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Part of Project Tiger, both Pench and Kanha are national parks located in Madhya Pradesh. Apart of Pench extends into neighbouring Maharashtra. Together they span over 2,500 sq.km., dominated by moist peninsular sal forests, tropical moist mixed deciduous mixed forest, an abundance of bamboo and trees such as teak and jamun, and green carpets of grassy patches and shrub. The combined regions teem with wildlife – they are a haven for over 1,000 species of plants, animals, and at least 300 species of resident and migrant birds.

Wildlife

A large number of bird species, including ducks, geese, shelducks, pochards, quails, grebes, nightjars, swifts, crakes, storks, herons, ibises, thickknees, plovers, lapwings, jacanas, sandpipers, redshanks, buttonquails, vultures, buzzards, harriers, hornbills, falcons, parakeets, minivets, orioles, cuckooshrikes, pipits, wagtails, buntings, prinias, nuthatches, starlings, flycatchers, thrushes, and wheatears, can be spotted here. Apart from their impressive population of tigers, the regions also nurture leopards, barasingha, mouse deer, barking deer, chital, sambar, bear, black buck, blue bull, chousingha (four-horned antelope), langur, etc.

Kanha: Room for improvement

Considered one of the better managed national parks, Kanha does have a lot of room for improvement. According to a study by the Indian Institute of Forest Management in 2019, one of the areas that need attention is the inadequate number of guards at night, as it opens up potential for poaching. In addition, there appears to be a need for wider and higher use of technology in monitoring the forest areas of the park. It is also said that some regions of the park lack proper fencing, which again unwittingly aids in poaching. It is noted for its work on tigers and the swamp deer species called barasingha. However, there are a lot of other species too that call the forests their home. The study says that other vulnerable species such as black buck and mouse deer need more attention too, and this can be done since the park has the means to do it. Finally, since there are a lot of villagers surrounding the park, human-animal conflicts do occur. Efforts must be taken to resolve this, though usually villagers seem kinder to carnivores attacking their livestock than to herbivores destroying their crops.

Pench: The problem of plenty

In Pench, the very forests that inspired the classic “Jungle Book”, the good news is the bad news. A few years ago, there were reports that pointed to an increase in the tiger population at Pench. While this was heartening news, it also meant that the exact same area (or even less!) will be shared by more number of tigers, animals known for their territorial integrity. This is a problem because the Pench forests are not contiguous with its neighbouring region Kanha where the tigers could move into. In the face of severe space crunch, animals could end up killing each other in territorial fights, stray into human habitation leading to human-animal conflict or the animal could fall into the hands of poachers. Also, the management of Pench is complicated by the fact that it is spread across two States. Each State is said to be functioning differently, though it is just one contiguous forest. Remember, humans create boundaries, not Nature? For instance, when issues such as poaching or human-animal conflict come up, the system to resolve these could be complex due to the issue of boundary and State-based action.

 

Picture Credit : Google

A mosaic of lakes and islands of mangroves, evergreen scrub and thorn forest, the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is spread over 30 hectares. Located 75 km away from Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai, it is considered the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country. In addition to the fish in the lakes, paddy fields nearby too feed some of the bird species.

Every year, between November and June, several migratory birds, including some from as far as Europe, visit the sanctuary. Each season, at least 20,000 birds visit the sanctuary, only to usually leave in far greater numbers, accompanied by their offspring at the end of the season. However, monsoon failure in the region does affect the number of avian visitors. For instance, in 2013 and 2014, their numbers dwindled to just a few thousands after a disappointing monsoon. But, following a good monsoon in 2015, the number of birds increased drastically to several thousands.

The sanctuary hosts resident and migratory birds such as painted stork, Asian open bill, Eurasian spoonbill, glossy ibis, black-crowned night heron, Indian pond heron, grey heron, spot-billed pelican, little cormorant, great cormorant, oriental darter, black-winged stilt, red-wattled lapwing, pied kingsher, oriental white ibis, spot-billed duck, purple moorhen, coot, garganey, among others.

