayalam poets. That might have

been the reason for the presence of birds in various forms in Malayalam poetry throughout history. Malayalam poets tried to

reflect the changing landscape and human nature using birds as symbols. Thus, the fluttering of birds in Malayalam literature,especially poetry is very deep and pervasive. Apart from narrating the beauty of nature, Malayalam poets took it as the moral

responsibility to protect birds and animals through their writings. They could recognize that the extinction of these flying

creatures may cause the demise of this vibrant earth. This has created the blending of many environmental issues the earth

faces, with poetry.

Unlike the traditional Malayalam poetic style, a new environmental awareness evolved on such issues during the

later stage. In order to provide the beauty of nature in poems, birds are used as backgrounds in different ways. At the same

time the bird has also been used as an instrument to recognize the natural catastrophe. Thus, the birds are considered as a

natural element in poetry for soothsaying the natural disasters.

For all these poets, birds were symbols of freedom. They have served to express views against social injustice and evils from

time to time. In his writing 'Kilippattu', Ezhuthachan has tried to generate a moral sentiment through Bhakthi. Nurturing of

such an emotion was highly demanded during that period. One can find names such as Garuda, Jadayu, Sampathi etc. often in

the ancient epics and literature.Though these birds resemble the species of kites, eagles or vultures, the poets gave them human

attributes.

The poets adopted birds to be the voice of nature. The versatile faces of nature in poetry such as the passive, roaring

&dreaming states could be depicted by the presence of birds. It could also be used as the symbol of the savage earth. In his

writing 'Oru Vilapam', V C Balakrishna Panicker has used the sounds of Mottled Wood-Owl (kuttichulan) for expressing the

anger of nature. In this example, nature's roar has been symbolized in the way of an epidemic. Hence, these symbols are used

as concrete objects to represent an abstract idea.

In modern Malayalam poetry, different imageries have been evolved to fight against the greed of man. Thus it comes out as an

expression from the heart of poet against the deterioration of the environment.

oru kiliyude nilavilikkenthu

Vila ! prakrithyakanakkunokunnu'

Ningalen lokathe enthu chaithu- Sugathakumari]

' Kaatharamakum vilikku maruvili

Etho kilithan vithumball mathram

[Vanarodanam-Sugathakumari]

and flanks. It had pinkish brown legs

and feet.

Habitat and behavior:I saw the

birds in a damp paddyfield near

Thamarassery around 40 m

above MSL, c.30 km away from

Kozhikode on the Wayanadroute. There were four birds

searching for food, along with

Blyth's Reed-Warbler and White-

rumped MuniaLonchura striata.

These birds could be seen clearly

when they moved around in the

paddy. They usually foraged at the base

of the plants, occasionally perching on the stalks. I could

photograph two individual birds of the species during the

time of observation.

Sashikumar et. al.(2011)

have included this species in the

secondary list ('unverified sight

reports') and mention two

sightings from Kerala. As far as

I know, this is the first sightingof this species from Kerala,

substantiated by photographs.

Reference:

Sashikumar, C. , Praveen J . ,

Muhammed Jafer Palot and P O Nameer.

2011. Birds of Kerala Status and

Distribution. D C Books, Kottayam.


11/40

The symbol of birds helps to capture the mind and feelings of any reader. This is a perception from the poets who

deal with nature in their writings. These poets tried to create awareness in the society on the changes in nature brought about

by man himself. In 'Ezhimala' Sachidanadan gives an example for that. The poem gives a picture of nature's disaster caused

by the encroachment of man.

Pettennorudivasam

Bootukalkumeethe bootukal vannu

Azhissiyude pukalppattukalkkumeethe

Buldosarukal panjuvannu

Paranarude velicham pootha

Vengayilum churappunnayilum

Kuruvikalude chora therichu veenu

The plot of the poem narrated the issues that evolved in connection with the establishment of Ezhimala Naval

Academy. Though the poet had always depicted the murmur and music of little sparrows in a romantic mood, the sparrow

seems to be looking at the darkness of danger in this poem.

The poet has constructed imaginary symbols for this. It seems that the usages are made according to the suitability of

culture.

'vithum kaikottu' mennengum

Muzhangummattu rappakal

Mavinthoppil ninnu padu-

Ma vishupakshiyengupoy

[Sankrama sandhyail P Kunjiraman nair]

By saying thus the poet indicates the loss of nature. The song of 'Vishupakshi' - the migratory Indian Cuckoo is a part

of childhood nostalgia of many Malayalees. The poet has written the whole poem in the same tune of the song of the cuckoo

and the image created by the poet can make any one fly with the bird to its own world. These images create a feeling of oneness

with the bird.

