The Islands

Wind swept. Isolated. Fragile. Precious and breath-taking creations, islands are the laboratories of evolution. Nowhere else is the evolutionary process as clearly visible and understood as on islands. Life probably began in the warm tropical oceans into which islands were born. Rich in oxygen and washed by sunlight, this nutrient-rich 'soup' harbours a magnificent diversity of life. This is inner space. A silent world we have only just begun to understand, or appreciate. The natural history of islands cannot be separated from that of the oceans that nurture them.

The isolation of islands often works to their advantage, but also leaves them extremely vulnerable to man-caused change. No one knows, for instance, exactly when man first arrived on the Andamans, though it is generally acknowledged that the first arrivals were probably Negritos who floated here several thousand years ago on ancient catamarans. To date, some of the tribes refuse to allow any contact with humans from the mainland, or settlers. This 'unfriendly' characteristic has probably saved them from sure extinction. Humans are irresistibly drawn to islands, yet consistently fail to recognise their frailty. Something as innocuous as the introduction of goats, for instance, may well spell the death knell for local plant species which have no buffers to protect them. Even exotic plants can prove disastrous as they sometimes edge out local species upon which several endemic life forms are completely dependent. In these days of modem industrialisation, however, the greatest threat to islands has come to be recognised as state-sponsored destruction which is invariably disguised as 'development'.

The Indian region is dotted with islands of incredible richness, comparable in beauty to the better known isles of the world. For the purpose of preparing the Protected Network report, however, Rodgers and Panwar concentrated on two major groups, the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.

The Andaman and Nicobar group is the major and better known of the Indian islands. This is a largely north-south running archipelago, with a total of 348 islands, stretching over a length of nearly 600 km. The total land area of these islands is 8,327 sq. km. The Lakshadweep group consists of 25 islands in three clusters, with a total land area of a mere 109 sq. km.

Biology of the Islands

Most of the information that follows concerns the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, but the principles of protection can be extrapolated to island conservation in general. The Andaman group is the largest, with a total of 324 of the 348 islands, accounting for 6,491 sq. km. or over 75 per cent of the total area of the archipelago. These islands are an extension of the Burmese Arakan mountain range and it is believed that the Andamans were connected to the mainland in the Pleistocene era. These are now separated from the Burma coast by shallow continental waters.

The Andamans also exhibit a distinct biogeographic similarity with Burma, a matter of significance to evolutionists. In contrast, the Nicobar group of 24 islands have a strong affinity to the Indonesian and South-east Asian regions. Also, the Nicobar group is set apart from the neighbouring Andamans and from the mainland, by channels measuring up to 800 m. in depth.

Island habitats, on account of their isolation, harbour a phenomenal degree of endemic species of plants and animals. The Andaman and Nicobar islands are one of the three dominant tropical, moist evergreen biozones of the subcontinent and their biological diversity, and endemism, is best observed in the variety of plants, birds and perhaps insects (the latter are poorly documented). The coastal wealth too is very rich and highly bio-specific. However, the isolation and small size of most of the islands has not facilitated the arrival and dispersal of mammals. The dominant mammal groups are bats and rodents, the former having colonised the land by virtue of their flying ability. The principal endemic mammals are the dugong or sea-cow, the Nicobar crab-eating macaque and the Nicobar tree shrew, of which there are different races in the Little and the Greater Nicobar islands.

It is the birds that merit special attention. Of the 255 species and subspecies recorded in the archipelago, as many as 112 are endemic. Some of these are the Nicobar Megapode, the highly endangered Andamans or Grey Teal, the Narcondam Hornbill (found only on the seven sq. km. volcanic Narcondam island), the Nicobar Pigeon, the Nicobar Parakeet, Andaman Wood Pigeon, the two species and races of the Crested Serpent Eagle. The presence of these species in the dense, evergreen jungles is a valuable indicator of the ecological health of the habitat.

As in the archipelago's avifauna, a considerable degree of endemism is observable in the amphibian and reptilian elements as well, though the ecology and the range of these two groups is poorly documented. The saltwater crocodile is restricted to a few creeks and estuaries in the Greater Nicobar and in some of the Andaman islands. Several species of turtles have important feeding and breeding sites in the archipelago. More than half the nesting populations of green turtles and the bulk of hawksbill turtles are in these islands. In the Indian region, the leathery turtles today breed only on the Nicobar islands. The water monitor is present in the archipelago though its exact distribution over the island chains is not well known. About the lesser reptiles and amphibians, it is generally considered that of the more than eighty species described from the archipelago so far, most are endemic and this faunal element needs to be properly studied. Finally, the mangrove, estuaries and lagoons in this archipelago harbour a wealth of fish and coral communities.

The greatest variety and endemism is noticed in the floral composition of these islands. A bewildering ten per cent of the 15,000 species of higher plants recorded in the Indian region are totally restricted to this 8,000 sq. km. archipelago. Nearly 2,200 species have been found here, and while more than 200 of these are strictly restricted to the islands, more than 50 percent (around 1,300 species) are also found in Burma, Malaysia and adjoining Indonesia, but not in mainland India.

