Vidya Vanam English edition

A newspaper In English as well as Tamil on the theme of 'Forests' by 12-14-year-old students of Vidya Vanam school in Anaikatti, Tamil Nadu. PARI intern Suzanne ter Haar guided the students.

1. If a forest could speak
Nitha
Hi! My name is Forest Aravalli. I
am a part of Nature. I have a ques-
tion for you. Why are you destroy-
ing me? I give everything I have to
you, but you are killing me and my
family. Why?
Wake up, friends! I can live without you but you
can’t live without me. So please think. This is my humble re-
quest. By killing me, you are bringing death upon yourself.
It is also a warning. I am there to help the whole world, not
just the humans. Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
KALPANA,
CHANDRU AND PRASHANTH
Anaikatti: There are many
secrets inside a forest. It is
home to many kinds of ani-
mals and people.
Worldwide, the bo-
real forest is the largest land
habitat. It runs across north-
ern USA and Canada, south-
ern Iceland, across Norway,
Finland, and Sweden, through
Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongo-
lia and northern Japan.
Every part of the
tree is of use to animals and
humans. Today, with humans
cutting down trees, forests
have become endangered.
Governments have cut down
many trees to build roads and
rail tracks. So now we don’t
have many trees.
Birds eat fruits and
seeds. Deer browse on leaves
and twigs. People are cutting
trees to make paper, furniture,
houses, medicines etc.
One day humans
will wonder why they cut
down trees without thinking
about the effects.
Let’s hear what some
people who live near our vil-
lage have to say about forest.
To find out if there is a
difference in opinion be-
tween people from rural and
urban areas are between peo-
ple from India and abroad,
we spoke to three people with
totally different backgrounds:
Nanjamal, a tribal from Thek-
kalur; Prema Rangachary,
who is originally from Chen-
nai; and Georgia, from the
USA.
Prema Rangachary said,
“We are living in a forest
area, which has lots of flora
and fauna. I’m getting some
of the vegetables from the for-
est and some are cultivated. If
there is no forest there will be
no trees to hold water and the
place will become a desert.
So I will plant more trees.”
We met Georgia and
asked her about the forests in
America. She said: “I have
lived in Georgetown, South
Carolina, for 10 year. I lived
in New Zealand earlier. I
have a clear connection with
the forest because I live near
it. The forests are the lungs of
our planet. They play a cru-
cial role in stabilising global
climate by converting CO2
into oxygen. As we pump
more and more CO2 into the
atmosphere, the forest’s
ability to regulate the global
climate is increasingly be-
coming less. If there is no for-
est, I will feel very sad.”
We talked to Nanja-
mal who is a tribal from Anai-
katty. She said, “I have been
living in Thekkalur for 50
years. I am a housewife and
I have a connection with the
forest. I take wood from the
forest to make food.”
As we can see, from
what these people say, forests
are important for us. Without
the forest we can’t live. Let’s
protect our forest wherever
we can!
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2015 NOVEMBER 27 4 Pages
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Rishikesh,
Archana, Karthika
Anaikatti: Today, humankind
faces lots of problems mainly
because we are messing with
nature! We get lots of things
from nature, even our life!
Then why do we mess with
nature? The main problem is
deforestation.
We cut trees for our
current needs but we don’t
think about the future. Nowa-
days deforestation is spread-
ing everywhere like a forest
fire. We should pour water
on this forest fire and let trees
grow.
In Anaikatti itself,
over the past 20 years, de-
forestation has increased be-
cause the population has also
increased. The most recent
example was in the mountain
right in front of Vidya Vanam
School.
The people who
owned it cut down all trees
because they planned to build
houses. When the rain came,
the soil slid down causing
soil erosion. Think what will
happen if they build houses in
these mountains! As long as
the trees were there, soil
erosion would not have hap-
pened. It is a fact that trees
prevent soil erosion.
In Anaikatti, about
14 years ago, there was a
strong and old Indian Tulip
Tree, which is very rare. But
it was cut down to make way
for a temple.
We interviewed Ms.
Prema Rangachary, the prin-
ciple of Vidya Vanam School.
She has lived in Anaikatti for
nine years. She lived in Chen-
nai earlier.
“I am very worried
about the deforestation in this
area. Because of deforesta-
tion, the man-animal conflict
has increased. Also, when we
cut trees we remove the top
soil, which is rich and helps
keep the plants and trees root-
ed. I think the main result of
deforestation is that we will
not get fresh air and rain. In
Anaikatti, often sandalwood
and rosewood are cut down.
