Tree Diversity Day
11 October 2012, 1030 – 1830 hrs, Rio Pavilion CBD COP 11
at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD COP 11)
Agroforestry as strategy in dryland restoration:
experiences in India
Rengaian Ganesan
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
Bangalore

India with diverse About 69 percent (228 million ha) of India is
forests and equally • dry land – arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid
diverse vegetation • heavily populated
types • livelihood and food security
Out of 17000 species of
flowering plants 2863
species are trees

Three major programs on tree diversity at ATREE
1. Mapping and monitoring tree diversity and estimating value of ecosystem
services
2. Understanding and enhancing the role of tree diversity in livelihoods , using
participatory approaches.
3. Restoring tree diversity, also using participatory approaches
picture

MONITORING TREE DIVERSITY AND ESTIMATING
VALUE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Changing plant species composition and growth rates –
Indicators of climate change
Permanent Monitoring Plot

Multiple drivers leading to interspecific competitive interaction –
that shapes the population structure of Phyllanthus emblica
Hemi-
Lantana parasite,
Grazing Natural
Fire death
Drought (2002-2004)
Invasives Effective management for conservation
Hemi-parasite plants requires disentangling the effects of
Grazing in Lantana-free area different drivers to identify those most
responsible for species decline.
Invasives, Hemi-parasite plants –
Forest management practices

Native shade trees, Pollinators and Organic Coffee
At farm scale Shade management
Rustic shade
Native shade trees Silver oak
Natural farming dominated shade
as a way of life
Sophisticated
0rganic
farming
with
certification
(niche for
large farmers)
Sun –
Shade loving coffee
Coffea arabica to Coffea canephora

Linkage between trees in forest fragments and Orange Plantations-
serviced by wild pollinators
Forest fragments and Orange Plantations-
Pollination service
NTFP from forest patches –
Persea odoratissima & Machilus edulis
Urbashi.P & Soubadra,M.

Trees in water shed management
Jagdish Krishnaswamy

Restoring tree diversity, also using participatory approaches
Bandipur Tiger reserve, Karnataka
• restore arid degraded forest in wildlife corridor
• Livelihood availability of forest resources,
• water table for downstream agricultural lands

2. Understanding and enhancing the role of tree diversity in livelihoods , using
participatory approaches.
How do farmers value the trees?
Sacred tree –Aglaia courtalensis
• Timber
• Fodder
• Leaf manure
• Bio-pesticide
• Fuelwood
• Money
• Sacredness
Wild Avocado fruits – Persea odoratissima
Lopped Ficus trees in farmlands for fodder, minor timber (e.g.,poles)

Tree lopped for leaf manure
Fruits of Indian gooseberry- Phyllanths emblica
Fuelwood from trees in farmland
Fodder from trees in the farmland

Rock bee hives
Ecological Services
Refugia –
Pollinators
Wind breakers
Soil binders
Nutrient & water cycling
Fruit bats
Dryland farming = tree-based farming

Tree diversity in livelihoods - using participatory approaches
Forest fringe villages around Protected Area-
Can we help improve the condition (biodiversity)
of these dry forests and also meet
Bandipur the fuelwood requirements
Tiger Reserve
of the dependent community?
Bannarghatta
National park
Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger reserve
• The boundary in most places is
sharp - Intensive Wetland Farming
• Limited Fuel wood and Fodder
sources
Kalakad Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve
Twigs of Ipomoea fistulosa – as Fuelwood

How much was the biomass requirements of these
villages and can we raise the fuelwood source
outside the forest?
17 months of census fuel collectors on regular
paths - 28 tons of forest fuel wood / month for
three villages
Amounts to about 300 tons per year and is
removed from a large area of forest roughly
about 10 sq km.

HOW TO MEET FUELWOOD DEMANDS FROM
OUTSIDE THE FORESTS?
Diverse native and exotic fast growing
multiple purpose tree species
54 tree species – 18 fuelwood , 16 species
fodder, 16 fruits, rest timber
Top 5 species constituted 55% of the basal
area of which 4 are fuelwood species
Within 4 years 247 m2 basal area
of trees– 42 % basal area
contributed by 4 fuelwood
species

Biomass generation in homestead
-Fuelwood, Fodder
Three Year trees in backyard of 5 sq m,
700 kgs of fuelwood in addition to timber US$100
Income generation
Women Self-Help Group Nursery
Gmelina arborea, Cassia fistula,

COMMON DRYLAND TREES
OF KARNATAKA
Bilingual field guide

Acknowledgements
FORD Foundation
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust
Dept. Biotechnology, Govt. of India
S.M.Sehgal Foundation