In a couple of earlier episodes, when I spoke about the Miyawaki forest, a few people enquired why I was pursuing this idea when we already have snake groves here. The question was: Isn’t it more pertinent to conserve them? The query may be because of a lack of understanding of the concept of the Miyawaki forest or the history of snake groves in Kerala. So let me explain them today. If there are arguments to counter my points, I am open to those views.
In the past, Kerala had plenty of snake groves. Sacred groves as well as snake groves. Some of them exist even today – the Iringole kaavu situated in 50 acres of land at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam, the Kunnath kaavu in Thiruvananthapuram or the Andalur kavu in Kannur. Much vaster areas were part of sacred groves in earlier times, and there were hundreds of them in Kerala. But nearly all have been cleared now. A forest, sprawling over one acre of land that belonged to my mother’s ancestral home, is now reduced to three cents. Since that tiny patch is set apart as a sacred grove, and poojas are conducted there, it remains intact. Similarly, only one-and-a-half cents of sacred grove remain in my sister’s possession now. The rest has been cleared. This is not because the owners are irreligious.
There are a couple of other reasons for this dwindling of forest cover in Kerala. One, our growing numbers require more land. Two, increase in land value has made it tempting to sell whatever we own. Besides, preserving sacred groves is becoming rather unaffordable. I do not think these sacred groves were consciously nurtured by anyone. In the past, we had only forests here. According to travel records dating back to 1600 or earlier, Kerala was largely marshy land which received perpetual rain. The abundant forests were subsequently cleared for human habitation.
My maternal grandfather passed on at the age of 84 in 1984. If he were alive today, he would be 120 years old. When he was a young man, the area beyond Kottayam town, from Pambady right up to Munnar, was all forest. All this has been cleared and the township today extends right up to Kumily or perhaps even up to Munnar. This happened because of increasing population. However, small pockets of wooded area were retained, and they remained as sacred groves. A second reason for decreasing forest cover came out of a fear of snakes. Whenever news spread that someone was bitten by a snake in a snake grove, the tendency was to clear the grove immediately or reduce its area. This is actually a wrong notion. In fact, there are greater chances of dying due to dog-bites or in road accidents than by snake bites in Kerala. It is said that three to four people die in road accidents in our state every day. Far fewer number of people die of snakebite. But the general perception is that snakes are dangerous. In pre-electricity times, taking a victim of snake bite to hospital or to a traditional toxicologist took time. This was the reason for greater mortality. But today, such cases are very rare. If we are careful, we can avoid being bitten by snakes. Snakes never chase us, as I have said times out of number. They bite only when threatened.
Now to explain the difference between a Miyawaki forest and a snake grove. A snake grove is a natural forest that is retained as such. I don’t think anyone creates a snake grove. A Miyawaki forest, on the other hand, is created in a vacant piece of land within a very short span of time. Neither can be a substitute for the other. We should certainly have snake groves and conserve them too. But we cannot create them in a vacant plot. Regarding the argument that the Miyawaki Model is a foreign one, my counter is this: Don’t we adopt foreign ideas or purchase foreign objects? How many items that we order from Amazon or Flipkart every month are made in India? A majority of the products of modern science and technology, including cars and other vehicles, are imported. Therefore, let us not accept or reject something because it is indigenous or foreign. But rather, let us consider whether it is suitable to our land.
I read in the newspaper about a decision taken by the Government of Tamil Nadu to plant 1,000 Miyawaki forests in Chennai, in a bid to bring down the temperature. We should create forests so that our groundwater level comes up. On this issue, you may ask: Don’t we have our sacred groves? Why adopt this foreign idea? My answer is: one, there is no other option if we wish to create a forest quickly. The idea of social forestry has not yielded results because it advocates the planting of a group of trees, all of which belong to the same variety, which makes it like plantation forestry. Two, the advantage of the Miyawaki technique is that you can create a forest in the smallest of spaces, by including the most number of varieties. It is the best model for creating the maximum number of forests in as many places in Kerala as possible. Therefore, we should encourage the Miyawaki Model of Afforestation.
To the votaries of snake groves, I have one suggestion to make: If possible, try to encircle snake groves with Miyawaki forests. I tried it out myself in my sister’s plot at Thiruvalla and converted her two-cent snake grove into a four-cent Miyawaki forest. But the growth rate of trees there is much less than expected. There are two reasons for it. One, I planted only one tree sapling in each one-metre segment, since there were already many trees in the plot. That could have led to the relatively slow rate of growth. Two, the snake grove is so full of shade, that it is difficult for saplings to shoot up. However, the forest there has taken root although it may take 10 years to attain as much growth as this one will in five years’ time.
Snake groves are very important because they constitute the last surviving, though dwindling, natural forests of Kerala, and they preserve the state’s biodiversity. They have some of the trees that have grown in the area since ancient times. Trees that used to grow in other regions have vanished. For instance, the Black varnish tree that scorches on the merest touch, is almost extinct. A few specimens, if any, may perhaps be found in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram city. The story is the same in nearly all cities. If such trees have survived, they may be seen only in our snake groves.
Our aim should be to preserve them there, and propagate those species by planting their saplings in our Miyawaki forests. If they vanish from the earth, there is no way we can bring them back. Therefore this project is the necessity of the time. You too can join in the effort by following the Miyawaki Method, and planting forests around the existing snake groves. There is no other viable option with us if we need to increase the size of snake groves in Kerala. The two are not mutually-opposing concepts. The fact that the concept of gravitational force was discovered by a foreign scientist named Isaac Newton does not mean it will not act in India.
The same principle holds good as far as the Miyawaki Method is concerned. It was first conceptualized by a Japanese scientist. That does not mean it will not grow in our land. Besides, the Japanese also have snake groves called Chinju no Mori [sacred shrine forest] where they install the souls of the dead. Tokyo city has a forest named Meiji Jingu that spreads over 140 or 200 acres. I have visited that huge forest. It was created in memory of Emperor Meiji nearly 120 years back. In Kerala, we talk about planting Memorial Forests in the name of eminent people but none have come to my notice so far. We must certainly preserve our snake groves. Simultaneously we should strive to increase their area by adopting the Miyawaki Method of Afforestation.