What is interesting is that plants, because of the actions of so many birds and insects, should technically have the greatest opportunities for being spread far and wide, and hence a low degree of endemism. However, the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago defies any such logical assumption and we observe unusually high endemism. Quite a few of the Dipterocarpacea species of the Andaman islands have a close affinity to the Burmese region, as also to parts of northeastern India, but none to southern India. The Nicobarese flora has close affinity to the Indonesian forests, there being a great variety of palms and tree-ferns, but no Dipterocarps. There is a great profusion of orchids here and about the entire Nicobar group it is believed, many more species await discovery, as the region has barely been explored so far.

Conservation status

The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is biologically rich and unique and there is, understandably, a considerable amount of research currently underway. It has been realised, from observation on mainland tropical forests, that in order to effectively safeguard the complexity and diversity of these habitats, large stretches of unbroken, and undisturbed units need to be brought under conservation programmes. And on island habitats, this complexity and diversity gets magnified both, in terms of number of habitats with the species therein, and, in terms of variations of floral and faunal communities from island to island, giving rise to endemism.

Inspite of increased awareness and concern, the ecological and anthropological uniqueness of the Andamans is under severe threat. And as a result, a delicately woven tapestry is becoming undone. Apart from the extraction of timber for match and paper factories, plans are afoot to clear vast tracts to make way for palm oil plantations. Airstrips are under construction, with excavated earth being dumped directly into the sea, resulting in the coral formations dying of suffocation. Forest clearance for resettlement still goes on in spite of official talk of conservation. A recent threat to the Andamans is the proposal to build a Grand Trunk Road which will cut across the 700 sq. km. reserve which had been set aside for the Jarawas. The tribals have no understanding of what is being done, nor of the consequences of their thick jungle being sliced by a highway. An estimated 232,000 hectares of tropical forest has already been destroyed by the agents of development, roughly 33 per cent of the Andaman forest wealth.

These are not the only threats. As a result of the setting up of tourist facilities, reports Romulus Whitaker, the number of people being 'imported' into the islands has gone up in recent years. Such people cut mangroves for their fuel requirements, thus aggravating an already overburdened ecosystem. Pollution around Port Blair has assumed alarming proportions and the coral formations off the sea here have long since died. What survives is under threat from tourists who collect souvenirs by breaking off coral pieces. Deforestation has exposed the soil to the elements and erosion has resulted in retarded regeneration - a predictable spiral into an environmental cul de sac seems more than likely unless wise counsel prevails.

The 135 coral species and 600 fish species of the Islands are fighting against heavy odds for survival, yet it appears that planners, instead of working to restore the ecology of the Isles, are bent on adding to the destruction. Plans are afoot to create a second 'Hong Kong' here. A duty-free haven and tax shelter for the rich and famous. It is hoped that tourism revenue will usher in an era of prosperity. Perhaps the only defence the Islands have is nature itself. Water is becoming extremely difficult to procure as the capacity of the land to sponge the monsoon rains has been greatly reduced.

If the mere number of protected areas was a criterion for the health of an ecosystem then the archipelago, with nearly 100 protected areas covering some 700 sq. km. or just over eight per cent of the total zonal area, might, on paper, appear quite safe. But a more detailed analysis of the existing data clearly puts a big question mark on the future of this luxuriant archipelago. Of the 700 plus sq. km. of the protected area network, more than 200 sq. km. is marine habitat. This means the land area is less than 500 sq. km. or barely six per cent. Further, over half of these sites are tiny islets, each with an area under one sq. km. Only ten sites are 10 sq. km. or more in extent!

The gloomy scenario does not end here. Statistics show that over 80 per cent (about 7000 sq. km.) of the total area of the archipelago is forested. However, more than half this area is merely 'protected' forest and is being extensively worked for the value of its hardwoods. Commercial exploitation has opened up the forests and is currently threatening several species with extinction. On the Andamans it is estimated that although extensive stretches of forests are visible, hardly 250 sq. km. of the 5000 plus sq. km. of forests remain completely undisturbed. It is here that 97 of the 100 protected areas of the zone are found. This includes the 742 sq. km. Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Middle Andaman, which is also the biggest island in the archipelago. Fortunately, and largely as a result of their extreme remoteness, a sizeable extent (nearly 50 per cent) of the Nicobar forests remain untouched. However in Nicobar, there appears a near absence of conservation programmes, barely one per cent of the area having been brought under the protected area network through three little sanctuaries.

In the large number of protected islands, particularly large-island conservation units of the South Andamans, there is very little natural vegetation (both evergreen and littoral mangrove) surviving. No effective buffer against extinction exists here.

Also, though declaring many of the tiny off-shore islets as sanctuaries certainly goes a long way in stopping their further destruction, it is proposed that for more effective conservation of the existing endemic and restricted-range species, other islands in the vicinity, which also form part of the species' distributional range be protected. What this means is that instead of giving protected area status to so many tiny sites, it would be far more effective and advantageous for long-term programmes to combine many tiny islet sanctuaries into a larger group of contiguous protected areas.