The signboard of Thanal (which means shade) is appropriately hidden by a profusion of greenery. But environmentalists of all shades of green unerringly make a beeline for the Thiruvananthapuram-based office of Thanal, a non-governmental organisation active in the fields of public interest research, advocacy and education.
Posters in several languages exhort visitors to grow vegetables, stop littering, save our rice, care for the environment and so on; just a few of the issues that workers of Thanal have taken up over the years as part of their efforts to conserve Kerala's green cover, rich biodiversity and food. Their notice board for June 5 is filled with reminders (speeches, seminars and meetings) for staff members of Thanal.
“Come June 5, we are snowed under with invitations to speak or participate in various functions to observe World Environment Day,” says Sridhar Radhakrishnan, a computer engineer-turned green activist. But, in a way, it also highlights the appreciation won by the Thanal activists who have been at the forefront of campaigns for pesticide-free farming, organic farming, kitchen gardens, sustainable agriculture, zero waste and more. The ardent conservationists who wanted to do original research on environmental issues pertaining to Kerala have come a long way since 1986 when Thanal was formed.
Nature lovers
“We were a group of nature lovers and students of science who wanted to go beyond introducing children to the wonders of Kerala's rich ecology. Some of us also were keen on research on certain areas with an emphasis on Kerala. We were concerned about environmental health, sustainable agriculture and so on," recalls C. Jayakumar, one of the founder members.
In the late nineties, they were invited by environmental activists to study the costs incurred by the community on account of the Mavoor Gwalior Rayon project and the pollution to the Chaliyar. Their study won them the confidence of green enthusiasts in Kerala and the ear of the authorities.
“A few years later, Leela Kumari, an agricultural assistant in Kasaragod, wanted us to take up a study of the community health in villages in the district. She insisted that many villagers had fallen ill due to aerial spraying of a pesticide – Endosulfan,” recalls Jayakumar.
Their work pitch forked them into a whole new area and it proved to be a turning point for the organisation. “In 2000, when the Net was still in its infancy in Kerala, we began to depend on it for information and networking. We got in touch with researchers, international organisations, scientists, writers and other environmental groups to understand how we could go about our task,” says Jayakumar.
Jolted by their findings, they (all ardent followers of the landmark books Silent Spring and Our Stolen Future) pushed hard for a ban of the chemical and were successful in stopping the spraying in Kasaragod. But their activism did not stop there.
“We found that it was not enough to advocate pesticide-free farming. We had to prove that it was a viable alternative and that was how we stepped into organic farming,” says Usha, executive director of Thanal and wife of Jayakumar.
Thus was planted the seeds of the monthly organic market. “Each time, it was a chain of events that made us venture into new areas. Shibu K. Nair, one of our activists had gone to the United States when he happened to see a farmers' market. He was keen on starting one here and so we got in touch with Alexander Daniel, one of the pioneers of organic farming, and we began holding a market for organic produce from 2003 onwards,” explains Jayakumar. At about the same time their work began in Kasaragod, the Thanal workers came to know about plans to set up an incinerator at Kovalam. International environmentalist group Greenpeace and Thanal were up in arms against the proposal as burning the waste would release lethal chemicals into the atmosphere.
“But then we had to come up with a proposal to treat the waste and thus was begun the Zero Waste Centre in Kovalam, a project to recycle the waste and make marketable goods from biodegradable items,” says Usha.
The Save Our Rice Campaign also came about as a response to rice cultivation that ignored traditional knowledge systems, and practices that were damaging the soil and pushing small-scale farmers into penury.
“It is high time we stop being highhanded; it is time to listen to the soil and to the famers who work the soil,” says Usha.
Today Thanal has about 20 staff members and its findings are quoted by respected international agencies.
“Our motto is ‘gather for all beings' and ‘quest for survival.' Our aim is to groom a group of young scientists who will carry on our work to conserve the environment,” hopes Jayakumar.
Thanal workers have been teaching organic farming to agriculturists in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Wayanad. They also interact and work with environmentalists in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The organic bazaar organised by Thanal today boasts sales of Rs. 1 lakh and they have 400 farmers who follow organic farming, 120 of whom sell to Thanal itself. A centre called Agriculture and A Livelihood will be set up in Wayanad. Their plan is to meet all their energy requirements from solar and wind energy.
