Outstanding Features

The topography of the Malnad area in the Western Ghats mountain range ranges from very steep to gently undulating with rocks, peaks and ridges with altitude ranging from 623 m above msl at the Sringeri Township to 1458 m above msl at Gangamoola of Kudremukh NP. The vegetation is mainly tropical evergreen and semi evergreen. The hilltops harbour grasslands and shoal forests (tropical monatane forest). Special features of these moist tropical forests in Westen Ghats include a) dramatic change of vegetation mosaic across steep altitudinal and climatic gradients within a small expanse from west to east b) gradual change of endemism from north to south along the long strip of the Ghats c) old, well-weathered deep and nutrient rich soils supporting luxuriant vegetation of high diversity and d) and efficient, tight nutrient–cycling capable of localized nutrient losses. With 3000 years of human occupational history, there are records of people descending from the Ghats for shifting cultivation. The shifting cultivation preferred a zone of under 1000 m altitude in order to escape excessive cold and winds. This altitudinal region in the Western Ghats generally constitutes ill-drained valley bottoms, swamps and sluggish streams. It is likely that such swamps were converted into Areca orchards and fields of summer rice. Eventually these argo-ecosystems evolved along with human needs.

In most parts of the Western Ghats, human use and “disturbance” of forests is the rule rather than exception. After the pre-historic system of shifting cultivation gave way to more sophisticated multicropping systems of betel nut (Areca), coffee, pepper and cardamom in the last two centuries, human use of forests has intensified. Extraction of dry and green leaves in addition to that of fuelwood, fodder, small timber and non-timber forest products led to the creation of a patchwork of dense secondary regrowth, sparse tree savannas, and even “degraded” forests around cultivated areas. Yet, the species occurring in these intensely used and managed forests (called Soppina Betta, Jemma land, Derekinahadyas, Bane, Kann etc. in local languages) are a subset of those occurring in the “natural” forests nearby. These foliage hillocks as they are meant in local parlance are the “service tenures” over the uncultivated public lands granted to various communities of the central Western Ghats of Karnataka state, India. These community-managed forests are examples of slightly managed but socio-economically valuable, high yielding forests. Soppina Bettas forests appear to be distinct land use system that can neither be categorized as regular forests nor farmlands. They are characterized by their sustainability in terms of plant genetic wealth and agricultural and community need met by them. Although regularly pressurized by farmers, the floral diversity of Soppina Bettas is no less than the in the natural forests nor is their regeneration pattern significantly different.

The Malnad area is a mosaic of reserve forests, community managed foliage hillocks (Soppina Bettas), paddy fields and cash crop plantations. More than 50 percent of this area is still under forest cover. Cultivations depend on compost made out of foliage and leaf litter and herbal pesticides collected from these foliage hillocks. Paddy grown on rain fed upland fields is the major food crop of this area, where a good number of farmers still follow traditional agricultural methods. People manure soil with leaves of various wild trees in order to arrest the loss of topsoil, suppress weeds and conserve soil moisture.

The system has been depicted in many classic films and poems in regional language (Kannada). The diversity of unique rain fed rice varieties for the hills as well as the floral diversity of Soppina Bettas has been conserved to an extent in some parts.

Goods and Services Provided

The agro-ecosystem comprising Soppina Bettas, paddy and mixed stands of horticultural trees provide the staple food grain of paddy, spices, fruits and nuts, as well as goods and services like manure, fuel wood, fodder, medicine and timber to the dependent communities. While valuable organic matter flows to the paddy lands and plantations, the organic systems of paddy cultivation in turn has helped to sustain the forests of Soppina Bettas as well as the soil water regime for the horticultural crops. The perennial stand of trees adds to the carbon sequestration benefits, which will be valuable for global climate stabilisation.

Threats and Challenges

This economically efficient self-sustaining system is now fast declining due to lack of care, improper management, overexploitation and lack of awareness. While free access to Soppina Bettas is beneficial to the village communities, the same communities accelerate their depletion. On one side due to overexploitation, the Soppina Bettas are getting degraded and converted to open scrub forests which inturn is converted to Acacia auricularis plantations by the state forest department. While on the other side both the landless as well as the land holding people try to improve their socio-economic conditions by converting Soppina Bettas to agricultural land and later approach the government or judiciary to regularize the illegal occupation and land conversion. Reckless commercial composting with large scale and continuous clearing of forest floors also pose threat to Soppina Bettas. Between 1920 and 1990, the rate of forest loss is estimated to have been 0.57% annually.

The major challenges faced by this GIAHS include conversion of paddy lands. More and more paddy turning to horticulture gardens mean need for more leaf litter and more extraction from Soppina Bettas. It also means extracting red soil from Soppina Bettas and other forests for filling paddy lands for conversion.

The major menace of paddy in Sringeri is the brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens). Farmers opine that brown plant hoppers appeared in their fields after they started using chemical fertilizers –a hypothesis justified by many research studies from other parts of the world.

Policy and Development Relevance

The policy repercussions include the question of whether to keep extraction rights of Soppina Bettas strictly individualistic or community managed, and how to restrict conversions of Soppina Bettas and paddy lands to other degrading land uses. The development impact will be on sustaining the productivity of the staple crop of paddy in the region while assuring sustainability of the multi-storeyed coffee-arecanut-pepper system. This in turn leads to conserving the diversity of Soppina Betta forests. Community participation in monitoring and protecting the system should be catering to keep the dependence of the poor on Soppina Bettas for fodder, firewood and subsistence to appropriate levels.

Global Importance

The Western Ghats are an ancient mountain range along the western coast of India covered with tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, recognized as both a megadiversity region and a global biodiversity hotspot due to the vulnerability of its endemic biota.

Such systems bear a range of socio-economic functions along with conventional biological functions like productivity, nutrient cycling and population dynamics. Soppina Bettas are an example of such socio-economically valuable, high yielding non-equilibrium systems.

The perennial stand of trees, moreover, adds to the carbon sequestration benefits, which is valuable for global climate stabilisation.

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