But now there is no rose-
wood here. That’s why I tried
to stop the people to cut the
trees in the mountain in front
of my school. So, I talked in
the panchayat (village coun-
cil), but that land is owned by
someone else. So, I couldn’t
stop it.”
After this, we also
interviewed a tribal woman
named Kaliyamma who has
lived here for the past 13
years. She cultivates grains
in the mountain and lived in a
village called Lakshamveedu
before. She said, “If we cut
trees, we won’t get rain and
the crops won’t get enough
water. Deforestation is bad,
but we did for our benefit;
for example to build homes
and make furniture. Now the
government builds concrete
houses for us. I have faced
problems because of cutting
trees. Once, an elephant came
into our village and disturbed
us. Not only elephants, other
wild animals like wild boar
and bison also come and de-
stroy the crops. If we don’t
cut trees and destroy forests,
they won’t come into vil-
lages. So, I have tried to stop
deforestation in my village.”
As a result of these
interviews, we understood
that deforestation is bad, but
still we continue to cut trees
for our need. Not everybody
in this area understands why
we need trees. A few people
like Kaliyamma do. Oth-
ers like Prema Rangachary
- whom come from the city –
understand the importance of
forests. As she says, “We have
to live in the forest to under-
stand and admire its beauty as
well as its importance.”
WHY ARE FORESTS IMPORTANT?
VIDYA VANAM
And why we should protect them
Sacred Groves
- Nitha

Sacred groves in
India represent a traditional
practice that has helped the
conservation of forest and
biodiversity. People are not
allowed to cut trees or hunt
animals or birds. Kerala has
many sacred groves.
Since these areas
have been preserved over
many generations, they hold
native vegetation in a natural
or near-natural state. Rare me-
dicinal plants are also found.
These groves absorb water
during the monsoon and re-
lease it slowly during dry
periods. Hundreds of these
groves have disappeared un-
der the pressure of population
increase and development.
\ However, accord-
ing to one survey, over 13,000
groves still survive as patch-
es across the country. Only
groves in remote parts remain
undisturbed, while others need
to be protected.
https//www.facebook.com/
vidyavanamschool/
Save
Our
Wild
Animals
When
The
Elephant
Wanders
Living
Near A
Jungle...
Hunting
For Brown
Fish
Owls...
4
Why Cutting
Trees Is Not Good
Trees and us
We cut the trees for flats
But we do not plant
We cut the trees for money
Then your children don’t
get honey
Now we are living happily
But your children will live
unhappily
So don’t cut the tree.
- KARTHIKA
Q: What is a tree's least favorite
month?
A: Sep-timber!
Q: What kind of tree can fit into your
hand?
A: A palm tree!
Q: How do trees get on the internet?
A: They log in.
Q: What did the tree do when the
bank closed?
A: It started a new branch
- Jokes compiled by RISHIKESH
“I have faced problems because of cutting trees. Once, an elephant
came into our village and disturbed us,” says Kaliyamma

2. 2015 NOVEMBER 27 2
Aanaikatti – Everybody gets sick
and has to take medicines. Some
use herbal medicines while oth-
ers prefer modern medicines.
According to Dr.
Ramesh, who has lived in Kot-
tathara for four years, modern
medicines are safer than natural
medicines, as they can be used in
an emergency case and are stan-
dardized.
This means that they
have been tested according to
modern methods and document-
ed clearly. “Modern medicines are
tested on animals and humans.
So modern medicines are good,”
he said.
But, people all around
the world have been using herbal
medicines for many years. Herbal
medicines are very cheap to get.
Uma, who’s been liv-
ing in KK Nagar for many years,
knows where to find medicinal
plants and how to make herbal
medicines.
“Modern medicines
have the maximum amount of
side effects. Herbal medicines are
easily available and result in the
person being completely cured,”
she said.
Subaash, who lives
in Vatalakky and is a student
of Vidya Vanam, says “Modern
medicines are better than herbal
medicine.
Nowadays we cannot
find herbal medicines, but we can
go to hospital easily.”
Aami Ariyani, who lives
in Agali, said, “Modern medicines
are better than herbal medicines
, because herbal medi-
cines differ according to the coun-
try. But modern medicines are the
same everywhere.”
We can’t say that one is better
than the other.
Pavin Kumar, Prasad & Sukanya
What medicine will you take?
