Finance Minister K.M. Mani’s announcement during his Budget speech in the Assembly that the biodiversity-rich wetland area of Munderikadavu here will be developed into a bird sanctuary has been greeted by bird lovers in the region with a note of caution that the proposal should envisage the protection of the entire Kattampally wetland ecosystem that is facing threat from large scale reclamation.
The Minister’s announcement in the Assembly on Monday was greeted by bird lovers in the area who recently prepared a report at a seminar organised by the Munderi panchayat that recommended to the government to protect Munderikkadavu and nearby areas that form the catchment of the Kattampally river and to develop them into a bird sanctuary with the involvement of local bodies.
That report prepared in January last described the Kattampally wetland area as a ‘biodiversity treasure house’ which is estimated to have over thousands of birds including nearly 60 species of migrant birds. The seminar attended by local bird lovers had drawn an action plan for conserving the area as a bird sanctuary with the co-operation of Tourism and Forest Departments and the local bodies. The report prepared following the seminar highlighted the immense eco-tourism potential of the area.
The Kattampally wetland ecosystem here is one of the 24 Important Bird Areas (IBA) in the State identified by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Birdlife International as priority sites for conservation since they hold a considerable population of globally-threatened birds. Environmental activists and bird lovers here have raised serious concern about the large scale reclamation of land for various developmental projects executed without any conservation consideration. Of the 24 IBA areas identified in the State, three sites are wetlands and the rest forests, including wildlife sanctuaries. Bird watchers here say that the avian population of Kattampally has been regularly monitored since 1979.
C. Sashikumar, ornithologist associated with the Malabar Natural History Society who has been monitoring the bird population of the Kattampally wetland region over the last several years, told The Hindu on Monday that the proposed bird sanctuary at Munderikkadavu would serve the purpose only if it was envisaged as part of a holistic plan to conserve the entire wetland ecosystem in the area. The area, he said, was already facing environmental degradation as a result of large scale reclamation for developmental activities and fragmentation. Approach roads constructed for three bridges in the area were in defiance of any conservation principles, Mr. Sashikumar said adding that the bird sanctuary proposal should not be seen just from an eco-tourism perspective.
The Kattampally wetland area is estimated to have a bird population of over 18,000 birds, nearly 80 per cent of which are migratory birds.
The area is also the most important in species diversity as well as in the number of birds. According to birdwatchers here, Garganey, a migratory wild duck, wintering in India from Northern Europe and Siberia, and Northern Pintail, another migratory duck breeding in Northern Europe and Siberia are the two species found in thousands in the wetland area. The wetland area here is the only place in the State where Oriental Pratincole has been found to breed regularly since 1992, they said.
Environmental activist and bird enthusiast Khaleel Chovva, who headed a group of volunteers who prepared the report on developing Munderikkadavu as a bird sanctuary said that Munderikkadavu and nearby areas have all the characteristics to be declared as a Ramser site. He attended the Ramser Asian Regional Convention in Jakarta in November 2011 and made a presentation of Kattampally ecosystem. Dr. Chovva also said that increasing quantity of waste in the area could endanger the biodiversity of the wetland unless efforts are taken to conserve it.
He said that Bristled Grass Bird, Grey-necked Bunting, Red-headed Bunting, Black-headed Bunting, Spotted Red Shank have been among the birds sighted in the area for the first time in the State.
Published - March 19, 2012 06:43 pm IST
