Posted by
vinay kumar
on
January 22, 2013
it is awesome of nature of manali
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Posted by
Mayur Rajput
on
January 12, 2013
I have visited jayakwadi bird sanctuary situated near Aurangabad- 60km distance; one of the best places near by. I have sighted around 120 species of birds there in one trip including greater flamingo, eurasian spoonbill, long tailed godwit, whisked tern,grey
heron, small blue kingfisher and many more!
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Posted by
Himani Kala
on
December 12, 2012
Has anyone noticed....the frequency of earthquakes in last few months??? or you must be giving an eye to news related to nature's fury....floods, volcano eruption, drought etc..etc....don't you feel that its a clear indication that now its our turn to pay back
to our mother earth.....it doesn't mean that we will start celebrating days like..earth day, world environment day, ozone day....recent one is Greenathon. For an environmentalist like us, all days should be Earth, ozone or environment day.
In my Recent trip to Sahayadris from where Western Ghats starts, made me feel like what I am giving to my planet. Am I doing enough to save my nature and natural resources? No, I think answer is no, nothing....the work I am trying to do is not enough. One
of my friend who is very passionate about wildlife conservation is doing way beyond his capabilities despite the fact that he doesn't have the proper degree in his hand, still he is worried about conservation. When he can try his level best, then why not others?
My trip to Sahayadri was to assess the impact on few migratory bird due to some developmental activity which is going on there, but when I reached there and saw the impact...it was awful, not on birds but on the entire landscape. Blasting, digging, red soil
all over which was making the low visibility in the area...........it was soooo painful and made us think whether we should take up the study or not? Now, we are doing the study coz we want to come up with the proper conservation action which has to be taken
out while carrying out all these developmental activities.
During my stay, I came across few threatened species of flora and fauna and was surprised how and why government has given permission for this activity? Government has certain rules and regulation before initiating such activities but alas! this activity has
not been included under EIA norms. Still wondering why?
Due to some official constrain I cannot write detail in this blog but I strongly believe if government think of renewable energy resources also, then before initiating the proposed project, see the proper impact on the environment.........
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Posted by
Himani Kala
on
December 12, 2012
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| Annual river in Kumbhalgarh WLS |
I do not know how to express my view today….I was in the field “Kumbhalgarh WLS” to share our research findings with local community called “Raika”. Raika is a community whose main
occupation is livestock rearing especially sheep and goat rearing and they are traditionally dependent on the forest for their need.
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| View of Aravalli Hills |
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| Garasia Tribal |
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| Raika community |
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This workshop cum field visit was organized by an NGO called “Lok-hit Pashu Palak Sansthan (LPPS) that is working with Raikas for
the welfare of this community in the vicinity of Kumbhalgarh WLS. Then being with Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) (presently with Green Future Foundation, GFF) my colleague and I was asked to share our research as well as “what we are doing inside
and outside the protected areas for the benefit of local communities and on conservation aspect”. Other participants were from Kalpvriksh (NGO from Pune) and Sahjeevan (NGO from BHuj-Kachchh) along with few members of Maldhari community from Banni Grassland
(Kachchh- Gujarat). This Maldhari community was invited to share their views about the conservation of grasslands in extreme western part of country. Apart from this they did share their notion about Forest Right Act (2006) and how they are managing their
resources in sustainable manner.
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| Grass potential of Kumbhalgarh WLS |
Known person from Kalpvriksh was very clear in telling about the Forest Right Act, Individual Property Right (IPR) and Community Property Right (CPR). Many things are very much clearly
mentioned in the Act but some of the NGOs are trying to misinterpret the information available and the local community vivaciously grasping this information. It is so disheartening to see how the real facts are getting distorted!!!!! I wanted to tell many
things but I didn’t find it as a suitable platform. Though, it was very difficult for me to keep myself quiet, and I did communicate with local community but in a different perspective. One thing which came up, was the management aspect, it’s not that local
community cannot manage their resources but lack of collective efforts or you can say lack of UNITY is becoming a major problem. Most of my friends think that these tribal and local communities are innocent people but increased impact of technology and politics
has grown its root deeper at the village level and that is where their innocence is paying interest. Literate people are taking advantage of their innocence and lack of accord to earn their bread. It’s so ridiculous!