Prashanth
AHADS stands for
Attapadi Hills Area Devel-
opment Society. It began in
1994 and ended in 2009. It
was supported by the Japa-
nese government, who gave
Rs. 2 crore for this purpose.
The Japan government paid 2
crore to the project.
Earlier lots of trees
had been cut down in this area,
so with local participation af-
forestation measures were
undertaken. First they started
by planting trees mainly on
the roadsides. Workers were
paid Rs.200 per day. All of
them had worked in brick
kilns, which did not pay that
much. Once the AHADS
project began Attapadi began
to look much better. Initially
they planted trees that would
grow fast and easily.
In the second phase, they
started planting traditional
trees of that area. Slowly
animals began to come to
this area. Today Attapadi has
lots of forest area thanks to
this project. The area has 192
villages with around 10,000
families living there.
Reforesting the hills of Attapadi
How the AHADS programme
helped change the district’s look
here was a
beautiful forest
in the land of
giving. It was a forest where
many animals, birds, insects
lived. Amazingly there was
only one human being.
He was known as the
prince of the forest.
His name is Arthur.
These living things
lived happily for hundreds
of years without any distur-
bance. They were very nice
and kind beings.
One day, they all had
a meeting under the forest’s
oldest tree called the Methu-
selahTree. Arthur also came
and sat in his seat.
Each area in this for-
est was ruled by a king who
reported on what had hap-
pened since the last meeting.
All of them had happy news.
But one king was missing. It
was the fox, who ruled the
forest’s entrance.
He came running
from a long distance. Every-
one looked at him with curi-
osity as he came nearer.
When the fox ar-
rived, Arthur asked him,
“What happened, king fox?
Is anything wrong?” After
taking a long breath, king fox
said, “Yes, your majesty.
This morning, 3 ex-
traterrestrials arrived in my
area. I didn’t have any clue
who they were and what they
are doing here. But I think
they are some kind of devil
who have come to destroy
our lives.”
Arthur asked, “Why
are you thinking like this?”
King Fox said, “I think this
because they had a silver
sharp weapon with them.
Then they started cutting the
trees. They also cut down our
security tree.”
Everyone looked
at each other in great disap
pointment.
Arthur decided to go and see
what was happening in the
King Fox’s area. He called
King Elephant and King Fox.
The three of them went to the
entrance on Arthur’s vehicle,
the peregrine falcon.
When they reached
there, a big surprise was wait-
ing for them. There were not
3 men, but 16 of them. About
18 trees had been cut down.
In all their lives,
none of them had cut any
trees because they believed
that their souls were in the
roots.
When they went
back to the assembly, Arthur
told them what was happen
ing and called the porcupines,
snakes, elephants and eagles.
Arthur said, “You are the
warriors who are
going to
save our territory.” Accord-
ing to the plan, the eagles
carried the porcupines to the
spot. They took position and
attacked the men with the
porcupines. But the men bore
the pain from the quills and
continued to cut down trees.
Next, the snakes
came slithering and spun
themselves around the men.
Everyone was afraid of the
snakes and went a little far-
ther away from them.
Next came the
elephants making a loud
trumpeting noise in order to
frighten them. But they didn’t
care about the noise and went
forward to cut the trees.
The honey bees in the tree
became furious and started
attacking them.
The men
couldn’t bear
the stings of
honey bees
and ran straight
out of the for-
est. The bees
chased a long
distance and
came back.
Every one
was very hap-
py and cele
brated their
victory. One of
the snakes had
been injured
but Arthur
cured it with
a medicine
made of green
leaves.
After this whenever some ex-
traterrestrial came to disturb
them, they managed to pro-
tect them.
Watching all this,
one day God complimented
Arthur and offered him a
wish. Arthur said, “I want this
forest to be secure. No aliens
should come in here.”
The God granted
the wish and the forest
beings continued to live
peacefully.
The secure
forest...
T
Don’t cut the trees
Trees
Without it, our lives are very short.
are human’s heart,
But we don’t understand or realize it,
And are putting ourselves into a danger pit.
Trees give us firewood,
Which our ancestors used for cooking food.
Soil erosion is prevented by the tree,
Which it does for free.
Trees help all the living things on this land,
But, we don’t help them in any way.
Trees give all they can,
That’s why I am their very big fan.
Even if we can’t do anything for them,
Let’s stop destroying them.
Saving trees is equal to saving us.