A considerate village

The sanctuary is named after the village it is located in. in 2018, a news report suggested that the villagers of Vedanthangla, by and large, had not burst firecrackers for close to five decades during Deepavali. And the reason is deeply linked to the birds. This festival of lights invariably falls during the time the birds begin arriving at the sanctuary, say during October or November. The villagers – across age groups – embraced this practice in deference to the birds’ safety. However, 2018 was a year when the lake had almost dried up, and the number of birds at the sanctuary had fallen to just a few hundred as against the usual several thousands. And that year, a few kids did burst firecrackers for Deepvali! Apparently, some of the adults still could not being themselves to, and many prayed for monsoon rains to save the lake and help the birds.

Meanwhile, the threat…

A study from July 2020 discovered the both ground and surface water downstream of a pharmaceuticals factory inside the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary “are polluted with industrial solvents, which can cause adverse health diseases for both humans and birds”. As many as four common industrial solvents used in pharmaceuticals manufacturing were detected in the water samples studied. The findings of the study point to a ground reality that differs from what the State’s pollution control board and the factory have been claiming – that it “is a zero liquid discharge facility”. The study came about around the time the Forest Department had proposed to “denotify the outer 2 km of the core zone of the bird sanctuary”. That proposal, allegedly aimed at helping the offending pharma company, caused collective outrage among people from several walks of life, including environmentalists.

 

Picture Credit : Google

A major coral reef area of India, the Gulf of Mannar comprises as many as 21 islands and spans an area of 10,500 sq.km. This large shallow bay lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka. In addition to the coral reefs, this marine ecosystem includes salt marshes, algae communities, mangroves, and sea grasses too. One of the world’s richest regions of marine biodiversity, it faces threats such as climate change, pollution, coastal development, coral mining and mechanised fishing.

A marine biosphere reserve, this region houses over 1,100 species of fish, 800 species of molluscs, 150 species of anthropods, five species of turtles, over 10 species of snakes, and seven types of marine mammals. The marine creatures include starfish, crabs, sharks, seahorses, barracudas, dolphins, sea turtles such as olive ridleys and green turtles, whales, dugongs, sea cucumbers and otters. In addition to these, a variety of birds such as seagulls, plovers, curlews, and terns too can be spotted in the region.

Algal bloom concerns

In September 2019, the Reef Research Team of the Suganthi Devadasan Marine Research Institute reported that algal bloom had killed more than 180 coral reef colonies in Shingle Island located within the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. The death of the corals came to light after the fisherfolk in Ramanathapuram (located near the Gulf of Mannar) witnessed the sea water having turned green and the death of fish in thousands. Scientists from the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) confirmed that the algae Noctiluca scintillans had bloomed. However, it was found that the nearby island of Krusadai was not impacted by the algal bloom. While climate change causes algal bloom, affecting corals and creatures such as fish, there was speculation if this incident was caused by ballast water. Ballast water is the water used in ships, especially cargo ships when they are empty, to help them with stability. This water carries several types of organisms. When the water is emptied into a region different from where it was collected, the organisms in it could cause negative ecological impacts on their habitat.

And some good news!

While COVID-19 has cost livelihoods and lives, and changed lifestyles globally, the pandemic is not without a few positives. The lockdown has had an especially positive impact in the context of ecology. And that is evident on the coastal ecosystems of the Gulf of Mannar along Thoothukudi district, according to newspaper reports. While collecting data for a State government project, the Suganthi Devadasan Marine Research Institute inThoothukudi conducted a study between May 25 and June 2 and discovered “a remarkable reduction” in the macro and meso-plastic pollution levels in many coastal locations in the region. The study also showed an “increase in the number of species of coral reef fishes from 89 in February to 96 in May”, at the Thoothukudi group of islands of Gulf of Mannar. It is said that fish normally migrated in the summer due to high population showed a spike, “thanks to less human disturbance during the lockdown period”.

 

Picture Credit : Google