Saving Girdled Trees: Bridge Grafting, Tiger Habitats and Forest Rights Explained

Reported damage: An inspection in the Karka area of Udanti–Sitanadi Tiger Reserve reportedly identified around 2,500 girdled trees, mainly Sal, Bija and Tendu. Officials consider more than 500 recently damaged trees more promising candidates for treatment. They allege that trees were deliberately damaged to facilitate encroachment; responsibility remains a matter for investigation and legal determination.

Wider dispute: Earlier reporting records conflicting claims about historic displacement and compensation connected with a dam. These claims require examination of records and applicable rights. Alleged tree damage does not establish that every resident is an encroacher, and a land claim does not authorise deliberate forest destruction.

Location and landscape: The reserve lies in Chhattisgarh, across Gariaband and Dhamtari districts. Its Udanti and Sitanadi core areas are associated with the rivers of those names. It forms part of the Mahanadi drainage landscape and connects with forests towards Odisha’s Sonabeda Wildlife Sanctuary. Such connections help wildlife move beyond individual protected areas.

Conservation value: The reserve is important for Central Indian wild buffalo conservation as well as tiger habitat. Protecting a tiger landscape therefore also protects prey, other wildlife, vegetation and river catchments. Its value cannot be measured only by the number of tigers present at a particular time.

Trees mentioned in the report:

Ecological setting: These are characteristic trees of central Indian deciduous forests. Chhattisgarh has both tropical moist and tropical dry deciduous forest types. Tendu leaves are also expressly included within the Forest Rights Act’s definition of minor forest produce, linking forest ecology with livelihoods. [5] [15]

Meaning: Girdling, or ring-barking, involves removing or damaging a band around a woody stem deeply enough to interrupt its living inner bark. It differs from a small, superficial scrape. A complete ring can sever the phloem connection between the crown and roots; severe injury can also damage the vascular cambium.

Transport tissues: In a typical woody dicot stem, their functions and positions are:

Bark clarification: Bark includes tissues outside the vascular cambium, including secondary phloem; it is more than the visible protective outer covering. The examination-critical distinction is xylem carries water and minerals; phloem carries food.

Root starvation: Leaves manufacture sugars through photosynthesis. Roots need an incoming supply of these sugars for respiration and growth. When a complete girdle blocks that supply, roots consume reserves and may progressively die. A weakened root system eventually compromises water and mineral uptake, affecting the whole tree.

Delayed symptoms: If the underlying xylem remains intact, water can still reach the leaves temporarily. The tree may therefore remain green despite serious damage. Leaf colour alone cannot establish that food transport has recovered or that the tree will survive.

Source-to-sink transport: A source supplies sugars, while a sink uses or stores them. Mature leaves commonly act as sources; roots, developing fruits and growing tissues can act as sinks. Phloem transport can occur upward or downward according to this relationship, rather than always downward. In this incident, interruption of transport towards roots is the crucial problem.

Extent of injury: Partial girdling may leave living strips that maintain some transport. Survival depends on how much functional tissue remains, the depth and age of injury, species and overall tree condition. Recent damage may offer better prospects, but timing alone does not guarantee recovery.

Repair principle: Bridge grafting places compatible living shoots, called scions, across the damaged zone. Their ends join healthy tissue below and above the girdle. Successful unions, requiring suitable cambial contact, develop a living connection that bypasses the injury and can restore carbohydrate transport to roots. It is a repair graft, not a process of sewing dead bark back together.

Related technique: Inarching uses a rooted plant or an existing basal shoot to establish a graft connection with the damaged tree. Bridge grafting normally uses detached scions. Both depend on biological compatibility and living tissue, rather than simply fastening any branch to a trunk.

Biological category: Grafting is a vegetative technique. It does not involve fertilisation and does not automatically create a genetically hybrid tree. Its purpose here is to restore a damaged tree’s physiological connection.

Case-by-case feasibility: Specialists must assess the species, compatible graft material, surviving cambium, root health, injury extent and suitable growth conditions. Established horticultural applications do not by themselves prove the same outcomes for mature Sal, Bija or Tendu in a forest. An already dead tree cannot be revived through grafting.

Evidence and monitoring: The report mentions roughly 10% success in an earlier local attempt. That is a result reported for that intervention, not a universal success rate for bridge grafting. Evaluation should track graft union formation, continuing growth and survival over time, rather than count only treatments performed.

Traditional knowledge: Local knowledge can help identify species, seasonal changes and historical forest use. Proposed treatments should nevertheless be assessed scientifically. The report’s mention of cow-dung and soil dressings is not evidence that such applications are universally safe or effective. Community knowledge and expert assessment can inform each other without assuming every remedy is validated.

Ecological effects: Loss of mature native trees can reduce food and shelter for wildlife, weaken seed sources and simplify forest structure. Extensive damage may disrupt habitat connections, increase exposed soil and erosion, and affect catchment functions. Protecting forests also retains carbon stored in vegetation and soils. These are potential ecological consequences; the report does not quantify each impact at this site.

Degradation and conversion: Forest degradation means declining ecological condition or function while the area remains forest. Deforestation involves conversion to non-forest use. Girdling can begin a process of degradation and facilitate later clearing. Tree counts and canopy cover alone cannot capture the full condition of an ecosystem.

Restoration objective: Saving viable trees preserves existing ecological functions. Where recovery is impossible, restoration should support native regeneration, suitable species diversity and habitat connectivity. Planting an equal number of saplings does not immediately recreate the functions of a mature forest.

Different roles: Satellite images taken at different times help identify changes in canopy and land cover. Drones provide more detailed observations of selected locations. Differential GPS (DGPS) improves position estimates using corrections derived from a reference station at a known location, helping map boundaries and damaged trees accurately. DGPS determines location; it does not directly diagnose vascular injury.

Ground verification: Forest change detected remotely must be checked against field observations. Early damage beneath bark may precede visible canopy decline. Images can support monitoring and investigation, but do not alone establish an individual’s responsibility, the precise cause of tree death or the legal validity of a forest-rights claim.

Statutory basis: Under Section 38V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, a State Government notifies a tiger reserve on the recommendation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. NTCA is a statutory authority under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, established through the Act’s 2006 amendment.

Core and buffer distinction:

Similar names, different laws: Critical tiger habitat under the wildlife law and critical wildlife habitat under the Forest Rights Act are distinct legal concepts. They should not be used interchangeably. Declaration of a tiger reserve does not by itself complete the procedures for relocation or extinguish forest rights.

Recognised rights: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognises eligible individual and community rights. Section 3(1)(i) concerns rights over traditionally conserved community forest resources, including their protection, regeneration, conservation and sustainable management. The Gram Sabha initiates the rights-recognition process; the District Level Committee takes the final decision.

Protection against premature eviction: Under Section 4(5), subject to the Act’s provisions, covered forest dwellers cannot be evicted from occupied forest land before recognition and verification are complete. This safeguard must be respected while alleged forest offences are investigated. It does not grant an unrestricted right to clear additional forest.

Conservation responsibilities: Section 5 empowers right holders, Gram Sabhas and village institutions to protect wildlife, forests, biodiversity, catchments and water sources, and prevent destructive activities. Rights recognition can therefore strengthen community stewardship.

Relocation safeguards: Where relocation is proposed to create inviolate tiger habitat, the prescribed conditions include completed rights processes, scientific examination of ecological harm and coexistence options, informed consent, and secure rehabilitation arrangements. Historical compensation disputes require documentary verification and fair hearings. Protection, rights determination and rehabilitation must each follow the applicable law.