UTILITY OF FRESH WATER FLOODED FORESTS IN INDIA N. Sasidhar.

There are vast areas of fresh water flooded forests in Amazon River, Mekong River and Meghna River (Bangladesh) basins. In these flooded forests, the flora & fauna is richer than tropical ever green forests and many tree species grow more than 20 meters in height. These forests are inundated / submerged by river flood water up to ten meters depth for 5 to 7 months duration at a stretch. The portion of forest under the water, remain verdant similar to the portion above the water level. Many trees with commercial value yielding fruits, seeds, timber, fodder, herbs, biodiesel, etc are native to flooded forests. In flooded forests, the fish growth is also very encouraging as they feed on tree seeds, fruits, vegetation, etc. Amazon River basin: Nearly 100,000 square km (2%) of total five million square km forest in this river basin are occupied by fresh water flooded forests along the river course. The average duration of flooding is seven months in a year up to ten meters water depth. The tree species of the flooded forests are often distinct from those found in the upland forest, or terra firme although species pairs (i.e. one adapted to upland and the one to flooded forest) are common. More than 1000 tree species are found in these flooded forests. Flooded forest trees can survive without flooding, as planting them in upland soils demonstrated. But upland species cannot tolerate long periods of water immersion. Thus it seems that speciation evolved from flood plains to uplands. Rubber tree (Hevea spruceana) is a native species of fresh water flooded forests. Rubber tree thrives in the Amazon flooded areas and reaches two to three times taller than that of upland plantation trees. Mekong river basin: The seasonally inundated forest of Lake Tonlesap is legendary. Acting as part of the Mekong floodplain, the flood pulse from the Mekong River reverses the flow of the Tonlesap River to inundate the forest surrounding the lake which expands in area from around 300,000 hectares to 1.2 million hectares at peak flood height (7 meters above the minimum level), inundating over 500,000 hectares of forest. As the water level of the Mekong River drops after the six months long monsoon flows, the Tonle Sap River resumes its normal direction of flow and discharges the lake into the Mekong Delta. There are also flooded forests in flood plains of Thailands Songkhram River which is a tributary of Mekong River. Meghna river basin: There is fresh water flooded forest in Bangladesh too. This fresh water lake is created by monsoon rains and is called Hakaluki Haor located in Sylhet district bordering India. The lakes water level rises by five meters for five months period during the rainy season. The lake occupies nearly 700 square km at its maximum level. Much of the thick flooded 1 of 5

forest was destroyed during seventies by locals to convert in to paddy fields. Still the flooded forest tree species sprout from the lake bed but constantly destroyed by grazing. Pongamia Pinnata (Koroch) and Barringtonia Acutangula (Hijal) are the few pioneer trees in the flood plains of Hakaluki Haor. Koroch is a biodiesel yielding tree. Flooded forest restoration process is also taken up in few pockets of the lake. Floating rice is variety of rice which is cultivated in submerged water conditions up to 1.2 meters depth. Floating rice is extensively cultivated in water submerged lands in East Asia, Bangladesh, Burma, etc. In India also, floating rice used to be cultivated in Kamla Balan river flood plains of Bihar state. Utility of fresh water flooded forests in India: The climatic conditions in Amazon, Mekong & Meghna river basins are similar to many river basins of India. The flooded forest tree species can be grown in our water reservoirs to increase the forest cover and also to enhance productive output from the water bodies. Flooded forests can be grown in the rim of reservoirs (major & medium) up to 10 meters water depth. These reservoirs reach the dead storage levels after the cropping season and most of the reservoir areas remain dry for four to five months till the monsoon rains fill up the reservoirs. There are nearly 30,000 square km of fresh water reservoirs used for irrigation, hydro electricity and drinking water purposes. The reservoir spread area up to 10 meters water depth is normally submerged for 6 to 7 months duration only and later becomes exposed during dry season when the water is used for irrigation, etc. Many reservoirs are yet to be built to harness the available river water fully. Whenever irrigation or hydro electric projects are proposed by building dams across the rivers, the major problem encountered is submergence of forest land. Water reservoirs and forest can exist symbiotically in the same area. The submerged forest area under new water reservoirs can be compensated by growing flooded forests in existing water reservoirs. Thus the land area can be used both for storing river water and growing flooded forests Alternatively, Rubber, Koroch, etc (varieties native to flooded forests) trees can be grown in the water spread area of reservoirs up to ten meters depth. If Rubber, Koroch trees, etc are grown in the reservoir areas, it will make reservoir lands more productive and also mitigate global warming. There is no detrimental effect to the reservoir water quality due to flooded forest plantations. Rain water harvesting: The flooded forest plants/trees are very useful in rain water harvesting / ground water recharging anywhere such as house plots, farm lands, forest lands, open areas, river courses, etc. Rain water wherever available and needed are stored in small pits/ponds/ tanks by growing flooded forest trees which will earn income exceeding that of normal crops /trees. 1. Recharging rain water in the house compounds: Make a pit of 1.5 meters depth with sufficient storage volume to collect moderate fortnight rain fall. Plant the 2 of 5