But there are some expressions such as 'pathirakozhi', 'mazhapakshi' etc. which gets a place in poetry, though all of

them are imaginary birds representing some characteristics of humans or nature.

No Malayalam poet ever invoked the beauty of nature into the poem to such an extent like P Kunjiraman Nair. We canalso perceive the devastation of nature in his poems and he strongly advocated the need for conservation of nature through his

writings. .

chirichu kaivasathakki

Thoppake chathiyan mazhu

Veedilatha vishupakshi

Etho desantharathilay

[Poomottinte kani- P Kunjiraman Nair]

Nilachu vanmaragalokkeyum vetti

Kudiyirakkapetta vishupakshithan kalaganam

[Parudesa nashtam P Kunji raman Nair]

These lines symbolise the homeless birds that are forced to move away from their native place. These poems alsodepict the jinx of deteriorating rural villages in the midst of modern industrialised civilisation. The wail of birds, homeless

birds, screams of birds, vanishing birds, voiceless birds etc. are the usages that indicate the destiny of depleting environment in

poetry.

In his poem 'Bhumikkoru charamgeetham' ONV Kurupu states that the brightness of sweet truth of life in earth at

least once lies on the wings of swan, may be on its silver edges.

The poet also elaborates nature's emotion through classic attribution.

nammalkuyirthanna bhumiyopavamam

Thanmakkaleyourthu kezhum 'Jarithayay'

[Sargaka pakshikal - ONV]

The phrase 'kezhum Jarithayay' is a usage of classic imagination and represents a mother's sacrifice and tears for the

survival of her children.

According to Leonard Lutwack, birds are used more frequently in poetry than in any other genre because they can beincorporated more easily in the minute imagery that makes up the basic stuff of poetry than in the border elements of plot and

character upon which poem and fiction depend.



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Heronries of North Kerala - 2011

C. Sashikumar, C. K. Vishnudas, S. Raju, P. A. Vinayan & V.A. Shebin

C. Sashikumar, Sree Nilayam, Pattanur P O, Kannur 670595. [email protected]. K. Vishnudas, Vishnu Nivas, Karimkutty P O, Kalpetta 673121, Wayanad. [email protected]

S. Raju, Kavil Variam, Kodakara, Thrissur. [email protected]. A. Vinayan, Pandancheri House, Vemom P O, Mananthavady, Wayanad [email protected]

V.A. Shebin, Valiyaparambil House, Chiramanangad P.O, Thrissur, Pin-680604. [email protected]

Introduction

Communal nesting places of large water birds are known as heronries. Usually, different species breed at the sameplace, even on the same trees forming mixed species heronries. Kerala has about 15 species of resident and breeding water

birds nesting in various heronries. Protection of heronries is very important for the conservation and management of these

species, many of which are integral part of our agricultural ecosystem. Documentation of these heronries, information on the

species breeding within our area and knowledge of the current status of our heronries are the first basic steps in the direction of

chalking out a conservation strategy regarding these birds.

S. Subramanya (2005) compiled most of the information available many of them contributed by different

birdwatchers in Kerala and some from published data on the heronries of Kerala till that time. In 2006 and 2007, Malabar

Natural History Society (MNHS) organized census of the heronries of the north Kerala districts of Kasaragode, Kannur,

Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad based on the voluntary work of its members and co-operation of the Forests and

Wildlife department, Government of Kerala (Sashikumar & Jayarajan, 2007 and 2008). The survey of 2007 was the most

extensive till then and had recorded 4,930 nests of 10 species of waterbirds in 73 sites in the five districts.

As part of the Malabar Ornithological Survey 2010 2011 a bird survey project sponsored by the Forests and

Wildlife Department, Kerala covering the six north Kerala districts of Kasaragode, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad,

Malappuram and Palakkad we conducted a census of the heronries in these districts in July and August 2011.

Methods

All the known heronries were listed. An appeal to inform the location of heronries was published in the local

newspapers (this was possible for Kasaragode and Kannur districts only) and the new heronries also were added to the list.

During the census, each heronry was visited and all information on the number of nests of each species, the number of adult

and young birds present, the activity of the birds, details of the location, information of the nest tree, data on the nearby

wetlands etc. were noted in the prescribed data sheet. The history of the heronry, disturbances and threats, if any, also were

noted. Whenever possible, participation of the local birdwatchers and people was ensured and with this interaction, the

problems of the heronry and the problems faced by the local people from the heronry were understood.

Results and Discussion

8,677 nests belonging to 12 species of waterbirds from 102 sites were counted during the survey. The details

regarding the breeding species of each site in the six districts are given in Table 1.

Thus, the depiction of birds in poetry occurs in different ways.

A) To explain the poetic background.

B) Using natural element [here birds] as metaphors.

C) Source or energizer to create feelings and emotions.

