When I first read about Jabarkhet in an article on private nature reserves in India, I was intrigued. The idea of a few individuals coming together to protect a wilderness was a fascinating idea. When I reached Jabarkhet Nature Reserve, conservationist Sejal Worah was at the entrance with a bunch of other nature enthusiasts. Sejal was instrumental in setting up the reserve and was all set to lead us on a walk through Jabarkhet.
As we trundle along the uphill trail, she casually points to the flora around us — an ancient tree, a seasonal plant, a rare flower. Sejal’s connection with the reserve is obvious — she frequented the place as a child and returned years later to find that it had undergone great environmental degradation. That’s when the restoration process for Jabarkhet began. Sejal stops near a tree to show us marks left by a woodpecker on the bark of a mansura tree. She tells us the story of how the town of Mussoorie came to be named after this tree. At the highest point of the trail, she stops beneath a lone oak. I rub my hand over the oak’s weathered bark, marvel at its resilience and wonder how long it had been standing there. On a clear day, this point offers a spectacular view of Bandarpunch, a mountain massif of the Garhwal division of the Himalaya.
An early start, unlike ours, gives visitors a chance to spot species such as leopards, Himalayan black bears, barking deer, yellow-throated martens, porcupines, wild boar, goral, which have made a spectacular return after conservation efforts to stem the deterioration of the Reserve began in 2013. More than 150 bird species, including seasonal residents and migrants, are found in the reserve as well.
As Sejal leads us through a meadow of flowers she says, “People are desperate to reconnect with nature. Even though Jabarkhet doesn’t cover a huge area, visitors enjoy walking and immersing themselves in nature here unlike a national park or wildlife sanctuary, where they have to deal with traffic and overcrowding in safari jeeps.”
The transformation of the forest in the monsoon is magical. Sejal animatedly tells us about the different kinds of mushrooms that grow in the reserve in the rains. “A few of these are edible too,” she says.
Jabarkhet is a private reserve. A lot of Mussoorie falls under private forest land, which is governed under the Private Forest Act, which requires owners to manage the land as a forest and have a management plan. Similar laws govern Jabarkhet.
“The land adjoining Jabarkhet is also a private forest. The idea behind Jabarkhet is to create a self-sustaining model of conserving land, which other private forest owners would want to replicate,” says Sejal.
At the end of the trail, we break for tea in a clearing and Sejal tells us how she got in touch with the owners of the estate in 2013 to establish Uttarakhand’s first private nature reserve: “I am not a wealthy person. So, I can’t keep putting my money into this enterprise. One of the reasons we set up Jabarkhet as a private venture, and not an NGO, is to ensure that reserve is run as a successful conservation business enterprise. While the income generated from the park pays our corporate partner, it also covers the cost of managing the land.”
While the locals initially opposed the plan to convert the area into a private reserve as it meant letting go of their access to firewood and grazing land for their cows, neighbouring communities eventually came around as they begin to benefit from the revenue generated from the reserve. Today, the guides who accompany visitors are from neighbouring communities, and play a vital role in protecting the reserve, including in summer, when forest fires are a major threat. “One of our key learnings is that when people benefit from the forest, they start supporting it. Once the reserve, set up in 2015, started generating revenue, the local community got jobs and other collateral benefits. They went from being resistant to the idea to being supportive,” says Sejal.
She also shows us footage of the reserve’s animals captured in camera traps to our collective ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. Though the rest of the group has begun to disperse, my friend and I hadn’t had enough of exploring the mountain trails. Sensing our unquenched appetite for the forest, Sejal suggests we follow another trail, which leads to a stream. As we head to discover this stream, the forest engulfs us once again. We are mesmerised by the rhododendron flowers — blooms that look like bright red flames along the green canopy. Sunlight trickled in through the green cover creating an ethereal glow along our trail, strewn with dry leaves and rhododendron flowers. I don’t know what it is about oak forests, maybe it is their ancientness, their stillness that makes them so tranquil. I wonder what we would have lost, if this were not protected in time. I wonder how many we continue to lose.
How to get there:
Jabarkhet Nature Reserve is a 30-minute drive from Mussoorie. Taxis to the reserve are available both from Mussoorie and Dehradun.
What to lookout for:
Spring: Rhododendron flowers, flowering trees and birds
Summer: Flowering meadows
Monsoon: Wild flowers, ferns and mushrooms
Autumn: Acorns and wild grasses
Winter: Blue skies, views of the Himalayas, frost and snow
What to carry:
A camera
A pair of binoculars
A water bottle, hat and some dry snacks/chocolates
Wear shoes, dull-coloured clothes and avoid bright colour
Where to stay:
Doma’s Inn: Doma’s Inn is bright-red cottage perched on a steep turn in Landour with reasonably-priced cozy wooden rooms, walls lined with film posters, and great Tibetan fare. The fact that it shares a wall with author Ruskin Bond’s home adds to the charm.
La Villa Bethany: Hidden in a wooded oak and pine forest, La Villa Bethany is an award-winning, moderately priced, homestay in Landour with beautiful views of the Doon valleys. It is a painstakingly restored old English cottage run by an enthusiastic couple who gave up a slick city life for the hills.
Rokeby Manor: Rokeby Manor is an old 1840s villa with stone walls, wooden floors, a breathing fireplace and a charming restaurant called Emily’s on the edge of a steep valley. It is one of the most luxurious stays in town.
About the contributor
Anirudh Nair
is a staff writer with Roundglass Sustain. He enjoys walking through the wilderness and is constantly in awe of wild nature.
