The Similipal Tiger Reserve is in the State of Odisha in the northern Eastern Ghats along the

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1 S t u d y a r e a Study area 3.1 Similipal biosphere reserve The Similipal Tiger Reserve is in the State of Odisha in the northern Eastern Ghats along the eastern coast of the Indian subcontinent south of West Bengal. The Similipal Biosphere Reserve is located in the central part of the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, in the Northern part of the Eastern Ghats and north east corner of the Deccan plateau and the entire Similipal are separated from the Bay of Bengal by a narrow strip of coastal plain (Fig. 4). Odisha has 57,183 km 2 of forest area, out of which about 13% comes under two National Parks and 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries. Figure 4: Satellite map of Similipal Biosphere Reserve,(Map along with scaling was generated using Google Earth from

2 S t u d y a r e a 17 Similipal contributes 38% of the total area of the Protected Area (PA) network in Odisha state (Singh, 1998). This region lies between 20 17' to 22 34' N latitude and 85 40' to 87 10' E longitude and covers an area of 5569 km 2 at altitudes ranging from 40 to 1166 m asl. It has a core zone of 845 km 2 and the buffer zone of 1905 km 2. The core zone has five ranges, namely: Upper Barha Kamda (UBK), Chahala, Jenabil, Pithabata and National Park. The buffer zone has twelve ranges falling into three forest divisions, namely: Baripada, Karanjia and Rairangpur. Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) comprises the entire Similipal Tiger Reserve and a 10 km belt from the boundaries of Similipal. Tourists have limited access to the buffer zone, but the core areas have 'no entry' zones. The 'no entry' zone also includes revenue villages in the Astakumar Gram panchayat (Das & Das, 2008; Rath & Sutar, 2004). 3.2 Forest type The forest type is classified by (Champion & Seth 1968) as North Indian Tropical Moist deciduous forests with its sub-types at different elevations. Table 1: Different forest types of Similipal Tiger Reserve (from Rath & Sutar, 2004). Forest type Location Representative species Dense semievergreen Deep valleys Michelia champaka (Champa), Trewia nudiflora (Panigamhar), etc. Dense moist deciduous Sal Gentle hill slopes and flat grounds where the soil is deep Shorea robusta (Sal), Pterocarpus marsupium (Piasal), etc. Open dry deciduous Sal Open dry miscellaneous Sal & unbroken Some parts of southern Similipal Bouldery & rocky slopes Shorea robusta (Sal), Terminalia tomentosa (Asan), Bauhinia vahlii (Siali), etc. Shorea robusta (Sal), Pterocarpus marsupium (Piasal), etc.

3 S t u d y a r e a 18 Similipal comprises of several hills covered with northern tropical semi-evergreen forest, northern tropical moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous hill forest, high level Sal forest, grass land and savannah. The forests of Similipal belong to the following types described in Table Vegetation features, Flora and Fauna The tropical Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) called sub deciduous forests cover over 11 million ha in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Sal is an important timber species because it is very strong, durable and resistant to fire. Sal wood has multiple uses: in construction, especially for house building, telephone and electrical poles, sleepers and boats, and for furniture and other carpentry works. An aromatic gum called 'Sal damar', 'Rhal' or 'Dhoom' is extracted from the trunk and is used for caulking boats, carbon paper, type writer ribbon, varnishes and paints. It also has medicinal properties and is used as ointment for skin diseases. Edible oil is extracted from the seeds and the pounded fruits are used for diarrheal diseases. Tribal people often use the leaves for preparing rice cake. They also use the leaves as smoke. Leaves are commercially used for making small baskets and plates for serving dry food items (source: Flora Similipal comprises of mixed deciduous and semi-evergreen forests such as the Northern tropical moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous hill forest, Northern tropical semi-evergreen forest, and higher elevation Sal forests. The grasslands and the savannas provide grazing grounds for the herbivores and refuge for carnivores (Behera, 2010). Due to human impact the forest has been degraded. However, these forests are very valuable. About 1076 species of plants belonging to 102 families and 92 species of orchids have been recorded, which include plants with medicinal and aromatic properties which are sold by the tribals to earn a living (Rath & Sutar, 2004; Rout, 2008).