D) Narrating natural objects for the sake of narration only.

E) For the sake of emotional expression.Beyond this classification in the involvement of nature in poetry, the presence of nature and its elements including

birds set a trend in the fulfillment of poetic ecstasy.

The recognition, recapture and defense of problems of nature in modern Malayalam poetry has become the trend

today. Besides, the world of experience of women, and the Dalit aesthetic sense, environmental awareness also gets a vantage

place in recent literature. This we can perceive in a wide range of expressions about nature in the writings of eminent

Malayalam poets like N.V.Krishnavarrier, Sugathakumari, Ayyappa Panicker, Sachidandan, D.Vinayachandran, and K.G.

Sankara Pillai . They stirred up the course of modern Malayalm poetry in its great strength. The poets could really integrate the

beauty of life and the flight of birds. Thus, the waves of their soul and emotions from nature have fluttered across the creative

lines of these poets that have become an inseparable phenomenon in Malayalam poetry.



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Distribution of heronries

The highest number of heronries (28) and number of nests (3,917) were recorded in Kannur district. Palakkad had

the same number of heronries, but the total number of nests was only 865. The distribution of heronries in Palakkad was unique

in that all of them were small, scattered and had larger number of nest trees. In Wayanad, there were only three heronries, but

they had 766 nests belonging to nine species. Kozhikode had the least number of species as well as nests; this may be due to

lesser coverage, but interestingly, the results were similar in the earlier census also.

Fig. 1 shows the distribution of heronries in Malabar (number of nests shown in the secondary axis on right). The

maximum number of species breeding in any district was nine and the minimum three.

Location of the heronries

Table 2 shows the percentage of the location types of the 102 heronries. Evidently, more than 93% of the heronries

were situated in Government land; only 7% of the heronry sites were privately owned. This is an interesting situation unique

to Kerala. A major part of the heronries were located on trees on the sides of the roads, including National Highways, State

Highways and interior roads. Several nest trees stood on busy market places, bus stands and such places where lots of people

congregate. The heronries at Kannur, Mahe, Ramanattukara etc. were typical of this type of location. Small towns like

Palayad, Sivapuram etc. of Kannur district also had similar sites. Nest site selection in this type of locations created ire in the

local people and provoked action against the nesting birds.

Table 1. Heronries of Malabar

Median Egret 395 3 9 3 486 882 2



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Table 2. Location of heronries

Species: interesting patterns

Twelve species of waterbirds nested in the 102 heronries of Malabar. Indian Pond Heron nested in 91 sites with 3,185

nests and was the most widespread and numerous breeder followed by Little Cormorant with 2,955 nests in 68 sites (Fig. 2).

These two species together shared 71% of the total nests in the region (Fig. 3). Rest of the 10 species had a share of 29%. Grey

Heron, Purple Heron, Large Egret and Cattle Egret together had a share of less than 1%; all these species nested in one site each

only and except for Koduvally where Grey Heron nested, the other sites were in Wayanad. Oriental White Ibis nested only at

Panamaram. Little Egret bred in 31 sites and Black-crowned Night Heron and Median Egret in 15 and eight sites respectively.

Indian Shag had 191 nests in six sites in Kasaragode, Kannur and Palakkad districts.

Panamaram heronry in Wayanad was unique as it had three species which bred nowhere else; it had nine species

breeding in all the highest for any heronry for the whole region. Cattle Egret bred only here and nowhere else in Kerala;

Oriental White Ibis bred here and nowhere else in Malabar.

At Naniyoor heronry in Valapattanam River, Darter, Median Egret and Little Egret were breeding: this is the first

record of these species breeding in the north Kerala districts of Kasaragode, Kannur and Kozhikode. About 50 Asian Open-

bill Storks were seen perched at the heronry in Naniyoor in August, but there was no evidence of their breeding there.

Three nest sites were situated in small uninhabited mangrove islets: two of them in the Valapattanam River at

Keeriyad and Naniyoor and one in Anjarakandy River at Koduvally. Another islet in Mahe River called Naduthuruthi at

Kariyad was inhabited and did not have much natural vegetation. All the three heronries of Wayanad were on the bank of

Kabani River and two of them were entirely on bamboo clumps.



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Nest Trees

A total of 399 trees belonging to 34 species (excluding mangrove trees and bamboo) were used by the birds for

nesting. Table 3 has the list of the species of trees and the number of each. Bamboo clumps standing at the riverbank were used

extensively in the heronries at Wayanad and in the three islets, mangrove trees were used as the nesting substratum; these two

types are not included in the list. Rain tree (36.6 %) seemed to be the most preferred nest tree, followed by Mango (6.6 %). At

least 14 species of trees in the list were usually planted as shade trees or avenue trees by the government departments. The birds

must be utilizing whatever trees are locally available, suitable for nest building.

