Thank you so much for bringing this burning issue into focus. I fully agree with Gurcharan Singh ji that the Flora picture of the year need not essentially be the most beautiful picture. The greatest threat to the rainforests in Kerala Western Ghats is fire. Every year after the rains our forests face the threat of fire and all of this is purely man-made fire. A cigarette butt thrown carelessly by some tourist, grasslands set fire by poachers to induce lush new growth which will attract wildlife or just for plain fun... the list of causes is endless.
I remember years ago walking up to a favorite mountain top near Trivandrum to find the whole place charred. Trees were burning for days and we came across charred eggs of ground dwelling birds. It was really heartbreaking. And this is an area well known for its unique flora. This is exactly the time when the forest fires start in Kerala. The grasses have flowered, the rains have ceased and if there are no summer showers the fires could go on for months on end.. almost till June when the monsoon starts.. that is if the monsoon is on time.. In these times of climate change the issue becomes more critical. Thank you Ritesh ji for bringing this issue for discussion in this forum. Regards, Sandhya On Jan 9, 7:36 am, Ritesh Kumar Choudhary <ritesh....@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear all, > > I don't know whether my post is suitable for this title or not but the > intention behind this post is to spread awareness among eFlora members. I > am sure Dr. Pankaj is going to be the most disheartened person to see this > post. The picture was taken at Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal > Pradesh in which you can find some burnt orchids... ..a result of the > 'Slash and Burn' Cultivation Practice (Jhum-Cultivation). > > Despite intensive government efforts to control Jhum cultivation throughout > the states of NE India, it is still prevalent in a vast area of the region. > As a result, we are losing a number of rare, endemic and wild plant species > day by day. I understand the socio-cultural and livelihood implications of > the local inhabitants but.....how we can bring back those precious plants > which are already burnt? I personally feel this practice as an unfortunate > one. > > Do we need to review the policies? What do u feel? > > Comments awaited! > > Regards, > Ritesh. > > IMG_1047 copy_a.jpg > 558KViewDownload
