“My future was unstable, there was little in the way of employment and I couldn’t provide education for my children or basic standards of personal hygiene for my family.” Alagasan, a 24 year old Irula man, tells me the Irula people caring for the many trees and herbs of the ITWWS nursery understand how it, in turn, looks after them. From the infant mangroves eventually to be used in villages as protection against natural disasters, to the Androrraphis paniculata herb ready to be used as a snake bite antidote, the nursery is as much an area of Irula traditions and methodology as it is a centre of environmental conservation.
The initial nursery was founded in 1987 and became one of the most important projects in the early years of ITWWS. Today, there are four nurseries and over 180 different species of medicinal herbs, 80 species of trees and 650 types of seeds, making it the largest collection in south India. This huge compilation is only possible through the diligent work of the once suppressed Irula communities. The Irula self help groups (SHGs) collect seeds and herbs from forests, hillocks, agricultural land and lakes, never exhausting the environment’s resources and with the complete understanding of the differing medicinal values the forest produce provides. Individuals and SHGs come from over 102 villages, every15 days. If one species of herb is running low in the nursery, villagers endeavor to refresh the stocks.
The tree and herb nursery is the source of many different activities. Essentially it is the base for which the Irula people can empower their communities and work to provide a healthy environment for their children to grow up in. Infant trees and plants are introduced into Irula communities and nearby areas, which improves the local environment and provides food, shade and diversification for the village’s surroundings. The herbs are used by the ITWWS Vaidhiayar (traditional Doctor) and employed to produce many different herbal medicines. As well as benefiting Irula SHGs through supplying forest produce, medicine is now readily available at the ITWWS campus and their medicinal knowledge is being strengthened and conserved. Alagasan recognizes, “We are now able to tell of Irula techniques and remedies. We can tell of our stories, experiences, knowledge and traditions through the uses of the herbs in the nursery.”
The nursery produce is also sold to different sources, used for research, and introduced into differing environments including forests, villages, schools and roadside areas. Visitors, hospitals, exhibitions and colleges regularly purchase herbs, and many university departments use selected species for research projects. Schools often conduct field trips to the nursery in order to educate pupils of the herbal values the forest can provide.
Several rare and endangered species can also be found in the nursery. Examples include Glorisa superba, used to prevent hemorrhaging, and Ocimum basilicum, used for earache and mouth refreshment. Alagasan informs me “we’d like to introduce more rare species, including bonsai trees, and further diversify our collection. We believe it’s important to use organic pest control such as neem leaf, nutchi leaf and ash to nurture and protect the herbs.”
The Irula workers packing soil, wrapping infant trees, watering plants, pruning shrubs, cleaning the grounds and maintaining the herbs are rotated every two weeks. This cycle represents the involvement of numerous Irula communities and the safe guarding of their forest knowledge and traditions. Alagasan joyfully exclaims, “Before no one knew of our skills, now the nursery is letting our knowledge evolve and techniques take their place as part of a respected medicinal methodology.”