flooded forest trees in this pond area. When there is rain, the rain water collects in this pond and slowly percolates in to the ground building up ground water. Thus trees can be grown and the ground water is recharged simultaneously for dry season drinking water purpose. 2. Recharging rain water in open lands of cities and rural areas: Build a check dam to store water up to 1.5 meters depth and plant flooded forest trees in the water stored area. The entire area becomes woody area in few years and also the ground water is recharged. 3. Water harvesting in farm lands: Generally the time gap between good rains is 15 or more days. It is very useful to store the rain water in a small area of the field and use it to water the crop till the next rain. Thus the crop yield is assured even in erratic rain fall. Create a pond of depth 1.5 meters in 5% area of the field and plant the flooded forest trees. Thus the pond area land also contributes equally for agriculture produce and stores water for the needs of the crop. 4. Water harvesting in Forest lands: On the small streams in the forest area, construct check dams of nearly 1.5 meters high and plant flooded forest trees in water spread area. The rain water collected by the check dam will enhance water percolation in to the ground. The subsoil moisture will help the forest in preventing water stress during summer months. Thus the growth of the forest is healthy. The forest animals also get drinking water and shelter during summer months. As explained above, all the lands are suitable for water harvesting without losing income from the land by growing flooded forest trees. When above practices are intensively and extensively implemented in India, it will transform the countries landscape fully in to ever green forest type. Till now, water storage reservoirs are constructed across the river valleys to store water to the maximum depth for reducing the land submergence. With the flooded forests, water reservoirs/barrages can be located in plain areas also with average water storage depth of 8 to 10 meters. Flooded forests / plantations are grown for making the submerged lands equally good or better productive than existing forests / agriculture lands. Water storage barrage projects are also substantially cheap when submerged land cost is eliminated. India has nearly 2000 billion cubic meters (BCM) of river water resources out of which only 25% is presently used for agriculture, industry and domestic needs. We need to create flooded forest of nearly 150,000 square km area (5% of total) to harness the water resources fully to achieve 100% irrigation facility with three crops in a year without effected by monsoon vagaries any more. The main constraint till now is the submergence of land whether it is agriculture or forest lands. Multipurpose water storage barrages (irrigation, hydropower, fisheries, tourism, etc) can be constructed with participation of local farmers for growing flooded forests. The legal title of submerged land remains with the owner / farmer. Government/project company/cooperative will pay yearly rental /lease for storing water on the farm land. Government will also develop / finance flooded forest plantations. The original owner of the land can enjoy the produce of flooded forest trees and fisheries on his land. Farmers 3 of 5

