421
part of the Great Vedaranyam Swamp, except the
RF. The region has an annual rainfall of 1,280 mm.
History
Use of the term ‘Point Calimere’ appears to date
back to early sixteenth century, when Portuguese
traders started commercial contacts with nearby
Nagapattinam town. In 1554, they established a
commercial centre there. Further, before 1892,
the forests around Point Calimere were administered by the Revenue Department and Temple
trustees, who used to allow the local people to
collect fi rewood, fi sh and minor forest products.
Forest management practices in the area began in
1892 with the declaration of the 14.75-km
2
Kodaikadu Reserved Forest. Notably, a few
uncommon Indian tulip and neem trees from this
old settlement still remain there. Further, notably,
Dr. Salim Ali had, at fi rst, identifi ed the Point
Calimere region as a signifi cant bird conservation
site in 1962. Subsequently, in 1967, the sanctuary
was formed and put under control of the
Thanjavur Forest Division. The Bombay Natural
History Society (BNHS) has been conducting
regular bird migration studies in the sanctuary
since 1959.
On 26 December 2004, a tsunami as high as
3 m had hit the Kodiyakarai coast of the sanctuary. Seawater fl ooded the entire sanctuary with >1
m of water. The sanctuary escaped serious damage; birds and other animals had largely survived
the giant waves; but 5,525 people were killed in
neighbouring parts of Nagapattinam District.
Flora
This site is a combination of salt swamps, mangroves, backwaters, mudfl ats, grasslands and
tropical dry evergreen forests. There are 364 species of fl owering plants in the sanctuary, of which
50 % are herbs and the others are climbers, shrubs
and trees. One hundred and ninety-eight of these
have medicinal properties.
Fauna
PCWBS is inhabited by 14 species of mammals,
18 species of reptiles and 9 species of amphibians. Bottlenose dolphin is frequently seen along
the shore of the sanctuary in the morning and
evening hours during the winter. Further, the
shoreline beaches of the sanctuary are a regular
nesting site of the endangered olive ridley turtle.
In addition, a pair of Bryde’s whale was found
washed ashore near the sanctuary in 2002.
Moreover, a 10-tonne, 35-ft-long whale was successfully towed back to sea. This was the fi rst
successful rescue of a beached whale in Asia.
Aquatic Birds
This site is known, perhaps, for the second largest
congregation of migratory waterbirds in India, with
a peak population of approx. 100,000 birds representing 103 species. These waterbirds arrive from
Rann of Kutch, Eastern Siberia, northern Russia,
Central Asia and parts of Europe, mainly during
October, principally to feed. They start returning to
those breeding places in January. Some of these
threatened birds are spot-billed pelican, spotted
greenshank, spoon-billed sandpiper, black-necked
stork, etc. Further, some of the near-threatened
birds are white ibis, Asian dowitcher, lesser fl amingo, spoonbill, darter, painted stork, etc.
Land Birds
Fifteen square kilometres of the best tropical dry
evergreen forest in India lies in this sanctuary.
They harbour a large variety of resident and migratory land birds. Amongst the 35 resident avian species, some are white-browed bulbul, brahminy
kite, small green-billed malkoha, crow pheasant,
rose-ringed parakeet, grey partridge, blue-tailed
bee-eater and common iora. Further, spotted dove
and collared dove are common in the mangroves.
Threats
Some of the major threats are (a) loss of habitat
for waterbirds, (b) soil and water salination by
adjacent salt pans and scarcity of freshwater, (c)
spread of the invasive Prosopis julifl ora , (d) cattle grazing, etc.
The sanctuary staff conduct programmes to
mitigate the threats.
20.3.15 Bhavanisagar Reservoir
It is a reservoir in Tamil Nadu province of
India having a water spread area of 30.2 square
mile and with a capacity of 28,700 million cft.
20.3 Wetlands of Other Regions in India
part of the Great Vedaranyam Swamp, except the
RF. The region has an annual rainfall of 1,280 mm.
History
Use of the term ‘Point Calimere’ appears to date
back to early sixteenth century, when Portuguese
traders started commercial contacts with nearby
Nagapattinam town. In 1554, they established a
commercial centre there. Further, before 1892,
the forests around Point Calimere were administered by the Revenue Department and Temple
trustees, who used to allow the local people to
collect fi rewood, fi sh and minor forest products.
Forest management practices in the area began in
1892 with the declaration of the 14.75-km
2
Kodaikadu Reserved Forest. Notably, a few
uncommon Indian tulip and neem trees from this
old settlement still remain there. Further, notably,
Dr. Salim Ali had, at fi rst, identifi ed the Point
Calimere region as a signifi cant bird conservation
site in 1962. Subsequently, in 1967, the sanctuary
was formed and put under control of the
Thanjavur Forest Division. The Bombay Natural
History Society (BNHS) has been conducting
regular bird migration studies in the sanctuary
since 1959.
On 26 December 2004, a tsunami as high as
3 m had hit the Kodiyakarai coast of the sanctuary. Seawater fl ooded the entire sanctuary with >1
m of water. The sanctuary escaped serious damage; birds and other animals had largely survived
the giant waves; but 5,525 people were killed in
neighbouring parts of Nagapattinam District.
Flora
This site is a combination of salt swamps, mangroves, backwaters, mudfl ats, grasslands and
tropical dry evergreen forests. There are 364 species of fl owering plants in the sanctuary, of which
50 % are herbs and the others are climbers, shrubs
and trees. One hundred and ninety-eight of these
have medicinal properties.
Fauna
PCWBS is inhabited by 14 species of mammals,
18 species of reptiles and 9 species of amphibians. Bottlenose dolphin is frequently seen along
the shore of the sanctuary in the morning and
evening hours during the winter. Further, the
shoreline beaches of the sanctuary are a regular
nesting site of the endangered olive ridley turtle.
In addition, a pair of Bryde’s whale was found
washed ashore near the sanctuary in 2002.
Moreover, a 10-tonne, 35-ft-long whale was successfully towed back to sea. This was the fi rst
successful rescue of a beached whale in Asia.
Aquatic Birds
This site is known, perhaps, for the second largest
congregation of migratory waterbirds in India, with
a peak population of approx. 100,000 birds representing 103 species. These waterbirds arrive from
Rann of Kutch, Eastern Siberia, northern Russia,
Central Asia and parts of Europe, mainly during
October, principally to feed. They start returning to
those breeding places in January. Some of these
threatened birds are spot-billed pelican, spotted
greenshank, spoon-billed sandpiper, black-necked
stork, etc. Further, some of the near-threatened
birds are white ibis, Asian dowitcher, lesser fl amingo, spoonbill, darter, painted stork, etc.
Land Birds
Fifteen square kilometres of the best tropical dry
evergreen forest in India lies in this sanctuary.
They harbour a large variety of resident and migratory land birds. Amongst the 35 resident avian species, some are white-browed bulbul, brahminy
kite, small green-billed malkoha, crow pheasant,
rose-ringed parakeet, grey partridge, blue-tailed
bee-eater and common iora. Further, spotted dove
and collared dove are common in the mangroves.
Threats
Some of the major threats are (a) loss of habitat
for waterbirds, (b) soil and water salination by
adjacent salt pans and scarcity of freshwater, (c)
spread of the invasive Prosopis julifl ora , (d) cattle grazing, etc.
The sanctuary staff conduct programmes to
mitigate the threats.
20.3.15 Bhavanisagar Reservoir
It is a reservoir in Tamil Nadu province of
India having a water spread area of 30.2 square
mile and with a capacity of 28,700 million cft.
20.3 Wetlands of Other Regions in India