Tamil Nadu to undo plantations to save Olive Ridley turtles
THE Tamil Nadu revenue department has sanctioned money to uproot casuarinas planted with World Bank fund along the coast because they were affecting the nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles.
In January, Chennai-based Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network wrote a letter to the World Bank, demanding removal of casuarinas planted as a shield against tsunamis. Since Casuarinas have been planted up to the high tide line, the turtles do not have open sandy beaches to nest on. The bank agreed that the plantations should be cleared 50 m from the high tide line.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (pccf) C K Sreedharan commissioned ngo TREE Foundation to study whether the plantations were affecting the turtles. "We studied about 26 km of the coastline and found that casuarinas had been planted as close as half a metre from the high tide line. This was causing changes in the beach profile," said Supraja Dharini, chairperson and founder-trustee, TREE Foundation, Chennai. The ngo recommended removing casuarinas for a distance of 45 m from the high tide line.
At the pccf's behest, the government sanctioned Rs 1,34,622 to uproot 67,000 plants in Nagapattinam and Chengalpattu districts.
Although the money was sanctioned on September 5, work is yet to begin. "It remains to be seen whether it will be completed before the nesting season begins in December," said Akila Basu, a coordinator with the students' network.
The pccf said the forest department would remove casuarina plants 15 m from the high tide line. "We can't do more because it is a question of balancing land use. You need land for plantations also," he said.
Conservationists allege that the forest department is dragging its feet because undoing plantations after Rs 21.4 crore of the World Bank loan will raise uncomfortable questions from government auditors. They claim planting was extended up to the high tide line because the department had underestimated availability of land. Once the programme began forest officials found that there was not enough suitable land but they had funds in hand and had to meet the target for planting saplings. Basu said that in some places plantations extended beyond the high tide line and were washed away.
No study was done to assess the impact of casuarina on the beach. "How could the World Bank fund this project without assessing its impact?" asked Basu. The bank is yet to answer.
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, which promoted the idea of casuarina plantations, demarcated the area where casuarinas should be planted. In the rapid assessment report it said that planting casuarinas near the high tide line is not a good idea. Besides encroaching upon turtles' nesting area, the plantations stop the natural movement of sand along the coast, it noted.
Casuarina plantations were raised as 'bioshields' between 2005 and 2008 as part of the Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project funded by the World Bank. Fishing communities complained that bioshields or shelterbelts blocked their access to the sea and took away valuable beach space. Ecologists warned that casuarina is an 'introduced' plant not suited to the sand dune ecosystem. They said sand dunes would offer better protection against cyclones and tsunamis.
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