Kerala is home to the Western Ghats, one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biodiversity recognized by UNESCO. Despite its significance to world biodiversity, the ghats are faced with a significant threat from urban sprawl and industrial activities. When Theuerkauf visited India to attend a spiritual institution, his guru gave him the forest to protect. Ever since, the German self-taught conservationist had been collecting rare and endemic plants from nearby and preserving them in his private sanctuary. The Gurukula sanctuary is located at the edge of the Periyar reserve forest in northern Kerala and has now grown to about 32 hectares, becoming a home to over 2,000 native plant species from the southern regions.
To ensure the lush green rainforest gardens continued protecting native species, Theuerkauf trained and mentored 20 women from local communities. He died in 2014, but the 20 gardeners continue to protect and preserve the plants as the present custodians of the sanctuary. According to the source, the botanical sanctuary is a refuge to up to 40% of all plant species in the Western Ghats, and rare endemic species like the Impatiens jerdoniae thrive here. It is also a home to orchids, ferns, succulents, carnivorous plants, and other integral plant species. There are several plant sanctuaries across the globe, but none that particularly care for native and wild plant species, making it a Noah’s ark for endangered plant species.
A gold mine of native and wild plant species that are quietly disappearing from the world, the Gurukula sanctuary has become a hope for the environment. Rainforest gardeners like Laly Joseph, 56, head of plant conservation, are the most experienced of all the 20 gardeners and have been working here for the past 37 years. She was hired by Theuerkauf at 19 when she was in dire need of a job. “I was training to become an X-ray technician after school, but I wanted to get a job fast and took up work at the sanctuary because I also liked working with plants,” she said.
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