 I am a wildlife biologist, I do care about the forest and practically I am against any type of developmental activities inside the forest, I do believe in natural flow of nutrient and
natural regeneration of forest but on the other hand I do aware of the rights which are being asked by local community. Here comes my concern of transient the information, passing on the right information and in precise way should be the criteria in engaging
these people with us. Dialogue with respective department and local community should be in agenda. If government has brought some Act for the welfare of the tribal community, then we all should join hands together towards the sustainable management and conservation
of our resources.
 Some of the NGOs are behaving like a rival of forest department. In this way the differences and clashes between the forest department and local community cannot be filled. These NGOs
should work like cement instead of working like a negative catalyst. Overall these resources are all ours and it’s our duty to conserve these resources in sustainable manner. If economic growth is necessary for the country then same thing should apply for
the tribal also and I don’t think anyone will deny this fact of economic and social uplifting of local and tribal community but in this social and economic uplifting one should never forget our environment and sustainable use of natural resources.
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Posted by
Himani Kala
on
December 12, 2012
Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary is a beautiful abode for the birds of different regions. It is supposed to believe that Goddess 'Sita'
had spent her few years of exile in this area, hence this sanctuary named as Sitamata WLS with three perennial rivers in its account.
This sanctuary has its immense importance in Southern Rajasthan mainly because it forms the northwestern limit of Teak-bamboo forests and the fauna occurring there in. It is exceptional for diversity and interspersion of habitats, which includes area of teak
stands, wetlands, perennial streams, gentle undulating mountains, natural deep gorges and fine grooves of mixed woodlands. The location of this sanctuary being at the inter junction of the Aravalli, Vindyan hill ranges, and Malwa Plateau makes it zoo-geographically
important and more unique as floral and faunal elements of both ranges could occur.
 This
majestic Wildlife Sanctuary (SWLS) lies in the districts of Chittaurgarh, Udaipur and newly formed Pratapgarh district in the southwest region of Rajasthan State extending upto 422.95 km2. Three perennial river i.e. Jakham, karmoi and Sitamata wet
the sanctuary through out the year. General topography presents a picture of tangled wilderness of ridges, plateaus, valleys with network of streams and at places fairly wide plains.  The
winter commences from November and becomes cold in December –January with the minimum temperature of 6oC. Summer starts from mid March and the heat become intense in April with the maximum temperature of 45oC. Rain showers from mid June
and continues up to mid September. Sometimes winter showers also occur in January-February.
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| Bauhinia racemosa |
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| Bolssom |
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| Peristylis spp. |
When talk about Rajasthan, only scene comes in mind is vast sand dunes, desert, dry areas but seeing this sanctuary would surely surprise everyone by seeing network of three rivers Jakham, the Karmoi and the Sitamata and accompanied lush green riparian vegetation
is main characteristic of this sanctuary.All this have resulted in diverse micro and macro habitats that are home to quite a few conservation significant floral species like
Sterculia urens,Dendrocalamus strictus, Chlorophytum tuberosum, Buchanania lanzan, Desmostachya bipinnata, Gloriosa superba and Orchid like Vanda and
Peristylis.
With so many characteristics, this sanctuary is interspersed with about 26 villages and their agriculture field that creates a typical mosaic; while along the periphery
there are nearly 20 villages. The agricultural activities coupled with the heavy biotic pressure of domestic livestock, illicit cutting of wood, timber and bamboo and other MFP collection, encroachments, both inside and the periphery exerts enormous pressure
on the PA.
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| Indian Peafowl |
This entire geographic feature makes this sanctuary perfect abode for more then 300 species of birds including Indian
Pitta, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Black-naped Monarch, Verditer Flycatcher, Ultramarine Flycatcher, three type of Kingfisher and major attraction is Stroke-billed Kingfisher in the riverine, Tit species like Black-lored Tit, Great Tit, small birds like munias
and winter visitors like warblers, and even can see dancing Indian Peafowls everywhere in the monsoon season.