- Archana
Forests
We can see birds in trees
We can flowers in plants
And we can see trees in forest
But, we can’t see forest in cities.

- Kalpana
Haiku
Thick smoke fills the air
Loss comes in the train of fire
Trees succumb to flames. -
Pavin Kumar
Art By Manav
Art By Durgadevi
Praveen, Maniarasu
and Deepika
Anaikatti: When people are
destroying our local forest
to produce goods and make
money, do you think that they
will stop and think about the
wildlife they are harming in
the process?
If wildlife is de-
stroyed, our forests will be
destroyed. If wildlife did not
exist, ecosystems would not
survive and there will be no
food chains.
Wildlife depends on
healthy habitats. They need
the right temperature, fresh
water, good food sources and
comfortable place to raise
their young.
There are many
ways in which we can protect
our wildlife. One is to put a
stop to deforestation, as this
kills animals. We can also
stop hunting as a sport, as it is
killing animals for no reason.
Pollution is another
problem. Land, water and air
pollution affect our forests
and the life forms in them.
We have interviewed
some local people about the
importance of wildlife.
Uma lives in KK
Nagar. She has lived here for
4 years. She says that she is
extremely comfortable liv-
ing so close to the forest. She
does not hunt, as she knows
the harm that hunting can
cause.
Though she under-
stands that people hunt for
items such as ivory and ani-
mal skin, she does not nec-
essarily agree with their mo-
tives.
She believes that
“animals are crucial for the
food chain.” Her main fear
is that she may be attacked
by an animal but she knows
some herbal medicines that
she can get from the forest
and she also can go to a hos-
pital if anything happens.
Ramya, who is from
Trichy, has lived in Anaikati
for 2 years. She works as
teacher in a school that is near
the forest.
She said that she
finds it comfortable to live
here. She thinks that the main
cause of animal deaths is de-
forestation.
“We need to protect
our wildlife, so that our fu-
ture generations can enjoy the
wonderful forest.”
Save Wild Life
Otherwise future generations will
miss the beauty of the animals
Art By Chandru
Art By Prasad
INPRINT
VIDYA VANAM
Forest Project
Vidya Vanam Inprint :
Published By
Vidya Vanam School,
Anaikatty, Cbe-641108.
Printed at Arivu Printers,
Coimbatore - 641108.
Story And Art By Archana

3. Karthika
Most stories in the
village are based on supersti-
tious beliefs. In my village
too, there are stories about
gods or ghosts. Stories are
usually created to frighten
people from harming things
around them like tree or ani-
mals. In this way people tried
to protect the forest and the
creature of forest.
This is a story from my
village. The people believed
that, every evening, a wind
blows from the village to-
wards the forest. So people
were afraid to go into the for-
est at this time.
This helped prevent
the cutting down of trees as
people believed that the wind
was a ghost moving from the
forest to the village. As a re-
sult nobody went to that for-
est and it is protected.
There is a hill near my
home. About 50 years ago,
a stone was worshipped as a
god on that hill. Every year
people would go to worship
the stone. There would be
a sweet scent engulfing the
place, which they believed
was a sign of the god’s pres-
ence. As long as people be-
lieved this, nobody cut down
the forest on the hill.
Later, some people
removed the stone and placed
it on the main road. The for-
est on the hill was cleared for
agriculture.
There are many supersti-
tions like this all over the
world. Most have been cre-
ated to protect the environ-
ment. This kind of supersti-
tion is good for the forest but
there are also many beliefs
that cause harm.
Temperate rain forests •
hold 50% of Earth’s plants
and animals.
•
More than 25% of medi-•
cines we use originate in
rain forest plants.
•
Orangutans are the largest •
tree dwelling mammal.
•
The tallest tree in the •
world is called Hyperion.
It is 115.61m tall.
•
The largest tree in the •
world is called General
Sherman which has a
trunk 1om round and con-
tain an estimated 1486 cu-
bic meters of wood.
•
The world’s oldest non-•
clonal tree is a recently
discovered and as yet un-
named Great Bristlecon
Pine tree.
- Kalpana
The secure
forest...
Why elephants move around so much?
And Its Effects On The Villagers
Subaash, Manav,
Aami and Vigashni
We are surrounded
by many kinds of forests
from wet evergreen to thorn
covered. We wrote this article
to tell you about the forests
surrounding Anaikatti. We
have been gathering informa-
tion from students of Vidya
Vanam, who live very near
these forests, about their ex-
perience living near these
unique environments.
