Fruits strike on the forest floor!
On a hot and humid afternoon of July 9, 2022, we ventured deep into Chaukibiran Community Forest (CF) in Jalthal to observe the flowers and fruits of trees. While we were on a short break for snacks in a serene area of the forest, something suddenly struck the ground with a loud noise, startling me. Noticing my reaction, Mr. Chiranjibi Paudel, our local guide for the walk, pointed at a tall tree mentioned “It’s nothing – just a Latahar fruit falling”. He was right; a fruit from the Latahar tree had fallen, scattering over 50 yellowish seeds beneath the canopy. Fortunately, our heads were safe from the fall!
Upon testing the pulp of the fruit, I was hit with a familiar taste of Jackfruit. Jackfruit is familiar to many of us. Latahar, However, is unknown in the central and western Nepal. This South East Asian species of tropical forest does not grow in the central and western Nepal. In order to see the tree, I had to travel 500km east from my hometown, Gaindakot.
During July, it is common to witness the sight and sound of falling Latahar fruits in the Jalthal forest. The forest is filled with sweet aroma of ripen fallen fruits and buzz of flies feasting on its sweet pulp. For nature lovers, it’s exciting to see a bright orange carpet of seeds in the forest! While Mr. Sanchahang, Limbu of Bishal CF mentioned “during month of Asar and Saunan,, the floor below Latahar tree is colored with the yellowish pulps and seeds of Latahar and it is difficult to find open area to put feet”. Mr Limbu called the scene as ‘biskun sukaae jastai’ which means its like drying grains on the floor.
Every rainy season, hundreds of thousands seeds fall on the ground in Jalthal forest alone. Given the huge size of the fruit and its seeds, most of the seeds do not fall far from the shade of their mother trees, while few get dispersed by help of animals. Those fallen seeds start to germinate within the time span of 2 weeks. In September and October, the forest floor beneath the mature Latahar canopies are teeming with thousands of new seedlings.
Among the hundreds of thousands of seedlings growing during the late monsoon, only a few are lucky. One in every thousand seedlings, may survive to see the next monsoon. In the following sections, taking a case of Jalthal forest, I highlight fate of such seedlings.
Latahar: an iconic tree of tropical forest
Latahar, Artocarpus chama as named by botanists, comes from the genus of Jackfruit tree in the family of figs. The tree is native to the moist tropical and subtropical forest of South East Asia. It is a large deciduous tree reaching as tall as 40 meters. The structure of the tree at the top forms a round crown above an unbranched bole (trunk) of 10-20 meters. When I measured the trunk circumference, it was as large as 5 meters. In midst of other trees, the Latahar tree stands tall with its round crown adorned with dark green foliage, displaying an impressive appearance. This iconic tree stands out, with its unique look among its associates!
Latahar is a multipurpose tree species who’s utilities range from consumption to furnishing. Although the fruit shares similarities with Jackfruit, it is much smaller in size and is generally round. The ripe Latahar fruits are consumed raw and the unripe ones are cooked into delicious pickle or vegetable curry. The rich dark green leathery leaves are used for fodder. Similarly, the thick and unbranched trunk yields good quality timber for furnishing. The tree also holds importance as shelter and food for different reptiles, birds and animals. Epiphytic mosses, ferns and wild orchids are also seen growing along the trunks and branches of the tree.
Latahar’s essence goes beyond its ecosystem services. Analyzing its regional and national distribution and presence demonstrates its phytogeographical importance and role in our ecology. Although this majestic tree species has a wide regional distribution, it holds limited presence in Nepal. Starting from Nepal, it spans through India, Southern China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, growing eastward all the way to Malaysia.
Jalthal, a forest island in the densely populated region in Southeastern corner of Nepal, is a prime habitat for Latahar. In spite of its 0.1% shares in Nepal’s forest, the forest patch serves as a natural museum of trees due its ability to sustain over one-quarter of the country’s 600 tree species. The forest is also a home to the natural groves of Latahar tree which gives Jalthal forest a unique identity among Nepalese forest types.
