Indian Rosewood Conservation Act Expires: A Threat to Biodiversity in the Nilgiris
With the
Tamil Nadu
Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act quietly lapsing in Feb 2025 after three decades, and no new safeguards introduced, the majestic Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) has been left vulnerable, say environmentalists.
Introduced by chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 1995 for 15 years to safeguard endangered and culturally significant heritage trees, the legislation was extended for 15 years in 2010 when M Karunanidhi was in office.
The Indian rosewood grows primarily in the lush landscapes of the Nilgiris region in Tamil Nadu, in Anamalai, Mudumalai and Gudalur. An Indian rosewood, estimated to be about 200 years old and standing in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, was honoured as a Heritage Tree of Tamil Nadu by the State Biodiversity Board in 2017.
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'To us, it's not just a tree. It's sacred,' says B Bellie, a member of the Badaga, the largest indigenous community in the Nilgiris. 'For generations, the rosewood, referred to as 'kaalli mora' or 'kale mora', has held a revered place in our lives and rituals.'
In a time when the preservation of native trees is a priority for govt agencies, the forest department's move to annul the Act has sparked outcry from environmentalists.
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'This decision not to renew the Act contradicts conservation principles,' says Dharmalingam Venugopal, founder and director of the Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC). 'The authorities should be aware of the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the Rosewood Trees (Conservation) Act, a first-of-its-kind legislation in India.'
In 1994, Venugopal says, several large estates in the Gudalur belt applied to cut down 2,000 old of the trees 'under the pretext of shade regulation for tea bushes'.
'Some court orders favoured these estates by allowing the felling of Indian rosewood. A front-page article in a national newspaper about this issue prompted Jayalalithaa to enact legislation to protect the Indian rosewood in the state, particularly in the Gudalur belt of the Nilgiri region.
It sets an example for other states within the Nilgiri biosphere reserve.'
Srinivas R Reddy, principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest department, says the Act is 'no longer needed'.
'It has discouraged people from planting rosewood in other areas. By removing it, we're hoping more farmers will grow them, especially in irrigated areas, as rosewood doesn't survive in dry conditions.'
The objectives of this Act, he adds, are not fully realised because other regulations such as the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Act of 1949 and the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act of 1955, adequately protect these trees.
'A separate rosewood tree act is simply not needed.'
B J Krishnan, former member of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, says artificial regeneration of the Indian rosewood is 'near impossible'. 'Artificial cultivation of the species is difficult due to its low seed germination rate in natural conditions and slower growth compared to other native trees in the Nilgiris,' he says. 'As a result, the Indian rosewood population continues to decline even within forested areas.
'
Krishnan adds that the trees take more than two decades to reach maturity and achieve a significant diameter of about 200cm. 'So how can a farmer realistically grow and sell this tree?' he says. 'Withdrawing protective legislation would endanger the ancient Indian rosewood in the Janmam lands of Gudalur, many of which are leased to private companies. Known as the 'ivory of the forests', each tree, if felled, could fetch millions in the timber trade.
'
A fully mature 30ft tree will fetch at least `60 lakh in the timber market, says K Shankar, a timber merchant.
Most of these trees are several decades old, and Krishnan believes the now-lapsed law played a role in protecting them from being logged. 'Maybe some natural regeneration has occurred in the region because of that protection. However, earlier waves of felling have caused a loss of genetic diversity that threatens the long-term resilience of rosewood populations in the Gudalur belt.'
Reddy says that naturally grown rosewood will remain protected, but the planting of new trees will only be allowed with proof and approval from the district-level committee.
Krishnan says that existing laws such as the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Act, 1949, and the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955, also fail to address the conservation needs of this critical floral species, he notes.
'Indian rosewood trees is a genetic resources for plant breeding, and their disappearance would negatively impact the quality of the gene pool and the ecological integrity of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
'
He adds that just as there are specific legal frameworks to protect species such as tigers and elephants, Indian rosewood requires an act. 'The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2006 was enacted to facilitate the targeted conservation of tigers by establishing tiger reserves and core/critical tiger habitats, though tigers were protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
The same targeted approach was applied when the rosewood tree act was implemented.
' Venugopal says that the withdrawal of this Act would effectively enable the illegal logging of the trees, which are on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
'Estates falling under Section 17 of the Gudalur Janmam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) of 1969 contain a substantial number of Indian rosewood in the possession of large private companies. Perhaps the Act is being withdrawn to benefit the lessees of the janmam land,' says an environmentalist.
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