Abhijith, a stu-
dent of Aravalli, has lived
in Boothivazhi for 11 years.
This place has moist decidu-
ous forest and also a bit of
scrub jungle. Moist decidu-
ous forest has trees that shed
their leaves in March and
April. They won’t be as green
as evergreen forests but not as
dry as dry deciduous forests.
They receive a lot of rain in
the rainy season.
Abhijith said “A lot
of deforestation has happened
here for around 11 years. So
the animals have started com-
ing into the villages. Wild
boars, elephants and forest
rats are destroying crops of
local farmers”.
Archana, a student of Vind-
hya class, lives in Anaikatti.
Anaikatti is mainly scrub
jungle, which gets very little
rain. So many plants in scrub
jungle have evolved thorns,
intead of leaves to decrease
evaporation of water.
Archana said “Ear-
lier, there were many trees
and fewer buildings but now
there are fewer trees and more
buildings”. She says there are
no challenges of living here
and she likes the greenery
and the shadow of the forest
very much.
Kalpana is a student of Vin-
dya class. She has lived in
K.K Nagar for 2 years. K.K
Nagar is mostly surrounded
by dry deciduous forest. Dry
deciduous forests shed their
leaves according to seasonal
variations.
Kalpana said “De-
forestation is mainly happen-
ing for commercial purposes
such as using for furniture.
she is growing as much tree as
she can”. She says that, when
she walks through the forest,
she can breathe fresh air and
likes the sounds of birds in
the forest.
There are many types of
forest around Anaikatti.We
are lucky to be here, as it is
peaceful. We feel like being
in heaven while living near
the forests.
We talk to people on what it’s
like to live close to this unique environment?
Living near a forest
Durga devi, Kanya,
Abhijith

We all know el-
ephants are creatures that live
in the forest. Nowadays ele-
phants face a scarcity of water
and food. So they have started
migrating to other forests and
villages where humans live.
What is the effect of such mi-
gration on villages?
Let’s first look at why the
elephant migrates. An adult
elephant requires around
150kg of vegetation and 40lt
of water every day. Now with
the cutting down of trees and
encroachment into forests,
their source of food and water
have been affected.
During some years, it is
so hot that they cannot find
enough food or water.
As a result ele-
phants migrate
to other forests
and sometimes
even to villages.
We inter-
viewed an old
woman called
Rangi (80),
a citizen of
Va n a n t h a r a
Maadu village,
and asked her
how she protects her field
from elephants.
She said that when
she first purchased her house,
they did not have an electric
fence but now she uses it.
Earlier, farmers grew thorny
plants in their fence and dug
huge pits that elephants fell
into. Normally only the el-
ephant calves would fall in.
The adult animals would hit
the floor with a branch to
check whether there was a
pit. Even if they entered a
field, fireworks would chase
them away.
Ms. Sunthari (40) is a
tribal living in Vadakalur. She
tells many anecdotes about
her life. She is a farm worker.
She said that thorny trees and
bushes are kept around their
field to prevent the elephant
from entering.”Elephants
need more food and water to
survive. Now, they are not
getting enough to eat. So they
enter villages in search of
food. Elephants migrate ac-
cording season and we see
the ele-
phants more
than thrice
a month.
Elephants
adapted to
their new
environment if there are more
plants to eat.”
We asked her why
elephants migrate? She said,
“Elephants have a good mem
ory. They
migrate so
that each
place has
enough time
for plants to
grow
again.” She narrated one
anecdote about an elephant
attack. In the last week of
October, in Arnatukadu, an
elephant killed a man named
Gandhiappan. The farmers of
east Arnatukadu chased the
elephant away with fire and
the elephant got scared. When
it saw Gandhiappan was com-
ing, it attacked him. Accord
ing to Sun-
thari, the el-
ephant would
not eat for
three days and
would stand at
the same spot
where he was
buried.
Manav (14), who lives in Jelly
Para Road near Nakkupathi,
often goes trekking and likes
the forest very much.
Manav says,“Elephants
don’t usually come into our
field but they always comein-
to the field 12km away from
our house .We don’t prevent
this. We actually attract them
by giving jack fruit.”
Elephants enter the villages
because they need lots of
space and people are destroy-
ing their forest habitat. When
they come near a village, the
people scare them away.
