Manavan Shola Under the Threat of the Axe 

By G. Hari Sunder,

The largest forest patch in South India, Manavan Shola, is being denuded of its forest cover by land grabbers who have even succeeded to letting a road laid through it with the assistance of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). 

A study conducted at this shola recently by a team of the city-based association of bird Watchers and nature lovers, 'Warblers and Waders', has revealed that the widening of the road inside the forest would lead to degradation of the existing ecosystem and destruction of the flora and fauna. It has also stated that the road widening was being done without he approval of the Central Environmental Department. 

Situated in the Marayur  forest range of the Munnar division, the Mannavan Shola in the State occupies about 518 sq km with the vegetation stunted with 'moss and lichen-covered trunks of trees. Several rare varieties of orchids can also be seen. The undergrowth in this shola is mostly wet. 

This area gains more importance because of the  presence of several Giant tree ferns (Cyathea species), most of  which have been cut down for road construction and widening right, across the shola. Rhododendrons (Snow rose), an endemic small tree   of the Nilgiris, can also be seen here. As per the study    conducted here by the Kerala Forest Research Institute, as many as 35 rare plant species were also recorded. 

Moreover, large-scale    human inhabitation and road    widening would lead to the extinction of as many as 95 species of butterflies here. A study conducted by the ‘Warblers and Waders during 2000-2002 had identified several endemic butterflies such as the ‘Nilgiri Clouded  Yellow’,  ‘Nilgiri Tiger’,  ‘Red   Admiral', 'Cabbage White',  'Nilgiri Four Ring', etc. 

The Red Admiral butterflies which had come to peninsular    India from the Himalayas, had become extinct as the climate became warmer and also due to the disappearance  of  moist forests as per the details   provided in the book, 'Peninsular Butterflies of  India'. These butterflies can seen only in the Anamalais,  Palani, Meghamalai and Manavanshola . 

The road widening and  human inhabitation would   also lead to the disappearance of several endemic bird species such as 'Nilgiri Wood Pigeon’ the nesting and breeding of which was recorded here. Similarly, the nesting of the ‘Black Bulbul’, ‘Kerala Laughing Thrush’, ‘Nilgiri Verditer Flycatcher’ and ‘Scimitar Babbler’ can also be seen in this shola from March to May. The avifauna in this locality will also be under threat once the road widening is completed. 

Another attraction of the shola is the presence of the salea lizards, which can be seen in the higher altitudes. The ‘Anamalai salea’ ‘Nilgiri salea’ as well as the endemic species  of calotes, ‘Calotes grandisquamis’, an endemic lizard can also be seen here. 

The widening of the road and its tarring to enable people to gain access to the interior areas and thus lead to the plundering  of forest wealth, cutting of trees, including tree ferns has raised the alarm among nature lovers, who have urged the Environment Department to take steps for the protection of this shola forest in the state.