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Home / Agriculture / Coffee Forests - A Gateway To Wildlifeby Dr. Anand Titus and Geeta N. Pereira Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 Our previous articles will enable you gain insights into the present article. Cradled by the verdant Western Ghats, coffee forests are an ecological wonderland, fed as it is by more than a dozen rivers, the majority, taking birth in the high ranges of the ghats. Most of the year, except during the monsoons, you will find it tranquil, almost gentle, yet the power behind the sight is unmistakable. Amidst untamed patches of greenery one can discover Coffee forests with their enchanting landscape teeming with varied flora and fauna. These coffee forests provide an incredible opportunity for the nature lover to study hundreds of species of endangered birds and animals. The great physical variations in topography from the high range mountains to the low lying plains and the formation of multiple watersheds is responsible for local variation in species diversity.
A study of the coffee forests reveals very interesting facts. Coffee forests have varied physical and climatic conditions and types of vegetation. Two factors play a key role in coffee forests accommodating distinctive types of flora and fauna. Firstly, most of the coffee forests are zones with an elevation ranging from 950 m MSL going up to 1500 m MSL receiving very high rainfall. These forests have three storied vegetation accommodating multi crops and various types of flora and fauna. The upper storey or top storey consists of tall evergreen trees which belong mostly to the hard wood species. More than 60 % of the sunlight is trapped by this canopy of trees. Trees of medium growth belonging to the semi hard wood species form the middle tier. These trees grow luxuriantly in moderate shade. The third layer consists of erythrina or introduced species which are not permanent in nature. This three tiered shade system acts as a sanctuary for birds and animals of all kinds, both ground dwellers as well as tree dwellers by providing adequate food and protection.
The rainfall is widely distributed allowing for the succession of different species of trees, herbs, shrubs and climbers. The coffee forests are geographically characterized by topographical undulations which act as zoning barriers for the passage of animals from one forest to the other. In fact it is one of nature’s ways of creating special ecological niches for the proliferation of various animal, insect and microbial species with abundant food supply.
The flora and fauna of each region has developed adaptations to face the extremes of weather and severity of drought. Most importantly, for generations coffee farmers have adopted the sustainable model of development taking into account the economy, society and the environment.
The Western Ghats, one of the eight hottest hot spots of biodiversity are home to shade grown eco friendly coffee plantations. The exciting news is that these evergreen tropical forests are likely to be included in the list of world heritage sites (2009). To date there are six natural heritage sites in India which include the Valley of flowers and Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve, Kaziranga National Park, Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Sunderban and Keoladeo National Park. These spectacular Ghats comprising of mountain ranges, steep valleys, rivers, rivulets and pristine forests cover an area of about 160,000 square kilometers and stretch forth 1,600 kilometers from the Southern tip at Kanyakumari to Gujarat. TABLE: 1. PROTECTED FOREST AREA {as on September, 2006}(Wildlife Institute of India)
Current Protected Area Status
According to the checklist of Indian Mammals (Nameer, P.O. 2000) there are four hundred and ten (8.86% of the World’s mammals) species of mammals known to exist in India, which are spread over 186 genera, 45 families and 13 orders. This includes two species that are locally extinct from India viz. Acinonyx jubatus and Rhinoceros sondaicus, 13 species of domestic animals that have a complete species status following Corbett & Hill (1992). Nearly 89 species are listed as threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (IUCN 2006).
Table 2: Numbers of threatened species by major groups of organism {Source: iucnredlist.org}
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