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| Peacock Pansy |
Butterflies like Lime butterflies, Mormon, Blue Tigers, Grey, blue, peacock and chocolate pansy can
be seen feeding on many flowering species.
Tiny spiders are of course can bring joy of being in the forest.
Mammals like Palm and Small Indian Civet are an attraction in the night feeding on some fruiting
trees. Jungle Cat and smallest Rusty-spotted Cat is also a feature of attraction in the sanctuary along with endangered Four-horned Antelope.
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| Indian Rock Python |
Reptiles like Fan-throated Lizard, to poisonous Kobra, Krait to Python, even crocodiles can be seen
at the bank of Jakham Dam.
Overall this sanctuary is a must visit place in southern Aravallis. Even Sitamata temple is located
at the heart of the sanctuary midst of lush green forest with riverine all along.
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| Ravines |
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| Waterfall near Sitamata Temple |
One could ever imagine a walk in the forest listening chirping birds all over, fishes and even small crabs in the river,
water is so clear that one can even see river-bed full of small pebbles, deep gorges and valley and after that a small water fall. It’s so comforting to be in this protected area. I would advise to all my friends to take some time off from their busy life
and visit this place at least once in their life.
Posted byDr.Himani Kalaat11:47
PM
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Posted by
vinay kumar
on
December 11, 2012
save animals and trees and always believe in the words "live and let live".
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Posted by
kaivalya
on
November 11, 2012
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Posted by
Soham
on
November 08, 2012
I live in a captivity where there is wonderful nature and a vast flora and fauna.
I love being here.
Just a few kilometers away from my home is a lake which is home to more than 100 species of birds.
Anyways, this is not a "lake" but is a wasteyard with sewage treated water dumped there.
My recent trip on 3 November 2012 yielded me with :
- Cormorants
- Marsh Harrier
- Crested Honey Buzzard
- Asian Paradise Flycatcher
- White Eyed Buzzard
- Tufted Duck
- Common Moorhen
- Rufous Tailed Shrike
- Rufous Lark
- Dalmatian Pelican
- Isabelline Wheatear
- Shikra
- Glossy Ibis
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Posted by
Krishna Kulkarni
on
November 01, 2012
In this blog its about the Blackbucks (a species of
antilopes) in and around the Koppal district of Karnataka, the place where I hail from.
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| A Blackbuck in dry grasses. |
Now these Blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) are a species of
Antilopes native to the Indian sub-continent. These have been classified as
endangered by IUCN since 2003. Blackbuck is the only living species of genus Antilope. Today, the blackbuck population is confined to areas in
Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka, with a few small pockets in central India.
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| Female ones can be identified without horns. |
There are about a few thousands of blackbucks found in Koppal
and Yelburga
taluqs(sub-districts) about 15km away from Koppal district. These herd of blackbucks graze in a group of 5 to 20 individuals in the dry grasses near Koppal. Though these are prohibited against hunting and poaching, occasionally these are hunted down
for their flesh and skin. The only natural predators of these blackbucks are wolves other than man. The main food of these animals is the leaves of thorny shrub,
Prosopis juliflora found abundant through out the district.
The most of area in which these animals graze is black soil. These herds are found nearby small streams and more often graze into the crops of nearby villagers. The people have found it tough to avoid them from grazing
into the fields. There has been a loss of Rs. 1 crore to the farmers in the year 2010. However the farmers do no harm to these antilopes instead they request the Forest Dept. Officials to shift these herbivores to nearby sanctuaries and save their crops.
However, since there is no or very less forest land in the Koppal district, it is not possible to shift them. Also the blackbucks are sensitive animals and they may die of shock if they are tranquilized and physically
shift them to nearby sanctuaries. Since there is no forest land in Koppal district, the department may require around 400-500 acres to set up a blackbuck sanctuary. However there are no plans to setup a sanctuary as it involves a long process like huge funds
to buy agriculture land from farmers and taking permission from the state and union governments.
However the union and state governments are not in a mood to take a positive step.
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Posted by
Kumarasamy
on
October 23, 2012
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