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| Thursday, 23 October 2003 |
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The treetop hideaway by Tharuka Dissanayake
Sirisena sniffs at the cool breeze that wafts across the moonlit tank. "I don't think there are any elephants close by," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. "How can you tell?" we ask, fascinated by this apparent ability to sniff out elephants. "Oh, if they are around here they would be making much noise, breaking twigs and calling to each other. If there is a large herd, there is a certain smell..." But we are loathe to give up. It was a wonderful night to wait for elephants. A day after Poya, the nearly fullmoon is better than any search light, as it illuminates the forest and fallow paddy fields lying eastward of the tank. The remaining water in the almost-dried up tank reflect the huge orange moon. In the tank bed, now dried up, peacocks are settling for the night, the forest awash with their eerie, cat-like calls. We watch this scene unfold below us - as we huddle together in the Treehouse. This unique tree-top platform is built upon two sturdy Palu trees on the bund of Joolpothana Tank, just outside Yala National Park. There is all the evidence that elephants come here often to drink and bathe here, even as Yala Park closes doors to guests due to the severe drought that prevails during September-October in this arid area. At times the tank provides water and fodder for as many as 60 elephants. But a few days before the first inter-monsoon showers had fallen. So, Sirisena explains, the elephants may have found water elsewhere. Sirisena (J.W. are his initials) is a farmer. He is one of 20 impoverished farmers who grow rice, long beans, chillie and such in the fields downstream of Joolpothana Tank. The fields are cultivated twice - rice, just after the North East Moonsoon and cash crops in the next season. During the cultivating periods the farmers move out of their homes in Yodakandiya and put up temporary camp in Joolpothana, living in the forest for three months protecting the crop from raiding animals - chiefly elephants. The Treehouse built upon the bund of this very picturesque forest encircled tank is run and managed by the Mahanaga Farmers' Society to which Sirisena and his fellow Joolpothana cultivators belong. The idea for the project came from the Tissamaharama-based, Southern Elephant Research project. "Our idea is that the farmers who cultivate land in the forest buffer areas should derive some benefit from the wildlife that abounds here," said L.K.A. Jayasinghe, Project Manager. "The income from Yala National Park goes to the state, the large hotels, a few mudalalis in town and the jeep drivers. Nothing trickles down to the poor people who live and cultivate in the buffer zones." And surely, Sirisena has only heard of Yala. He knows that the jungles of the national park lie within a mile eastward of his paddy tract. But never has he ventured into the park as a visitor. Nor has he ever seen the need to. He grew up in the jungle, played in elephant footprints, bathed in forest tanks and listened to high-pitched peacock calls every night. The forest is both friend and foe to the impoverished farmers who till small cultivable tracts, fed by old rain harvesting tanks, within it. If anything elephants are a menace to him and the other 20 members of the Mahanaga Farmer Society. Many of the men have had close encounters and narrow shaves while protecting their harvest from marauders. But Jayasinghe hopes to change that mindset. Hence the Treehouse project. "After listening to this mahattaya we feel differently about elephants coming into this area. We know we have to share the land with them. But we never considered the forest and the animals as a source of income," Sirisena says. National park management has to address the crucial issue of buffer zone populations - often-impoverished farmers who bear the brunt of the conflict between wild animals and humans. The assistance of these people is crucial in conservation of any animal, elephant, leopard, deer or bear. Because of the threat to their lives and crops from wildlife, farmers are often the first to harm wild animals. Poverty also drives these men to engage in hunting and poaching. The Treehouse concept is a pilot project to demonstrate the viability of encouraging farmers to act as guardians of wildlife because they can derive some economic benefit out of the presence of these animals close to their fields. "Throughout studies and research, we have found that elephants often prefer to hang around in secondary forests an abandoned cultivation as it provides them with easy food. This is where the conflict with man begins. At Joolpothana, we want to see if the conflict can be managed in a way that is profitable for the farmers and safe for elephants", Jayasinghe says. The Treehouse also provides the visitor with a unique experience. You are very close to nature. It's a great location to see elephants. During the cultivating season visitors can have a first hand experience of the human-elephant conflict as well, watching the farmers protecting their crops all night from animals."
The Joolpothana Tank is approached on the Yodawewa-Sithulpavuwa Road from Tissamaharama. Visitors to the Treehouse can come to Joolpothana for an evening or an entire night. An ideal time to arrive would be an hour or so before sunset that is by 4.30-5.30 depending on the time of year. Watching the hot day transform into a stunning sunset over the forest is rewarding enough. But to sit there, above ground, watching dusk steal over the landscape, birds flying to their nesting trees and the occasional rumble of a large forest animal is an experience that defies description. We were further rewarded by the sight of a stunning moonrise over yala jungles. The Treehouse is equipped with the merest basics - reed mats and kerosene lamp. Visitors must remember to carry provisions with them and be ready to use the scrub as toilet. A torch would be handy, especially on darker nights. Food and water has to be carried and of course sleeping bags, if one is spending the entire night here - atop a tree. Don't forget binoculars and a camera. The Joolpothana experience should be an essential item on the itinerary of any wildlife visit to the South. Even those visiting Kataragama or Sithulpavuwa can detour to spend a few dusk-time hours in this jungle hideaway and experience the wilderness around. Two farmers accompany each visiting group for safety. The Society charges Rs. 1,500 for an evening and Rs. 2,000 for an entire night. The income from the Treehouse is divided to give the two accompanying farmers a sizeable day's income, while the rest is credited to the society coffers and some of it put aside for maintenance of the structure. The Treehouse can be booked through the Mahanaga Farmers' Society (047 - 2237883 - Ariyananda or Jayasinghe 047 - 2239079). |
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