We asked him about
elephant migration and he an-
swered, “Elephants migrate
depending on
season, food,
greener en-
vironment or
when people
scare them or
burn the for
ests. From my
experience,
they come in the seasons
where there is more jackfruit
and bamboo leaves. Farmers
put electric fences in their
land, so elephant get shocks.
They also throw burning
plastic bags at
the elephants.
When they
cannot tolerate
it any more,
the animals at-
tack.” How can
we prevent el-
ephants from
attacking? “If
we don’t harm
them, they
won’t harm us.”
After interviewing these
people, it is clear that we
must protect our forests and
their life forms for future gen-
erations.
When superstitions
helped save the forests
Facts
2015 NOVEMBER 27 3INPRINT
VIDYA VANAM
Forest Project
Malliswaran Hills In Attappady
The nilgiri marten is similar to
the yellow-throated marten, but
is larger and essentially different
in the structure of the skull
It has a prominent fron-
tal concavity.It is unmistakable in
the field as it is dark above with
a bright throat ranging in colour
from yellow to orange. Which
is the deep brown from head to
rump, the forequarters being al-
most reddish.
It is about 55 to 65  cm long from
head to vent and has a tail of 40
to 45 cm. It weighs about 2.1 kg.
The species is reported from
the nilgiris, parts of south-
ern kodagu  and travancore  ker-
ala, up to the  charmadi  ghats.
Very little is known about the
nilgiri marten.
It is  diurnal, and
though  arboreal, descends to the
ground occasionally. It is report-
ed to prey on birds, small mam-
mals and insects such as cicadas.
The Reclusive Marten

4. - manav -
It was 4.00 a.m. I was
woken by a deep grumbling
noise. I went out quietly of
my room. My father was also
listening to the noise near the
front door. We tiptoed towards
the sound. It came from a tree at
the edge of the forest. Two big
shadows stared at us from the
tree and, without a sound, flew
away like mysterious ghosts.
When the sun came out,
we discovered that one of our
ducks was missing. Those shad-
ows must have been some large
owls. I first thought they were
the rare Indian Eagle Owls.
We searched everywhere. We
asked our neighbors about these
mysterious birds. I looked up
many books about Indian Eagle
Owls but their call according to
the books was “woo-hoooo…
woo-hoooo…,” not the deep
hooting that I heard.
After a week, we
heard the noise again and
found another duck missing.
This was repeated until all our
ducks were caught. One day a
boy living nearby told me that
he had seen a big owl in an
unused quarry, which is heav-
ily forested and home to wild
boars and many birds.
There are lots of rocky
ledges, cliffs and bushes.
It might be a nest-
ing site of these amazing owls.
Though it is near my house, it
is difficult to get there because
of the thick undergrowth. Cau-
tiously, we walked through the
edge. Suddenly from a tree in-
side the quarry, first one owl
flew out; then another. Both
sat on a tree on the other side.
I took out my binoculars and
looked at them carefully. They
were not Indian Eagle Owls but
Brown Fish Owls.
Brown Fish Owls are
nocturnal hunters. They have
dark brown upper wings and
head and light grayish brown
and streaks under the wings
and belly. They have smaller
ear tufts. They live in forests
and well-wooded areas near a
stream or river. They hunt near
water for fish and crabs. I was
amazed that they could hunt
ducks. There were remains of
crabs on the edge of the quarry;
proof that the owls were bring-
ing their prey there.
This was their nesting
season. There must be a nest in
the quarry as they spent most
of their time there. I searched
for the nest almost every day
but never found it. That breed-
ing season passed. I had almost
forgotten about the owls.
One day, I was walk-
ing through our field with my
father’s camera. All of a sud-
den, something flew out of a
guava tree and sat on a coconut
tree near the stream. It was one
of the owls. I was very happy
to see it and clicked away but,
before I could take a good pic-
ture, it flew away.
The next nesting sea-
son of the Brown Fish Owl
came. However, because of
heavy rain, it was almost im-
possible to get there through
the thick undergrowth. A few
days later, a huge forest fire
broke out. Many animals were
burned to death. Wild boars
ran for their lives. Many birds
watched their nests burn. My
father and I did whatever we
could to stop the fire but we
were no match for it.
When the fire died
down, the beautiful green
mountains had turned gray with
ash. And the lively forests had
turned into a grave. Cicadas
cried night and day. The smell
of the smoke haunted me.
After the fire, it was
easy to go to the quarry but
would the owls be there? I
walked cautiously through the
steep slope. In one place, I
found a large opening between
two rocks. The owl’s nest must
be there. I climbed the rocks
but there was no nest. Instead, I
saw a deep cave-like burrow.