Eastern Nepal marks the last resort of distribution of this south east Asian species’ west bound. In Nepal, this species grows in the foothills of Chure and in Sal forests of eastern Terai mainly in Jhapa, Morang, and Sunsari districts. Although, it has not been reported in the west of Koshi River, it might have held its presence in the central Terai in the past.
Where do seedlings of Latahar go?
During the late monsoon, hundreds of thousands of Latahar seeds which germinate, do not survive the following year. In order to maintain a healthy population of the unique tree, there is a dire need for the germinated seedlings to establish and grow mature. Even in its natural and undisturbed habitat, all the seedlings emerged do not get the opportunity to thrive as they undergo self-thinning overtime. Since, most of the seedlings fall under the shadow of their mother tree, where they cannot grow bigger. Seedling need to face attacks from herbivores, disease and pests. Therefore, among the germinated seeds, only a few are recruited and matured in order to maintain the population of the tree species.
Since 2019, I am closely looking at regeneration and population of Latahar. The regeneration of Latahar forest is not running naturally in the forest. Since the forest is surrounded by human settlements, it inevitably experiences the effects of nearby agricultural and economic activities. A huge population depends on the forest to sustain their livelihood through collection of forest products, primarily, fodder and firewood. As, young Latahar seedlings and saplings work as good fodder, it is an obvious and easy target for the fodder collectors.
While Jalthal forest does hold reputation for its rich and unique biodiversity, it is also gradually engulfed by expansion of various invasive species, mainly Mikania micrantha. This species forms a thick mat on the surface during the monsoon and post monsoon time. The mat of Mikania is threatening the establishment of Latahar seedlings.
While walking through Latahar Danda in Bishal CF, I noticed very widely spaced Latahar trees and the space between them was filled with green mat. The mat was not formed by native trees but by invasive alien species of plants like Lantana and Mikania. Mr Limbu highlighted that invasive species enhance forest fire in dry season. Fire in the forest is mostly deliberate and sometimes due to negligence. Fire along with fodder collectors decimate almost all of the seedlings grown during monsoon.
Distorted demography
Despite being threatened by felling, fire and invasive species, it is remarkable to note that 6,100-hectare Jalthal forests, in my crude estimation, still sustains over 250 old-grown Latahar trees. Paradoxically, I have also noticed the absence of saplings and pole-sized trees, which would replace the old-grown trees in coming decades.
For a healthy tree population, there should be higher number of smaller or middle-aged trees compared to old-grown ones. Similar to a human society comprising of senior citizens, youths, and children, a natural old-growth forest should feature a mix of individuals of various ages. However, such situation is lacking with Latahar trees in Jalthal forest. Presence of only old grown trees and lack of young and middle sized trees indeed is a distorted demography of the species. This distortion alarms a looming future of the species.
Development: Major culprit of distortion
The demographics of Latahar in Jalthal not only demonstrates current regeneration and population issues, but also reflects the changed intensity of human-environment interactions. For centuries, Jalthal forest experienced low-intensity use, resulting in minimal impact on its structure.
Since 1950s, the population of the southern lowland plunged with Malaria eradication, planned resettlement, and construction of East-West highway. Such activities first deforested and fragmented the otherwise lush continuous forest called as Charkoshe jhadi. Then, human population directly degraded the remnant patch by felling and lopping, and cutting of saplings for fodder. In an interaction with an elderly Rajbanshi and Meche people they did not recall fodder collection from the forest when they were young some five decades ago. However, now fodder collection from the forest is regular activity for people taming livestock.
With migration of people from Hill to Terai region, the pressure on forest has increased immensely, affecting Latahar and other species. Consequently, this has affected the growth environment of Latahar seedlings. For the last four-five decades, the seedling of this plant has not developed into its normal course, rather they are decimated within a year or two of germination. The pressure for fodder and firewood has gradually degraded forest and the rapid growth of invasive species mainly Mikania has further restrained the development of Latahar seedlings.
