Centuries-old trees provide nesting and shelter for up to 30 per cent of all birds and animals in some ecosystems. They store huge amounts of carbon, recycle soil nutrients, create rich patches for other life to thrive, and influence the flow of water within landscapes. In India, the banyan and the peepul are still plentiful, but the axe of development has fallen on numerous other trees, all in the name of urbanisation, writes Atula Gupta.
The value of a tree is seldom undermined. It is that life giver that unwittingly continues to serve all other life forms. And when a tree is more than a 100 years old, it is not just a part of the natural cycle, but a testimony to the changing times.
Sadly, it is these iconic oldest and largest living forms of the world that are under severe threat, according to a new study. Scientists claim that most world trees between 100 and 300 years old are dying. The reasons for their deaths include forest fires, logging and cutting because of urban development.
Professor David Lindenmayer of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and Australian National University says scientists first noticed the disappearance of large, old trees while examining Swedish forestry records going back to the 1860s.
Then a 30-year study of Mountain Ash (eucalyptus regnans) forest in Australia confirmed not only that big old trees were dying en masse in forest fires, but also perishing at ten times the normal rate in non-fire years—apparently due to drought, high temperatures, logging and other causes. The scientists then began looking around the world for similar cases.
They found that trees were being cut or just perishing in prominent places like California's Yosemite National Park, African savannahs, in the rainforests of Brazil, the temperate forests of Europe and the boreal forests of the far north.
The researchers equate the death of gigantic ancient trees to other mega fauna like the tiger, lion, rhino, dolphin and whales. The reason for the disappearance of old trees being land clearing, agricultural practices, man-made changes in fire regimes, logging and timber gathering, insect attack and rapid climatic changes.
What these experts fear is that till now, no research has actually spanned the length of a century or more that can provide essential knowhow about trees and their life history. Also unlike animals, these giant floral varieties are not yet being preserved at the same scale. "Just as large-bodied animals such as elephants, tigers and cetaceans have declined drastically in many parts of the world, a growing body of evidence suggests that large old trees could be equally imperilled," they warn.
Life support systems
Centuries-old trees are the biggest life forms on earth. They provide nesting or sheltering cavities for up to 30 per cent of all birds and animals in some ecosystems.
They store huge amounts of carbon. They recycle soil nutrients, create rich patches for other life to thrive in, and influence the flow of water within landscapes and the local climate. Big trees supply abundant food for numerous animals in the form of fruits, flowers, foliage and nectar.
Their hollows offer nests and shelter for birds and animals including critically endangered species like the blue tarantula of the Western Ghats. Thus, their loss could mean extinction for such creatures.
From the agro-economical point of view too, old trees have a critical role to play. "In agricultural landscapes, large old trees can be focal points for vegetation restoration; they help connect the landscape by acting as stepping stones for many animals that disperse seeds and pollen," says Prof Lindenmayer.
In India, age-old trees like the banyan and the peepul are still plentiful because of the religious sentiments attached to them. Owing to our ancient ayurvedic ties, many medicinally beneficial trees are also safeguarded with zest. But the axe of development has fallen on numerous other ancient trees, sometimes in the name of road widening, sometimes in the name of urbanisation.
As population challenges are met every day, magnificent old trees in many cities have been chopped and replaced by manicured lawns and groomed gardens. Private owned spaces have buildings mushrooming all over and symbolic miniature green covers without the expansive foliage or the elaborate root system.
Experts say this trend is a malpractice as trees like mango, banyan, Ashoka and deodars help in ground water retention and stabilising warm climates. The cemented foundation of skyscrapers is worsening the soil condition of all cities, and without trees with extensive root systems, it will continue to deteriorate.
According to India State of Forest Report-2011, the forest cover in the country has decreased by 367 sq km with the green area decreasing in 14 states. It is therefore not even the forests where old trees are assuredly safe.
Be it India's living legend, the 450-year-old banyan tree in Adyar, Chennai or the bodhi tree of Lord Buddha, be it the kalpavriksha under which Adi Shankaracharya sat and meditated about ways to unite India, or simply the primeval tree in every village juncture under whose shade and company the elderly mitigate differences, old trees have welcomed each one with open arms ready to be a friend, compatriot and a scholar as the need may be.
Hence, the death of a single old tree, rightly in its golden year, is like erasing history, geography, ecology, and social significance all at once. Can India and the world afford such irreparable damages?