THE IMPACT OF TEA ESTATES

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Bandipur -> Wayanad -> Kozhikode -> Guruvayur -> Cochin -> Periyar

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Three years ago, looking on the expanse of tea estates on the hills of the Nilgiris, a friend exclaimed -

"Aren't they beautiful!"

They indeed were. But I had something else in my mind.

"These tea estates", I said, "destroy the environment".

"What nonsense, they are also vegetation", she replied instantly.

It was a casual response, but it hit me so hard, I haven't forgotten it yet. Like many other people who visit these estates, she was ignorant of the impact of tea estates. Ignorance is no crime, and I did not want to go on a boring lecture trip about how tea estates would have changed our surroundings. But I decided to write whatever I know about them some day. And here is a go at it, to list some of the effects of sprawling tea estates on our environment.

THE VALPARAI STORY

Valparai was a region in TamilNadu with thick evergreen forest, habitated by Lion Tailed Macaques. The Lion Tailed Macaques live on the trees, move around from tree to tree and rarely step on the ground. They were a thriving population in the thick forest, until the British started planting tea. Thick contiguous stretches of forest gave way to tea plantations and only fragments of the forest remained over time. The movement of Lion Tailed Macaques were restricted by the tea plantations and they had trouble finding their food, mates and also their freedom to move freely. Habitat loss reduced their population considerably. Now, Lion Tailed Macaques are an endangered species that can be found in limited numbers, confined to small forest stretches that are still left.

The Macaques being a large species, their dwindling numbers were noticed, but many smaller species like some birds, insects and amphibians may have gone completely unnoticed.

THE DEATH OF PERENNIAL RIVERS

Thick evergreen forests are a source of the water for its surrounding regions. Pouring rains in these forests in the hills bring alive rivers that feed the plains of Deccan Plateau. The rain in these forests feed the rivers for only three months in the monsoon season, but forest continues to generate water even after the rains. Sholas and thick forests create a cooler than normal weather under the canopy. This causes the moisture in the atmosphere to condense and precipitate in small quantities. This precipitation eventually feeds small streams, which become feeders to the rivers. Rivers like Kaveri and Tungabhadra remain perennially flowing due to this precipitation in the forests. But since the arrival of tea estates, these feeders have disappeared and many perennial rivers like Amaravathi in Tamil Nadu, originating from Palani hills have become seasonal, creating water scarcity.


Thick forests are source of streams like this

Mass deforestation and planting of Eucalyptus and Pine in the Nilgiris also has lead to similar effect.

During our many walks in the forests and tea plantations in Kerala, the difference was very evident. We saw many streams running with water in the hills covered with forests, but not much of them to see where there were tea plantations.



LOSS OF BIO-DIVERSITY

We spent a lot of time looking for birds in various regions of Wayanad. That included evergreen forests, and also tea plantations which have replaced the evergreen forests. The evergreen patches were full of many varieties of birds. An hour of walking in the forest would yield us 20-30 species of birds. At the same time, we would see only 4-5 species if we spent an hour in a tea estate. The forest can provide food and shelter to support rich bio-diversity, which can't happen in a tea estate's environment.

SOIL EROSION

Tea plants are never a substitute to an evergreen forest in holding the soil. In a forest, thick Canopy helps slow down the fury of the rains. And when the water finally comes down, it is slowed down further by undergrowth and grass. Water does not get to carry much of top-soil with it as it flows away. Tea plantations don't have such capacity. Lot of top soil gets eroded each year with the rains and reduces its fertility.

CHEMICAL POLLUTION

All the pesticides and fertilizers used in growing tea do not disintegrate and go away easily. They come down the slope with the next rain and join our streams and lakes, and eventually rivers. Our drinking water, which is sourced from these rivers, streams or lakes will end up with traces of pesticides. Dams will ensure that the ground water also gets infected. When the same water is used in agriculture, our cereals and vegetables also get traces of these pesticides. The pesticides go into fish in the streams and enter our food. Of course, tea plantations are not the only source of pesticides, but they do have a role to play.

These are only some of the problems that arise out of rampant destruction of forests in favour of plantations. There would be many more I am not even aware of. At some point of time, I was disturbed enough that I have reduced my intake of tea! All said, I can't help admit that tea plantations look beautiful and those green manicured hills are a treat to the eyes. But when we are looking at these things, it helps to be aware of the trouble that comes with them.

To be continued..