Latahar in Jalthal represents the case of forest degradation where forest is subjected to slow and continuous disturbance rather than a large scale felling and deforestation. Ecologists terms such low but a continuous disturbance as ‘chronic disturbance’. Although such disturbance seems gradual and almost unnoticeable, it eventually leads to significant damage, sometimes irreversible damage. Unfortunately, we lack accounts of biodiversity erosion based on credible and longitudinal data. It is crucial for researchers to analyze the impact of chronic disturbance on biodiversity erosion and forest managers to respond to the chronic disturbance.
Nepal needs proper assessment of its tree flora
Ministry of Forests and Environment of Nepal conduct nationwide survey of forests and organize plant collection expeditions. While these activities provide general overview of forest condition and occurrence of species, these data are not adequate for management at species level. These general data are even less informative for species that are rare, clumped and habitat specialists. There are several published and grey literatures reporting tree data of certain area at certain point in time. Credibility of large fractions of such reports, however, is dubious in lack of rigor of survey methods and data quality including taxonomic precision. Various tree survey reports conducted in Nepal have often failed to produce any robust narrative that attracts attention of local people or policy makers for conservation actions.
We largely rely on IUCN red list to identify species’ threat status. Relative to flora, IUCN data have much information for faunal species, particularly the vertebrates. In 2021, a comprehensive assessment of trees of the world was produced by Global Tree Assessment (GTA) initiatives. Available global database like GTA and IUCN red list may not reflect status of local population of a particular species. This is evidenced in case of Latahar tree. Given its wider global distribution and abundance within the distribution range, the species might have not been assessed by IUCN. Latahar might not be threatened globally but it appears locally threatened given its current local demographic structure in its westernmost region of distribution, i. e. in the eastern Nepal. Nepali researchers have a long and wide avenue to contribute in tree population data through well designed and monitored plot data. Assessing demography of rare, endemic, threatened and habitat specialist trees could be a starting point towards a comprehensive tree data.
Restoring the iconic tree
Mr. Sachahang Limbu, the leader of Bishal Community Forest has interest in conserving trees of Jalthal forest. He is keen in exploring and collecting seeds for propagation. In March 2023, I had an interesting interaction with him while walking through the Latahar Danda in his CF. I was curious about ways to fill out the gaps between the widely spaced Latahar trees, to which he swiftly replied “controlling fodder collection”.
Mr. Limbu rightly identified human interference as the major issue for the conservation of the species. Given the nature of our rural livelihood and dependency on forest, it’s impractical to ban fodder collection; however there is the aspect of management of fodders. With sincere efforts to manage the forest, Latahar population can be revived. The current forest management favoring protection of Sal, needs to be wider enough to incorporate ecological data. Unfortunately, most of the forest management often incentivizes plantations, often overlooking nurturing natural regeneration which is an ecologically sound and cost effective methods of restoring degraded forest.
The people who collect forest fodder are economically vulnerable population who are residing near the forest. Providing them with alternative will generate dual benefit of improving the livelihood of people and enhancing forest health. Similarly, management of forest patches for regeneration protection and prevention of forest fire can contribute in restoring a healthy population of the forest giant. It’s time to act seriously to protect our natural heritage, Jalthal forest and its rare, unique and threatened trees that adorn the forest with unique identity!
At the end, realizing the crucial role of fodder management for effective conservation of plant species in Jalthal forest, ForestAction Nepal’s Jalthal biodiversity project funded by Darwin Initiative UK has prioritised fodder species plantation both in forest and private lands. Among others, the project is working with communities in protecting existing natural regeneration and needful plantation of native species. One key activity towards this is propagation of species, that are facing regeneration problem in natural habitats, in a nursery. The project is working with diverse stakeholders to ensure conservation of rare and threatened trees through various activities including conservation education, in situ interaction, species re-introduction and capacity enhancement.
A short version of this blog can be found here: https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/seeing-the-forest-and-trees-in-nepal
Various actions organised to conserve rare and threatened trees in Jalthal can be found here https://forestaction.org/publications/conservation-of-plant-diversity-with-emphasis-on-rare-and-threatened-trees-in-jalthal-remnant-forest/
Sharma work in Jalthal Biodiversity project in Jhapa
