For the last four decades, restoration ecology has been at the heart of what we do at Pitchandikulam.
When Auroville was founded, the original forest ecosystem had been decimated over the past two hundred years, only surviving in isolated patches. Pitchandikulam Forest was born through our work in restoring this ecosystem – the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF), a delicate and unique ecosysytem that once filled the entire Auroville plateau.
Forty years ago, we started to work with local Hindu temples, whose practice of protecting areas of forest as sacred groves showed us how good ecological practices can be deeply rooted in community tradition.
Today, Pitchandikulam Forest in Auroville is a mature forest, community and education centre, and our young forest in Nadukuppam is a centre for reforestation, small enterprise outreach and sustainable mixed-use agriculture.
More about our work:
- The Story of Pitchandikulam
- Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest
- Medicinal Forestry at Pitchandikulam
- Seedling Nurseries
- Wild Landscaping Services
- Online Resources: Virtual Herbarium
Restoring the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest
Pitchandikulam Forest was born in the early days of Auroville, out of a mission to restore the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF), the delicate and ecologically unique South Indian ecosystem that once filled the entire Auroville plateau. When Auroville was founded, the original Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest had been decimated, only surviving in isolated patches thanks to the stewardship of local Hindu temples, and their practice of protecting sacred groves.
Reforestation forms a core part of our vision. Looking at Auroville today, it is hard to believe how complete the deforestation was during its infancy. Below is a short history, but you can find a more detailed account of the early days on the official Auroville website.
Reforestation – The Early Days
The first Aurovillian settlers in 1968 onwards found the land dry and desolate; prior to 1973 only a few scattered palm trees were found in the area and the traditional dryland farming of peanuts and pulses had degraded the soil, leaving deep eroded gullies. In that year, restoration processes were set in motion using green manures to rebuild the soil. Live fences were created to protect the land from goats and cows, and pioneer species of acacia, leucaena, gliricidia, and eucalyptus were planted to provide windbreaks and shade. At the same time seeds and other plant materials were introduced from nearby remnant patches of the almost extinct Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest, and nurseries were set up – which have been an essential focus of the Pitchandikulam community ever since. In the same year the first well was dug at Pitchandikulam and a bullock cart was used to water the young trees.
Reforesting Pitchandikulam – A Success Story
Today Pitchandikulam is a peaceful sanctuary, a self-generating, mature forest with a wide diversity of flora and fauna and more than 800 species of plants in the forest, grasslands and ethno-medicinal gardens. We are actively engaged in collecting and germinating seeds in our nursery, in order to help propagate endangered medicinal plants across our locations within the Auroville / Kazhuveli bioregion where reforesting TDEF projects have been set up.
Ethnomedicinal Forest
Some features of the Ethnomedicinal Forest:
- Seed collection from local sanctuaries, remnant forests and sacred groves collected in collaboration with traditional healers
- Rare, Endangered or Threatened (RET) species from the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest and other floristic zones of South India
- Over fifty species of living hedges that form a protective, productive boundary and provide a fauna habitat and corridor
- Stone signage show the different elements of the ecosystem and explain the medicinal uses of individual species and groups of plants for poisonous bites, bone fractures, headaches and other ailments
- Open seated areas that provide space for medicinal herbal preparation workshops and other group activities, meetings and classes
We grow over 180 TDEF species in our nurseries in Pitchandikulam and Nadukuppam, many of which have not been propagated outside their natural forest environment before. As such, we have been able to experiment with a wide variety of germination methods in order to develop a series of standards, so that we can help others cultivate these plants successfully elsewhere.