Globally Threatened species

Darter and Oriental White Ibis are classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Darter was found to breed at eight sites

with 255 nests. For Darter, 1% of the biogeographic population is 40 and the breeding population of adults in Malabar will

come to 12.75% of the biogeographic population. The heronries of Klari (Kottakkal) and Randathani in Malappuram district

together had 241 nests of this species. Darter seems to be extending its breeding range as indicated by the new breeding

records from Kasaragode and Kannur districts.

Oriental White Ibis was found to breed at Panamaram where 123 nests were counted. Kumarakam is the only other

place where this species breeds in Kerala. At this place, apart from the breeding birds, more than 500 Oriental White Ibis

arrived every evening to roost. 1% of the biogeographic population for this species is 250.

1% of the biogeographic population is one of the criteria for declaring a place as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The

three heronries mentioned above will fulfil this criterion.



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Table 3. List of Nest Trees



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Major Heronries

There were 21 heronries with more than 100 nests (Table 4). Out of this, four were in Kasaragode, eight in Kannur,

one each in Kozhikode and Palakkad, five in Malappuram and two in Wayanad. Four heronries had more than 400 nests.

Keeriyad heronry in Kannur had the highest number of nests: 1108 nests belonging to five species. Palakkad had only one

heronry with more than 100 nests. As mentioned already, Panamaram with nine species had the most number of species.

Table 4. Major Heronries

14 Kondotty Malappuram 253 4

16 Randathani Malappuram 201 3

The breeding cycle

The breeding of the waterbirds coincides with the onset of the southwest monsoon in Kerala. Early nesters arrive at

the heronries by the third week of May and the breeding continues till the first half of October. In years of good monsoons, like

the one we had in 2011, in many heronries, breeding activities in all stages could be seen throughout the season. It could be that

some pairs take more than one brood or the birds which could not utilize the early breeding season nest later in the season.

More research is needed to get a clear picture over a period of time.

Heronry Census an overview

Table 5 gives an overview of the heronries of north Kerala over the years. The increase in the number of heronries and

nests indicates better coverage of the census in north Kerala and not the increase in the breeding population of the waterbirds.

By far, the current survey had the maximum coverage in north Kerala compared to the previous two surveys; but several

heronries in Palakkad district have not been counted. Complete coverage of all heronries in Kerala shall give a clear picture of

the breeding population of waterbird species in the state.



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Conservation

As is evident, the majority of the heronries are located in government land. As it happens often, many roadside trees

are cut every year. At many heronries, the local people considers the nesting birds as a nuisance and often drive them away

even before the commencement of the breeding season. This is a serious problem, apart from instances of killing for the pot.

Acknowledgements

Sashikumar, C and O. Jayarajan (2007) Census of the heronries of north Kerala.Malabar Trogon 5 (1): 2-8.Sashikumar, C and O. Jayarajan (2008) Census of the heronries of north Kerala 2007.Malabar Trogon 6 (1):14-19.Subramanya, S. (2005) Heronries of Kerala.Malabar Trogon3 (1): 2-15.

We express our since gratitude to the Forests and Wildlife Department, Government of Kerala for initiating the

Malabar Ornithological Survey as part of which the heronry survey was done. P C Rajeevan helped us to conduct the survey at

Kannur and Kasaragode districts, V Syam at Kozhikode district, Dr Seethikoya at Malappuram district and L Namassivayan at

Palakkad district; we are indebted to them. We are grateful to C Sunilkumar ofMathrubhumidaily newspaper, Kannur for his

contribution in gathering information on the locations of heronries.

References

Nectar Feeding Butterflies in the Canopy of Divi Divi Caesalpinia coaiaria

(Caesalpiniacea)

Rajashree Raju

Kavil Variam, Kodakara Thrissur

Introduction

Though butterflies feed on a variety of substances, flower nectar is their prime source of food. Besides nectarbutterflies feed on squashed and rotting fruits or other vegetable matter, tree sap, certain rotting animals, minerals from wet

soil and varying combinations of all these. Male butterflies of several species aggregate on sodden earth, dung, mammalianurine, mud puddles for mineral requirements. Certain butterflies, especially species of Swallowtails, Whites and Yellows,

Blues and some of the Brush-footed butterflies obtain the bulk of their nutritional requirements from flower nectar. A few

Brush-footed butterflies feed on pollen. Diet of adult butterflies is even more varied than their caterpillars. But, very little

information is available on feeding habits and food resources of adult butterflies compared to that of the larvae (Kunte 2000).

