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The NFA Sanctuary and Wildlife breeding-ground was established in 2018 after land was

acquired by Auroville north of Nine Palms. It sprawls over around 15 acres and

represents the geographical centre of the northern Green Belt area.

For the past 8 years it has been collectively managed by stewards of the NFA (the

Northern Forests of Auroville), which corresponds to the area between Fertile Field to

the east and Nine Palms to the west, including Baraka, Espace, Revelation, Infinity,

Azhagu-Boomi, Kamataru and Freedom. The sanctuary represents a central area

between the Old Forest Front (O.F.F), the large forest tract between Two Banyans to the

east and Nine Palms to the west, and the four northern forest satellites separated from

the rest of Auroville land (Infinity, Azhagu-Boomi, Kamataru and Freedom). The

management of the Sanctuary in the more recent years was done by the stewards of

Fertile Field, Baraka and Kamataru.

The objective was to create a wildlife breeding ground in the form of a protected

evergreen forest and core regenerating area in the centre of the NFA. The idea was to

establish a forest corridor linking it to the Revelation Sanctuary to the south and the

Kamataru Sanctuary to the north. Another corridor interlinking the four satellites in the

east-west direction was envisioned to reduce forest fragmentation and optimize

management. About 10 acres of land would have been needed.

The management of the Sanctuary was focused on the increase of biomass and

diversity on the land, with tree planting undertaken every monsoon, and on zero

removal of biomass from the forest. Trees were not felled, green or dead. Pathways were

established across the sanctuary as well as along the entire perimeter of the fence. A

buffer zone about 15 meters wide was created inside the fence where the planting was

done more densely and where trees were used for fencing material, and thorns were cut

for the fence. The idea was to create a wild forest ecosystem and to enable its

development thanks to the decaying biomass that was left in place, with the knowledge

that healthy forest ecosystems contain around 30% dead biomass.

Evergreen species were planted using the existing vegetation as nurse trees. The goal

was to accelerate the closure of the evergreen canopy by accelerating the process of

species succession in the vegetation. In the more open areas of the forest, pioneer

species were planted.

A forest nursery was therefore started in Fertile Field to raise the saplings for the

sanctuary as well as for the entire NFA. The objective was to create a microclimate for

northern Auroville by forming an evergreen canopy over large surfaces of land. Adjacent

to the nursery, a seed-orchard was established. The idea was to grow critical evergreen

species intensively (with irrigation, composting) so as to accelerate the production of

seeds. These would then be germinated in the nursery but also dispersed naturally in

the sanctuary by animal vectors. In the longer term, these species, introductions from

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the hills of India, mostly the Eastern Ghats, would establish naturally in the shade of the

trees planted in the sanctuary. The forest would become an information system for

future generations of foresters, ecologists, biologists, designers, engineers and also

represent a place of inspiration and peace as well as a refuge for wildlife. The sanctuary

was therefore part of a three-pronged project comprising the nursery and seed orchard.

The NFA Sanctuary is the first collectively managed forest land in Auroville. The idea

was to share the costs, resources and responsibilities of managing a forest that would

not generate revenue from timber or fire-wood. It was also aimed to be a model of

collective management that would be undertaken at the scale of the watershed,

whereby the disparate forest stewardship blocks would become integrated into a larger

forest unit. The boundaries of these larger units would be hydrologic, i.e. the watershed

divides. Within these watershed forest zones, a land-use plan would be put together

ensuring more cohesion between the different sectors represented by the present

stewardship blocks. Resources would be pooled in collectively, work-force could be

shared and deployed in function of priority, key plots identified for critical consolidation

of land, and representatives for each sector (four sectors for the whole of Auroville)

would meet monthly, streamlining decision making.

Each watershed forest zone of Auroville would establish a similar collectively managed

protected forest in areas key for the hydrology and sound watershed management (ex:

ravines, ridges and high transmissibility zones). Collectively managed timber

plantations could also be formed for efficient income generation, as well as fruit

orchards on the best agricultural lands, and sound land-use plans put in place that

would enable a long-term and effective forest management and a continuity between

generations of stewards.

The NFA Sanctuary was key because it is at the heart of the NFA, close to the main ridge

of the plateau and upstream of all the ravines draining into the Rayapudupakkam

catchment pond. With just 5 acres of land, it could have been connected to Kamataru

and Revelation, and therefore to the entire O.F.F, drastically increasing the forest range

and its biological resilience.

Its protection has been ensured diligently since its inception, despite headwinds. Its

beauty and dignity had reached significant heights.

Its destruction, across its core, to make a road, is one laden with symbolism, to say the

least.

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