A practical working model in conservation and the revitalisation of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest flora and local health traditions of coastal Tamil Nadu.

Why Conserve?

The Kaluveli Tank Bioregion on the Coromandel Coast of South India covers a triangle between Pondicherry, Marakannam and Tindivanam. The indigenous vegetation of the area extending in a coastal belt from Ramanathapuram in the south of Tamil Nadu to Visakhapatanam in Andra Pradesh, is known as Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF). This forest type is found only in South India and Sri Lanka and provides a rare biological richness due to its very high species abundance but it is now close to extinction as only 0.01% survives. Only a few isolated fragments of TDEF exist and many of the 200 odd species of trees, shrubs and lianas listed by Meher-Homji (1989) are on the verge of extinction. Surveys carried out by Auroville in the last 8 years have managed to identify an additional 70 species, seemingly indigenous, but often in small numbers. The bioregion is home to at least 735 vegetative species including 400 plants that have medicinal properties many of which have been used for centuries by traditional practitioners.