4 S t u d y a r e a 19 Fauna Similipal has many species of vertebrates: about 42 species of mammals, 242 species of birds, 30 species of reptiles and 12 species of amphibians have been recorded. The mammals include the leopard, the Bengal tiger, sambhar, the Asian elephant, barking deer, gaus, jungle cat, wild boar, four horned antelope, giant squirrel and the Hanuman langur. Birds such as the Grey Hornbill, Indian Pied Hornbill, Malabar Pied Hornbill and Indian Trogon, Red Jungle fowl, Hill Mynah, Peafowl, Alexandrine Parakeet, and Crested Serpent Eagle have been recorded ( There are several snakes, turtles and lizards, and the Mugger crocodile has been reintroduced to Khairi River (Rath & Sutar, 2004; Rout, 2008). 3.4 Geology and soils Similipal has a unique geological formation. The area lies on the northern limit of Deccan plateau and Southern limit of lower Gangetic plains adjoining Chhota Nagpur high lands. The Similipal hill range has an average height of about 550 m, and the slopes steeply towards southern and east parts and gradually towards the north and west (Behera, 2010). Similipal was a part of Gondwana land during the Palaeozoic, and the rocks are composed of metamorphosed, sedimentary and igneous rocks. There are at least 12 rivers and streams criss-crossing the plains; prominent among them are Budhabalanga, Khadkei, Khairi, Bhandan, West Deo, Salandi, East Deo, Sanjo and Palpala. These rivers are the lifelines for the people of Mayurbhanj, Balasore and Bhadrak districts (Rath & Sutar, 2004; Rout, 2008; Swain, 2009). The soil of all the forest sites is reddish in color and loam to sandy loam in texture due to the out-crops of sub-metamorphic sand stone and quartzites (Girach et al., 1999), which produce a reddish sandy soil and red loam, which is good for growth of Sal forests. It consists of volcanic lava which holds large amount of ground water and feeds the waterfalls and river systems

5 S t u d y a r e a 20 (Behera, 2010). The soil is slightly acidic in nature with ph ranging from 5.23 to 6.52 and average monthly soil moisture content varies from 18 to 40% (Mishra et al., 2006). 3.5 Climate The summer season is confined from March to May with a maximum temperature of 30 C and is very pleasant. The southern and western aspects are cooler and north eastern aspects are warmer. The rainfall is from the South West monsoon and rains and received from June and till the end of September. The annual rainfall is about 2000 mm. The climate in winter is cool and there are frosts in pockets ( Figure 5: Mean monthly rainfall (mm) from 2006 to 2009 of Similipal Tiger Reserve (source Similipal Forest Department). The relative humidity varies from 70%-100% with 30% in midnight in summer (Panda et al., 2009). The annual rainfall over a four year period varies from 600 mm in 2009 to 2500 mm in The rainfall is received from the South West monsoon and falls mainly from May to September. There is a 7-month dry season from October to April (Figure 5). The hill range of Similipal acts as a barrier to the south west monsoon and brings heavy rain to the area. Periodic

6 S t u d y a r e a 21 earth tremors, thunder storms in the rains and dust storms in late May and early June are also common characteristic features (Mishra et al., 2006). 3.6 Tribal Communities India has a large number and diversity of tribals who are named Adivasis. Table 2: Major and minor tribals communities of study villages of Similipal. Villages Major community Minor community Asanbani Kolha Hos Astakumar Kolha Christian Mankidia Badega Kolha Christian Mankidia Bakua Kolha Christian Mankidia Balarampur Kolha Christian Khadia Bareipani Kolha Khadia Barignbada Mankidia Mankidia Barsia Kolha Mankidia Benipur Kolha Christian Khadia Bhudabalanga Kolha Christian Khadia Gadasahi Kolha Mankidia Gadsimilipal Kolha Christian Kolha Gurguria Kolha Mankidia Jenabil Kolha Kolha Kabataghai Bathudi Kolha Kandibil Bathudi Kolha Kasira Bathudi Mankidia Kolha Kolha Hos Koljhari Kolha Christian Mankidia Kudaghuta Kolha Christian Hos Kukurbuka Kolha Christian Khadia Kumari Bathudi Kolha Kusumi Kolha Mankidia Langighasara Kolha Mankidia Makabadi Kolha Christian Kolha Nawana Kolha Christian Hos Nigirda Kolha Christian Mankidia Saruda Kolha Christian Mankidia Uski Kolha Khadia Yamunagard Kolha Hos

