“A rainforest,” says naturalist Vijaya Chakravarty, “is like a multi-story building. There is the ground cover, the bushes, the vines and, towering above them, the trees.“And each ‘story,'” he continues, ascending a trunk, forms a distinct ecological niche inhabited by one species or another, from orchids and bromeliads to sunbirds and hornbills. Chakravarty’s Rainforest 101 takes place in the countryside, not in the Western Ghats but in the urban heart of Vashi, on the grounds of the Indian Women Scientists Association (IWSA). The organization was formed by 12 women scientists in 1973 to address the challenges faced by their peers in science, both in the classroom and in the field. He also set out to demystify science for the masses, through public interventions that would make the topic accessible and fun.The rainforest demonstration site emerged from this mission.In 2018, IWSA planted a Learning Garden on its campus to demonstrate how ecosystems work (and the services they provide) through thematic groups of plants, each no larger than the width of a young baobab trunk.The rainforest site, for example, is surrounded by a ring of trees approximately 7 feet in diameter. At its center is an imposing Peltophorum pterocarpum (copper pod), surrounded by Schefflera actinophylla (the octopus tree), along with shrubs, grasses and plants that adapt to the soil. A graph deciphers its plane. A couple of meters away are other demonstration ecosystems (the Western Ghats, the Deccan Plateau and the Coastal Belt), each composed of a mixed bed of plants representing its biogeographic region, like a living row of botanical Petri dishes.
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There are butterfly, sensory and cactus sections; exhibitions dedicated to orchids and indoor air-purifying plants (Dracaena trifasciata, or mother-in-law’s tongue); biofuel plants such as Jatropha curcas (the biodiesel plant); and medicinal species such as Cissus quadrangularis (the bone-fixing hadjod). There are fruit-bearing plants such as Ziziphus mauritiana (ber), prehistoric plants such as Zamia furfuracea (the cardboard plant), dye-producing plants such as Bixa orellana (the lipstick plant) and plants named after musical instruments, such as Plumeria pudica (the fiddle-leaf champa). The garden also includes an arboretum and a section dedicated to wild food plants.It is a comprehensive collection of more than 500 species that attracts school and university students, neighborhood children, botany and medical students, and even landscapers and architects eager to follow IWSA’s example.And a book, in fact, is what is currently being talked about on campus, as the association launches its latest publication: ‘Creating Learning Gardens and Living Museums: Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability.’It’s an easy-to-use illustrated guide that’s part primer, part storybook, and a complete manual for establishing your own biodiversity oasis. Inspired by the Vashi project, Inner Wheel District 314, which supported the publication of the book, created a similar learning garden in the Navaze village of Palghar.“People are told stories or given visual cues to help them remember names and key features,” says Chakravarty, the garden’s lead designer and one of the book’s editors. Hadjod, for example, resembles articulated bones and, as its name suggests, is prescribed as a cure for arthritis and to accelerate the healing of fractures. “Chutneys are also made from it.”Alstonia academicis, or scholar’s tree, is considered the herbal home of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. “That’s why Tagore gave every Santiniketan graduating student a symbolic leaf,” says Priya Jacob, IWSA secretary. The scarlet seeds of Abrus precatorius (rosary vine) were once used to weigh gold, because their weight was surprisingly consistent.IWSA may have the means to measure wealth, but not the material itself, as it struggles to raise capital to keep the garden green. “Lack of funds prevents us from hiring a full-time gardener and purchasing the material and manure we need to maintain the place,” says Dr Srirupa Mukherjee, garden coordinator.Garden management is made easier by assigning thematic sections to members. Scientists often pay for expenses out of pocket, but rarely for the plants themselves, some of which arrive through plant exchange programs or are donated by institutions with which the women are associated. Pterygota alata ‘diversifolia’ (pagal patta), for example, was a gift from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.“The tree looks a bit like IWSA,” laughs Chakravarty. “Each leaf is different and has a different shape from the other, like the women here.”