Sculptures made from invasive plants by tribals find a place in royal palace

Chennai: It was a proud moment for Ramesh Maran and Vishnu Varadhan, youngsters of Bettakurumba community from Gudalur in the Nilgiris district, when they received the Mark Shand award from King Charles III and Queen Camilla of England on Wednesday.
The duo represent the 150 tribals from the Nilgiris district, who are involved in making life-size elephants from lantana camara, an invasive plant species destroying the habitat of wild animals in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.This was part of The Real Elephant Collective, a social enterprise. Other communities involved in this project include Paniyas, Kattunayakans and Soligas.
Vishnu, a son of a forester from the Tamil Nadu forest department said his family has been working with elephants for six generations, as far back as they can remember. “ It was amazing to see that the lantana elephants we made in the Nilgiris are here in the palace with the royal family. Usually, we make an artefact and don’t get to see it again,” he said.
Ramesh Maran, a researcher with The Shola Trust and Tamil Nadu forest department said it was a proud moment for all indigenous communities in India. “In my village, no one believed me when I said I was going to London to meet the king and the queen. Even the immigration officer didn’t believe and looked at us and at the invitation several times before approving our visit,” he said.
The collective has made about 250 elephants so far from the removed invasive species. These installations also provide livelihood to communities as each elephant is priced at 1-3 lakh based on its size. These elephants, made in partnership with the UK Charity Elephant Family, represent human-wildlife co-existence.
Vishnu and Ramesh presented the king and queen with a coffee table book that tells stories of the mahouts and elephants in the Theppakadu Camp, produced by the Real Elephant Collective and Tamil Nadu forest department.
Oscar winning filmmaker Kartiki Gonsalves was also felicitated with the Tara award for her film ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ that highlights the bond between indigenous people and elephants.