Ecological restoration of abandoned tea plantations: Challenges and Prospects in Southern India

Chetan H C

shk 2019 · Educreation Publishing

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Globally, millions of hectares of tropical forests have been cleared and replaced with commercial plantations. Many of these plantations are abandoned or put to alternative use. Abandoned plantations provide opportunities that compensate to an extent, forest cover depletion in the tropics. However, restoration of such abandoned land to natural forests involves a complex interplay of ecological, socio-economic and legal issues. Apart from ecological issues of colonisation, there are social issues of rehabilitating people once they lose their livelihood, legal rights of the landowner, economics of abandonment and finally legal issues such as protected areas (PAs) act and legislation that can lead to abandonment. In the Western Ghats, tea plantations were established in the rainforest during the colonial rule and are owned by individuals or large companies. During the globalisation process, the demand for tea decreased and many small owners could not maintain their plantations due to labour and other issues which led to the abandonment of many such plantations. In addition, plantations established during the British rule are now inside PAs, and they face closure once the lease on the land expires. In the Trivandrum division alone, which has a large number of plantations, almost 55% have been abandoned. In areas that lie within PAs, forest managers are keen that the plantations should be annexed to the PA, but such large-scale abandonment of land provides a challenge to restoration of native species. This book addresses the ecological aspects of colonisation by native tree species in the abandoned plantations within a PA and suggests restoration activities from ecological and social perspectives, helpful to forest and plantation managers.

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The author of this book, Dr. Chetan H.C, is presently the Assistant Professor of Centre for Conservation of Natural Resources, University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU), Bengaluru.Chetan is a trained ecologist. Over a period of time, he has developed interest in interdisciplinary research to address the complex issues within biodiversity conservation. He has obtained master’s degree in Environmental Science and PhD in Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies. He has more than fourteen years of experience in Conservation research and teaching. His area of expertise includes Restoration ecology, Natural Resources Management and he is keen on understanding political ecology of natural resource utilization and biodiversity conservation.