It was very heartening to see the barefoot Tulasi Gowda cladded in her Halakki native style of saree receiving the Padma Shri award at the hands of President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Monday, 8th November 2021. The tribal woman from Karnataka now in her eighties grew up in a poor family and did not receive any formal education, and yet, she is known as the ‘Encyclopaedia of the Forest’.
She is known to the world because of a retired IFS (Indian Forest Services) office Yellappa Reddy, who noticed her potential and pushed her to the fame. Mr. Reddy’s favourite subject during his active services was the silviculture of Indian trees that includes everything involved in the growing and cultivation of trees, its ecological and economic value, its utility, etc. Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the formation, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values of landowners and society such as wildlife habitat, timber, water resources, restoration, and recreation on a sustainable basis. He had noticed that more than 90 percent of native Indian trees have regeneration problems despite much research being conducted on them. He started taking help from Tulasi Gowda because she could identify a mother tree of any species anywhere in the forest and she still continues to do it.
Regeneration is best done with the seeds from the mother tree. Tulasi Gowda knows the timing of its flowering, germination and the best time to collect the seeds from the mother tree of a plant. The most common tree is Hopea parviflora (Bogi Mara in Kannada). Mr.Reddy says her understanding of the dynamics of the forest flora which refers to the various plants and fungi that can be found in the forest is simply par excellence; she knows has a superb understanding of the plants, shrubs, fungi which is absolutely updated. Though uneducated, Tulasi Gowda is in true sense a dendrofile – a person who loves trees.
Nagaraja Gowda of Uttara Kannada District Halakki Vokkalu Naukarara Sangha that works for the welfare of the Halakki tribe said Tulasi is the pride of their community because she has priceless knowledge of the forest and medicinal plants. Nobody has documented it and she cannot communicate it because she has not educated. But, because she has come into limelight for her benevolent work, I am sure Government of Karnataka will take necessary steps to document and implement usage of the medicinal plants soon. Mr. Yellappa Reddy says that she can identify more than 300 medicinal plants. The Halakki tribe is known for their knowledge of medicinal plants which they mostly utilise to prevent diseases than for cure. The knowledge and tradition is passed down through generations and Tulasi is a holder of it.
It is worth noting that Tulasi Gowda has vast knowledge of diverse species of plants and herbs because she has worked in the forest since her age of 12, she has planted and nurtured thousands of trees so far. She is also a temporary volunteer with the forest department where she was recognised for her dedication towards protecting nature. She was later offered a permanent job in the department.
Tulasi Gowda has spent most of her life around the trees and saplings that she nurtured with much care and love at the Agasur nursery of the forest department as part of their on-going afforestation efforts in the Mastikatta range of Honnalli village in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Though she has now retired as an employee of the forest department, she still continues to work in the forest; looking after and growing nearly 30,000 trees in various parts of the Uttara Kannada district.
Tulasi ajji (as she is known lovingly in her village) has unparalleled knowledge of silviculture of the Indian forest and trees which won this barefoot ecologist the Indira Priyadarshini Vrukshamitra Award in 1986 and Kannada Rajyotsava Award in 1999. More than a dozen awards and recognition later, the Padma Shri has come as value addition.
Afforestation is most important on the nation’s agenda to solve the problem of imbalance in the ecology, global warming, soil erosion, greenhouse effect etc. It is so nice of the Modi Government to recognize 12 farmers from nine states for the Padma Awards and especially recognizing Tulasi Gowda who in true sense is ‘Encyclopaedia of the Forest’.