can also become share holders by transferring land title to the project company/cooperative. Farmers / land owners can sell the flooded forests / plantations whenever they wish at prevailing market rates. There is no doubt that it would not take more than a decade to turn India drought free, floods free and with evergreen landscape if our planners and law makers are serious. It would also help the industries and cities to source cheap and abundant water from nearby flooded forest reservoirs. Greener and moisture rich landscape of India will also appreciably dampen the dry and hot summer climate similar to that of Kerala state. Full utilization of water resources with the help of flooded forests will transform India in to major exporter of agriculture, forest & aquaculture produce after meeting its needs fully. If flooded forests are grown in the water reservoirs, the following multipurpose benefits are accrued. 1. The land area is used for storing the river water for agriculture, hydropower, etc. 2. Ground water recharging / water harvesting can be done extensively wherever water is needed for drinking water, agriculture, forest growth, etc. 3. Rich tropical ever green flooded forest trees mitigate green house gas effect. 4. The fish production from the reservoirs will increase by many folds due to enhanced food availability from the flooded forests. 5. The flooded forests contribute additionally to propagate the fauna of the area. 6. The tribal population can depend on forestry as usual and also on fisheries. 7. The water spread area can also be used for growing commercial plantation like rubber trees to create lively hood to the displaced population by land submergence. 8. The flooded forests will also become bird sanctuary for the migrating birds, etc as they are located on the water bodies. 9. Flooded forests will serve as attractive tourist destinations contributing to the local economy. It is not the humans who started dam building but the nature itself. Dam building (flooding an area) is a natural geological evolution taking place where the rainfall in a river basin is high and the downstream/estuary of the river is unable to discharge the flood water in to Sea due to sedimentation, etc. Nature has adapted to this phenomenon by evolving tree species suitable to survive in flooded/submerged conditions. In many ways, flooded forests contribution in fresh water reservoirs is similar to combination of coral reefs & mangroves in the Sea by providing food, protective shelter and hatching place to sustain rich aquatic fauna. It is high time to take up detailed study and pilot projects to grow flooded forests in manmade water reservoirs. -----------Some literature available in internet: (If these links are not working directly, copy & paste the links in the internet browser.) http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8278793/0393114B Flooded forests of the Amazon

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Submerged in darkness: adaptations to prolonged submergence by woody species of Amazonian plains. http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/103/2/359.pdf http://www.gtoe.de/public_html/publications/pdf/2-2/Waldhoff%20et%20al %201996,%20Ecotropica%202_143-156b.pdf Value of fruits and seeds of flood plain forests of central Amazonia as food resource for fish. http://airsar.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/workshop2002/papers/E7.pdf Mapping wetlands and floods in the Tonlesap basin http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/files/mapasia/MethodforfloodedforestconservationatTonlesap.pdf Method for flooded forest conservation at Tonlesap http://umanitoba.ca/outreach/begcb/pub/posters/Peloquinetal_issrm2008poster.pdf Degradation and restoration of a flooded forest in Bangladesh http://www.hydro-soft.co.jp/image/report/iguchimk/iguchimk04.pdf Numerical simulation of flood lake behavior in Northeastern Bangladesh http://priyo.com/news/20081123/16286 Flooded forest Conservation efforts in Hakaluki Haor http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=%22flooded+forest %22+varzea&btnG=Search+images&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0 Images of Varzea flooded forests of Amazon river basin. http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=%22flooded+forest %22+igapo&btnG=Search+images&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0 Images of Igapo flooded forests of Amazon river basin. http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=%22flooded+forest%22+ %22tonle+sap%22&btnG=Search+images&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0 Images of Tonlesap flooded forests of Mekong river basin. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=GNj75_4jLaY&feature=PlayList&p=65B00A3292B813FB&index=12 Video on Amazon River flood forests http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=yH8ytEEyFHs&feature=PlayList&p=65B00A3292B813FB&index=16 Video on Aquatic life of Amazon River flooded forest http://www.scribd.com/doc/58796049/BLUE-PRINT-FOR-GODAVARI-RIVERWATER-UTILIZATION-IN-ANDHRA-PRADESH Blue Print for Godavari River Water Utilization in Andhra Pradesh Tips to get more information: Search with relevant words/terminology on any topic in internet search engines & for pictures / video search in Google image / video. Note: This paper was first written in October, 2009 and subsequently updated /revised.

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