Ancolie Stoll manages one such space called Nilatangam, a 7.5-hectare plantation project started by European parents when Auroville was first established.
Niratangam has tall trees from all over the world, but few endemic species. It is not as dense and complex as the Sacred Grove Forest. Instead, the trees are neatly spaced like crops in a field, with boardwalks and plenty of room for the plants to reseed naturally.
Stoll says he has worked with Branchflower and Baldwin at the botanical gardens and recently planted more landraces belonging to the tropical dry evergreen type at Nilatangam. Among the canopies of exotic trees from her parents’ time, she points to patches planted with such saplings.
Over time, she explains, she will plant more as new species become available. I’m here.
Tropical dry evergreens tower over the 20-hectare Pitch Andy Clam Forest and BioResource Center and the equally sized Auroville Botanical Garden. Baldwin, Branch Flower, and their botanical garden team are working to map the range and diversity of native species within Auroville.
Education is a key goal of the botanical garden and it is here that Satyamurthy plays a key role. On excursions to the Auroville Forest and Sacred Grove, he teaches his students about the ecological importance and cultural heritage of the forest.
Just after the heavy monsoon rains in November 2021, we get a sense of what the students will experience when Satyamurthy shows us around Keezputupattu. The scent of damp earth mixes with incense sticks and garlands of jasmine as you pass by shrines and flower shops. In the woods, you walk through ankle-deep fabric-like red dirt. We are surrounded by two or three storeys of sturdy trees. Sathyamurthy continued unfazed, leaving footprints in rubber sandals.
He sometimes stops to tell us about the medicinal or cultural uses of some plants in Tamil with a little English. He shares his scientific name with its Tamil equivalent in quick succession.Ironwood tree called they raised In Tamil, it has particular medicinal properties.Women crush the leaves together with rice and consume the mixture as an immune booster for postpartum recovery, he says. Kalungali, used in the manufacture of musical instruments and agricultural equipment. Its highly popular twigs are hung in doorways to ward off evil energies. We hope to inspire you.
Sathyamurthy feels that her students will give the sacred grove a chance in their village. He believes such visits help build a relationship between the trees and the students. Students will finish the field trip with seeds, saplings, and tips on how to plant native trees in their village commons.
Educating the next generation about the values of these forests could be key to their survival. Because, despite their importance to temples and religious groups, sacred groves have not escaped the threat of urbanization, including their extraction for biomedical and cultural uses.
Keeziptupatu, for example, attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees each year, and villagers find it difficult to control interactions between outsiders and the forest. Tourists and nomads also trespass.
Outside the grove, Sathyamurthy found three young men pulling trees. They managed to get a large branch. After a long tug of war, they tear off a limb from the tree. Leaves fall with a loud rustle of exhaustion. Men gleefully drag out booty, presumably to be used for medical or cultural purposes.
Sathyamurthy shakes her head and complains, saying that there is an urgent need to deal with the threat to the grove. Later he told me that losing the sacred grove felt like an attack on his community’s way of life.
This is why seed collection, nurseries, afforestation activities, and awareness about tropical dry evergreen forests are essential. No, points out Branchflower. Restoring natural forests is “putting energy back in the bank”.