This note is on the butterflies feeding nectar from the flowers in the canopy of a Divi Divi plant ( Caesalpinia

coriaria). Divi-divi is a leguminous tree or large shrub native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South

America. It grows up to 30 ft tall, often much less. Its shape is very contorted in its native exposed coastal sites. In other

environments it grows into a low dome shape with a clear sub canopy space. Divi-Divi flowers during the warm weather, but

the flowers are not very showy. They are yellow in color.

Use of flower nectar is probably the basic trait in butterflies, and the slender, flexible proboscis of flower-feeding

butterflies is particularly suited to feeding from narrow flower tubes (Barth, 1991). The butterflies do not feed indiscriminately

from any flowers that they might find. There are preferences for nectar with specific chemical composition (Kunte, 2000).

Butterflies differ in their dependency on nectar for somatic maintenance and reproductive potential (Gilbert 1981).



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Observation

Butterflies, feeding on the canopy of a Divi Divi (Caesalpinia coriaria) tree in a one acre well wooded homestead

situated at Ollur, seven km from Thrissur town, were observed. The canopy of the tree was full of bunches of greenish white

flowers and butterflies were actively feeding nectar. Individual flower is very small with a corolla length 0.6 cm. The height of

the tree was 8m and GBH was 70 cm.

A total of 45 species of butterflies were found during close observation of the canopy in four consecutive days (19

22 October 2011). Observations were made from 11.30 - 13.30 hrs (FN) and again from 15.00 - 17.00 hrs (AN). Day 1 and 2nd

were sunny days and the other two were cloudy. Maximum number of individuals (115) was found on FN of the 2 day.

Butterflies were more active during the sunny days and were less active during the cloudy days. Butterflies were identified

through direct observation with the help of a pair of binoculars. In some cases the species were photographed and identified

with the help of standard field guides such as Kunte (2000) and Kehimkar (2008). Table 1 shows the number of species and

individuals observed during each day.

4 20 52 32 63

All the 45 species were classified according to their families. Six of them were Swallowtails (Papilionidae), eight

belonged to the group of Whites and Yellows (Pieridae), four were Blues (Lycaenidae), 18 were Brush-footed butterflies

(Nymphalidae) and nine were Skippers (Hesperiidae). List of the species and their numbers found on each day is shown in

Table 2.



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The numbers given in the table are the number of individuals observed. The actual number of individuals that visited

the tree could be much more because I could observe only one side of the canopy which was visible from the terrace of my

house from where I made the observations.

Certain species of butterflies were actively feeding for whole day time and in all days. There were nine such species: Blue

Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, Double Banded Crow, Brown King Crow, Common Crow, Tamil Yeoman, Great Eggfly, Common

Cerulean and Tailed Jay. Majority appeared on the canopy at irregular intervals. Common Lascar, Common Four-ring,



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Common Palmfly, Striped Tiger, Common Albatross and One-spot Grass Yellow were observed only once. Some of the

butterflies occasionally visited the flowers ofBauhinia purpurea adjacentto the Divi Divi tree. Most of the Skippers were

active during the evening hours. Chestnut Bob and Suffused Snowflat were observed only during the evening hours. Certain

Blue Tigers in groups (a group of 3-4 and 4-5) and as single were seen resting on the twigs for 5 to 15 minutes after which they

started feeding again. I could also observe mating/courtship flight of 2 -3 pairs of Blue Tigers each day.

Many migratory species were observed among the butterflies in the canopy of Divi Divi . Seventeen out of the 45 species

observed are known to migrate. The list of the species is given below.1. Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace)

2. Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis)

3. Striped Tiger (Danaus genutia)

4. Glossy Tiger (Parantica aglea)

5. Double Banded Crow(Euploea Sylvester)

6. Brown King Crow (Euploea klugii)

7. Common Crow (Euploea core)

8. Chocolate Pansy (Junonia (Precis) iphit)

9. Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina)

10. Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae)

11. Crimson Rose (Pachliopta hector)12. Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe)

13. Mottled Emigrant (Catopsilia pyranthe)

14. Common Emigrant (Catopsilia Pomona)

15. Common Albatross (Appias albina)

16. Brown Awl (Badamia exclamationis)

17. Small Banded Swift (Pelopidas mathias)(known to migrate locally)

Divi Divi tree at the house yard at Ollur normally flowers during October of every year (after the southwest monsoon).

This year it started flowering in the first week of Octobe; only a few butterflies were found feeding at that time. By third week

of October, the canopy was full of flowers and butterflies. Last year (2010) also, there were lots of butterflies in the canopy

during the first week of October and I had counted 27 species of butterflies. List of the species observed in 2010 is given in

Table 3.



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Comparison of the data of the two years is not possible as no detailed observation was carried out in 2010. But some

species like Palm Bob, Common Flat, Common Leopard and Pea Blue were absent in 2011.