I searched carefully but found
no sign of owls or nest.
Some days went by.
One evening, I was sitting in
my house when I heard the
deep hooting again. The Brown
Fish Owls were back! I was so
happy that they survived the
fire. Next day, I went to the
quarry again. There was smoke
near the cave-like burrow and
half-burned porcupine quills. It
was a porcupine’s burrow.
I came back to the
edge of the quarry. From the
rocks inside, a Brown Fish Owl
flew out. Then another one. Af-
ter that, something moved in
the tree.
There were two fledglings. I
couldn’t see any nest but seeing
the fledgling owls was great. I
ran home for the camera but,
when I came back, they were
nowhere to be seen.
After some days, my
father and I were shooting bird
videos when something flew
out from a tree behind me.
It was one of the Brown Fish
Owls. I turned the camera and
clicked and took videos. Even
though Brown Fish Owls are
very common, they gave me a
small adventure. Probably the
next breeding season, I will
find their nest. I am glad that I
never gave up.
Vidya Vanam Inprint : Published By Vidya Vanam School, Anaikatty, Coimbatore-641108.
Printed at Arivu Printers, Coimbatore - 641108.

Hunt for the Owls
How I finally caught a glimpse of the Brown Fish Owls
Anaikatti: Do you know who
the natives of Anaikatti are?
How they lived? Where they
lived? We are going to share
the information with you.
The tribal people who
live in Anaikatti are Irulas, Ku-
rumbaas, Vallaiya , Kuruna-
gars. They lived deep inside the
forest and hunted, cultivated
and cooked inside the forest.
You know some are still there!
Yes, in Anaikatti!
The tribes of Tamil
Nadu are settled mainly in the
Nilgiris district. They mostly
reside in the forest regions and
also celebrate various festivals.
They celebrate Pongal because
they worship the sun god.
Once a year they will cook
Pongal in the temple and
home.
The tribes near Anai-
katti still live near forest though
not deep inside like before , as
they do not depend on the for-
est as much as they did . Ear
lier, they got food by hunting
animals and collecting leaves,
roots and fruits.
They also grow mil-
lets, but they buy food items
like rice and goods from Anai-
katti. They now work in brick
factories and earn money to
buy what they need.
This has brought many chang-
es because they have lost their
traditional lifestyle. What hap-
pen to Anaikatti ?
Thirty years ago,
Anaikatti was 95% forest and
was inhabited only by the
tribes.
But now, only 50%
is forest and other people have
also come to live in this place.
In just 30 years, we have de-
stroyed 45% of the forest.
The tribals of Anai-
katti face many difficutties liv-
ing so close to a forest.
However they have
many resources and ways to
overcome them and are pas-
sionate about protecting their
forest.
Anaikatti’s
Original People
Rahul, Prasanna, Nitha:
Information about the people who are the first people of the village
Blue humming birds are found in a large num-•
bers,
The regions located within the tropical zone, ap-•
proximately between the latitudes of 10  degree
north and south of the equator are known as
equatorial regions.
Congo has the second largest rain forest in the •
world after the Amazon forests.
Equatorial forest is known as evergreen forest.•
Rainforests are the forests that receive high •
amount of rainfall
Rainforests only cover around 2 percent the total •
surface area of the Earth, but really about 50 per-
cent of the plants and animals on the earth live in
the rainforest.
Within four square miles of tropical rainforest, •
there are 1500 flowering plant species, 750 types
of trees, and many of these plants can be helpful
in combating cancer.
Trees in tropical rainforests are so dense that it •
takes approximately 10 minutes for the rainfall to
reach the ground from canopy.
Rainforests are responsible for twenty eight per-•
cent of the world's oxygen production.
One third of the worlds land area is covered by •
forest. Forest is home to 80% of the world’s ter-
restrial biodiversity
The Rain forests...
Facts
- Pavin Kumar
2015 NOVEMBER 27 4INPRINT
VIDYA VANAM
Our Editorial Teem : First Row ; Abhijith, Durkadevi, Karthika, Archana, Nitha, Kalpana, Deepika, Aami, Vigashni, Kanya,
Rishikesh, Second Row; Prasad, Pavinkumar, Prasannavenkatesh, Chandru, Subaash, Praveen, Manav, Prashanth, Rahul.
India Natural Vegetation
And Forest Cover