7 S t u d y a r e a 22 As many as 250 tribal groups live in the subcontinent (Awais & Singh, 2007). There were several Adivasi communities inhabiting the Similipal region: the dominant communities are the Kolha and Bathudi. Among the Kolhas are Christians and non-christians. The minor communities were Mankidia, Khadia and the Hos (Table 2). The Mankidia and Khadia are nomadic tribes while the Makdias move from one area to another and are semi-nomadic. The Khadias and Bathudis were among the earliest settlers of Similipal, followed by Kolhas, Santhals, Gonds and Mundas who have migrated from neighboring districts in Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar during the last century (Rath & Sutar, 2004). The religious minorities who had converted to Christianity were a significant part of the village social structure and were relatively better off economically. The dominant caste varied from village to villages Human impact There were 61 villages located inside STR and about 1200 villages along the periphery with more than 0.45 million people who depended on the forests to meet their day to day requirements and supplemented their income through collection of NTFPs. The population growth rate among three gram panchayats ranged from 1.8 to 2.7% among the non-tribal population and 1.8 to 2.3% among the tribal population (Census of India 1991, 2001). Agriculture was the main occupation supplemented by livestock raring, NTFP collection and annual Akhand Shikar (annual mass hunting), (Rout, 2008; Rath & Sutar, 2004). However, systematic and scientific data on human impact has not been collected so far. 3.7 Similipal Tiger Reserve programmes for conservation Similipal Tiger Reserve has programmes for conservation and management which are described below: (1) In 1973, the Project Tiger Reserve was established with the objective of conservation of the Royal Bengal Tiger. This involved reducing human impact and management of human activities in the buffer zone, and complete protection of the core zone

8 S t u d y a r e a 23 from human disturbance. Several eco-development schemes were also implemented in the buffer zone and periphery since 1990, with the objectives of: (a) improving protected area management (b) initiating programmes to reduce negative impact of local people on biodiversity, and (c) introducing ecological and sociological research and education (Khandelwal, 2005; Rath & Sutar, 2004). (2) A crocodile conservation scheme has been implemented since 1979 to reintroduce the mugger or marsh crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) that had gone extinct in Similipal in 1979 (Dani et al., 1991; Rath & Sutar, 2004). (3) The Similipal Biosphere Reserve was declared in June 1994 with the objectives for (a) conservation of the area as a representative ecosystem under "Mahanadian Biogeographic Region"; (b) provision of long-term conservation of genetic diversity in situ; (c) promotion of basic and applied research work and monitoring, and (d) dissemination of experience for education and training (<wildlifeorissa.in>; Rath & Sutar, 2004). (4)The Project Elephant Scheme was implemented since 1990 to provide protection to elephant habitats (Singh, 1994). 3.8 Study sites The socioeconomic study was conducted in 30 villages in Similipal Tiger Reserve. Among of them 26 villages were from the buffer zone and 4 villages within core zone. Human impacts were the major causes of forest degradation: however this study design could only address the local dependence of the households on fuelwood. The larger impacts of forest loss due to illegal logging could not be addressed even though it was widely prevalent. The villages were non-randomly selected based on their resource dependency. With the help of local assistant (helper) as well as forest department staff, we came to know in advance that the

9 S t u d y a r e a 24 villages dependent exclusively on forest resources for their livelihood needs and accordingly these villages were used for survey. The vegetation analysis was conducted in eight sites within the Similipal Tiger Reserve, four sites namely Gurguria, Balarampur, Nawana and Makabadi were in the buffer zone and four sites namely Jenabil, Yamunagard, Bakua and Kabatghai in core zone (Fig. 6). The villagers were mostly tribal/adivasi communities and their major occupations were agriculture and NTFPs collections. The geographical coordinates of the 8 sites were presented in Table 3. We accessed the site by two entry points: Jashipur and Pithabata. Fig. 6: Map of the study area showing location of study sites.

10 S t u d y a r e a 25 Table 3: Location and other information pertaining to the eight study sites.. Study villages Location Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Population size Gurguria Buffer 21 51'54"N 86 14'55"E Nawana Buffer 21 53'50"N 86 22'57"E Makabadi Buffer 21 52'23"N 86 25'53"E Balarampur Buffer 21 53'18"N 86 23'8"E Bakua core 21 48'59"N 86 21'23"E Yamunagard core 21 42'35"N 86 19'42"E Kabataghai core 21 47'39"N 86 16'6"E Jenabil core 21 43'49"N 86 21'43"E