More observation on such assemblage of various species of butterflies in the canopy of different flowering trees of

our area would be interesting as there are not many studies on butterflies in the canopy (Schulze et al. 2001).

References

Barth, F G. 1991.Insects and flowers, the biology of a partnership. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.DeVries, P.J. 1988. Stratification of fruit-feeding nymphalid butterflies in a Costa Rican rainforest.Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera

26: 98108.

Gilbert, L. E. 1981. The biology of communities. In R. I. Vane-Wright & P. R. Ackery (eds.), The Biologyof Butterfl ies, pp. 4154.

Academic Press, London.

Isaac Kehimkar, 2008. The Book of Indian Butterflies, BNHS , Bombay

Krushnamekh Kunte, 2000.Butterflies of Peninsular India, University Press, Hyderabad.

Schulze, C.H., Linsenmair, K.E. & Fiedler, K. (2001). Understorey versus canopy patterns of vertical stratification and diversity among

Lepidoptera in a Bornean rainforest.Plant Ecology153: 133-152.

Occurrence of the Anaimalai GeckoHemidactylusanamallensisGunther, 1875 from Chembra, Wayanad, Kerala

Vivek Philip Cyriac*, Arjun C.P. and Tijo. K. Joy

Centre for Wildlife Studies, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode, Wayanad, Kerala

*[email protected]

The genusHemidactylusis a widely distributed and the second most specious genus among the geckkonine lizardsof the world (Carranza and Arnold, 2006; Giri, 2008; Giri et.al. 2009). It occurs in the old world tropics, the Mediterranean and

also in the tropical America (Smith, 1935; Giri et al. 2009). In India this genus is presently represented by 28 species (Rohini

and Karanat, 2010). Although this genus is one of the most explored groups among Indian geckos, nothing much is known

about their distribution and natural history.

Hemidactylus anamallensiswas described by Gnther (1875) as Gecko anamallensisbased on specimens from

Anaimalai Hills. It was later placed under the genusHoplodactylusby Boulenger (1885). Later Smith (1933) assigned it to a

new genus calledDravidagecko. Subsequently it was shown thatDravidageckois a Gekkonine gecko whileHoplodactylusis

a diplodactyline gecko (Underwood, 1954; Kluge 1967). Bauer and Russell (1875) later placed this gecko in the Genus

Hemidactylusbased on its digital structure. Recent phylogenetic studies on the IndianHemidactylusby Rohini and Karanth

(2010) showed thatH.anamallensisis basal to all otherHemidactylusand its allocation to this genus was again questioned.

This gecko is known to be present in the hill ranges of Anaimalai, Palni, Tirunelveli and Eravikulam (Smith, 1935; Murthy,

1985; Das 2002).

During a study of the reptiles of Chembra peak of Mepadi forest range, two specimens ofHemidactylusgeckos were

observed on the walls of an abandoned building. Both specimens were caught, photographed and all necessary scalation

details and measurements were collected. On examination both the geckos were found to be female; one was gravid with two

eggs. The geckos were then released back in the same locality. The species was later confirmed asHemidactylus anamallensis.

The species was identified asHemidactylus anamallensisbased on its overall grayish brown colouration, marbledwith dark brown. The tail was thick at the base, cross-barred with dark brown and covered with small scales. Head was

depressed and was covered with small granular scales. Rostral was without median groove, nasal in contact with the rostral

and the first labial. Ventral scales were imbricate and smooth; Mentum was sub-triangular with 2 pairs of post mentals, the first

pair in contact with each other, Subcaudals enlarged and uniform. This species is easily differentiated from all other

Hemidactylusby the presence of undivided scansors on the toes. The measurements and pholidosis of the two specimens are

provided in Table 1.

The geckos were found in an abandoned building at the base of Chembra peak (1132'19N 7605'15) at an elevation

of about 1090m ASL. These geckos are sympatric with H. brookiiand Cnemaspis sp. Though some authors consider H.

anamallensisto be widely distributed in the forests of the Western Ghats (Murthy, 1990; Daniel, 1983), their exact locality is

not known and its distribution in the Western Ghats is poorly understood. The present report forms the first record of this

species from Wayanad District, not mentioned by Thomas & Easa 1997, suggesting that the region is still largely unexplored

with regard to the Herpetofauna.

Acknowledgement

We thank the Kerala Forest Department and their staff for permission. Our special thanks to the Mepadi Forest



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Table1: Morphometric Data ofHemidactylus anamallensisfrom Chembra, Wayanad

References

Bauer, A.M. & A.P. Russell.1995. The systematic relationship ofDravidagecko anamallensisGnther .1875.Asiatic Herpetological

Research, 6: 30-35

Carranza, S. & Arnold, E.N. 2006. Systematics, biogeography, and evolution ofHemidactylus geckos (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) elucidated

using mitochondrial DNA sequences.Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 38, 531545.

Giri, V. B. & A.M. Bauer. 2008. A new ground-dwellingHemidactylus(Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Maharashtra, with a key to the

Hemidactylusof India.Zootaxa 1700:2134.

Murthy, T.S.N. 1990.A Field Book of Lizards of India. Records of Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Papers 115: 1-122.

Rohini Bansal and K. Praveen Karanth. 2010. Molecular phylogeny ofHemidactylusgeckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the Indian

subcontinent reveals a unique Indian radiation and an Indian origin of Asian house geckos, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57:

459-465

Smith, M.A.1935. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. 2: Sauria. Taylor & Francis,

London.

Thomas, J., J. Sabu & P. S. Easa. 1997. Status and distribution of reptiles in Wyanad, Kerala. Cobra28: 25-30.

Range Officer, Shri Ranjith for providing all facilities and for supporting us during the study and Dr. Anil Zachariah for

his support and encouragement during field work.

Hemidactylus anamallensisfrom Chembra, Wayanad; Inset showing undivided lamellae of the left leg



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An Updated Checklist of Butterflies of Kerala with their

Malayalam Names1 2 3 4

Muhamed Jafer Palot , V.C. Balakrishnan , Balakrishnan Valappil & S. Kalesh1Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Calicut- 673 006

2

Neelambari, Kannapurram Post, Kannur 670 3013Nest, Padinhattummuril, Malappuram- 676 506

4Aswathi, Medical College Post, Thiruvananthapuram- 695 012

Ever since the publication ofKeralathile Chithrashalabhangal(Butterflies of Kerala) in Malayalam (Palot et al,2003) an array of butterfly-watching activities has been undertaken in Kerala. The book had about 150 Malayalam names of

butterflies commonly found in Kerala state. In the present communication we have coined new names for the rest of the

species pertaining to the state. Thus a total of 316 species were provided with Malayalam names (Table.2). The naming process

was initiated at the Butterfly camp conducted at Aralam WLS from 13 15 January 2012. The list was also discussed among

other senior butterfly-watchers.

Of the 334 species of butterflies so far known from the Western Ghats (Kunte, 2011), 316 were recorded from the state of

Kerala (Table.1). The family Nymphalidae dominated with 95 species followed by Lycaenidae (93 species), Hesperiidae (78

species), Pieridae (31 species) and 19 species from the family Papilionidae.In the present checklist nomenclature is followedafter Gaonkar (1996) and the English names were adopted from Wynter- Blyth (1957).

Table.1: Family-wise distribution of butterflies in Western Ghats and Kerala

Sl.no Name Malayalam Name Malayalam Name

ORDER: LEPIDOPTERA

SUB ORDER: RHOPALOCERA

FAMILY: PAPILIONIDAE

1 Spot Swordtail,Pathysa nomius(Esper) Pottu Vaalvaalan ]pn hmhme

2 Fivebar Swordtail,Pathysa antiphates(Cramer) Varayan Vaalvaalan hcb hmhme

3 Common Jay, Graphium doson(C & R Felder) Naattu Kudukka \mpIpSp

4 Tailed Jay, Graphium agamemnon(Linnaeus) Vira vaalan hndhme

5 Common Bluebottle, Graphium sarpedon(Linnaeus) Neela kudukka \oe pSp

6 Common Rose,Pachliopta aristolochiae(Fabricius) Naattu rose \mptdmkv

7 Crimson Rose,Pachliopta hector(Linnaeus) Chakkara Shalabham Ncie`w

8 Malabar Rose,Pachliopta pandiyana(Moore) Malabar Rose ae_m tdmkv

9 Southern Birdwing, Troides minos(Cramer) Garuda Shalabham KcpUie`w

10 Common Mime,Papilio(Chilasa)clytia, Linnaeus Vazhanapoombatta hg\]qm

11 Malabar Banded Swallowtail,Papilio liomedon(Moore) Pulli vaalan ]pnhme

12 Blue Mormon,Papilio polymnestor(Cramer) Krishna Shalabham IrjvWie`w

Table. 2: A checklist of butterflies of Kerala with their Malayalam names



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13 Red Helen,Papilio helenus(Linnaeus) Chuttikaruppan Npn dp

14 Common Mormon,Papilio polytes(Linnaeus) Naarakakali \mcI mfn

15 Malabar Raven,Papilio dravidarum (Wood-Mason) Malabar Raven ae_m dmh

16 Lime Butterfly,Papilio demoleus(Linnaeus) Naaraka shalabham \mcIie`w

17 Common Banded Peacock,Papilio crino(Fabricius) Naattu Mayuri \mpabqcn

18 Malabar Banded Peacock,Papilio buddha (Westwood) Buddha mayoori _pabqcn

19 Paris Peacock,Papilio paris(Linnaeus) Chutti mayoori Npnabqcn

FAMILY: PIERIDAE

20 Indian Cabbage White,Pieris canidia Linnaeus Cabbage shalabham Imt_Pv ie`w

21 Pioneer(Caper White),Anaphaeis aurota Fabricius Kareera velumban Icoc shfp

22 Common Gull, Cepora nerissa Fabricius Naatupaatha \mp]m

23 Lesser Gull, Cepora nadina Lucas Kaattupaatha Imp]m

24 White Orange Tip,Ixias marianne Cramer Venchenchirakan shsN ndI

25 Yellow Orange Tip,Ixias pyrene Linnaeus Mannhachenchirakan a sN ndI

26 Common Jezebel,Delias eucharis Drury Vilasini hnem kn\n

27 Painted Sawtooth,Prioneris sita C Felder Cholavilasini tNmehnem kn\n

28 Plain Puffin,Appias indraMoore Vella Puffin sh] n

29 Spot Puffin,Appias lalage(Doubleday) Pulli Puffin ]pn ]^n

30 Striped Albatross,Appias libythea Fabricius Varayan albatross hcb B_t{Smkv

31 Chocolate Albatross,Appias lyncida Cramer Chocolate albatross tNm vtev B_t{Smkv

32 Common Albatross,Appias albina Felder Albatross B_t{Smkv

33 Lesser Albatross,Appias wardii (Moore) Pulli albatross ]pn B_t{Smkv

34 Psyche,Leptosia nina Fabricius Pottu vellaatti s]mpshmn

35 Great Orange-Tip,Hebomoia glaucippe Linnaeus Chengirakan sN ndI

36 Small Salmon Arab, Colotis amata Fabricius Chembazhukka shalabham sN gp ie w

37 Large Salmon Arab, Colotis fausta(Olivier) Vanchembazhukka shalabham hsN gp ie w

38 Small Orange-Tip, Colotis etrida Boisduval Cheruchorathunchan sNdptNmcp

39 Plain Orange-Tip, Colotis eucharis Fabricius Chorathunchan tNmcp

40 Crimson-Tip, Colotis danae(Fabricius) Chenjorathunchan sN t mcp

41 Dark Wanderer,Pareronia ceylanica(C & R Felder) Irulan naadodi Ccpf \mtSmSn

42 Common Wanderer,Pareronia valeria(Cramer) Naadodi \mtSmSn

43 Common Emigrant, Catopsilia pomona Fabricius Manha thakaramuthi a Icapn

44 Mottled Emigrant, Catopsilia pyranthe Latreille Thakaramuthi XI capn

45 Small Grass Yellow,Eurema brigitta Cramer Cherumanha paappathi Ip n]m mn

46 Spotless Grass Yellow,Eurema laeta Boisduval Dwiroopi manha paappathi Zzncq]n a ]m mn

47 Common Grass Yellow,Eurema hecabe Linnaeus Manha paappathi a ]m mn

48 Three-Spot Grass Yellow,Eurema blanda Boisduval Mupottan Paappathi apsm ]mm n

49 Nilgiri Grass Yellow,Eurema nilgiriensis C & R Felder Nilgiri Paappathi \o eKncn ]m mn

50 Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, Colias nilgiriensis Felder & Felder Peethambaran ]oXmw_c

FAMILY: NYMPHALIDAE

51 Common BeakLibythea lepita(Moore) Chundan shalabham Np-ie`w

52 Club BeakLibythea myrrha(Godart) Gadha chundan KZNp-



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Subfamily Danainae

53 Glassy Tiger,Parantica aglea (Stoll) Thelineelakaduva sXfn \o e Sph

54 Nilgiri Tiger,Parantica nilgiriensis(Moore) Nilgiri kaduva \o eKncn Sph

55 Dark Blue Tiger,Tirumala septentrionis(Butler) Karineelakaduva Icn \oe Sph

56 Blue Tiger, Tirumala limniace Cramer Neelakaduva \oe Sph

57 Plain Tiger,Danaus chrysippus Linnaeus Erickuthappi Fcn vX n

58 Common Or Striped Tiger,Danaus genutia Cramer Varayan kaduva hcb Sph

59 Common Indian Crow,Euploea core (Cramer) Arali shalabham Acfn ie`w

60 Double-Branded Crow,Euploea sylvester (Fabricius) Paalvalli shalabham ]mhn ie`w

61 Brown King Crow,Euploea klugii Moore Aal sha

Documents

Malabar Trogon_2011_Vol. 9 (3)