Download ECOLOGICALLY SENSITIVE AREAS IN WESTERN GHATS

ECOLOGICALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
IN
WESTERN GHATS
Introduction
•
The Western Ghats was declared as an ecological hotspot in 1988. A large
number of plants, amphibians, birds, reptiles, mammals are endemic to this region. This
area has a number of protected areas including 2 biosphere reserves, 14 national parks
and several wild life sanctuaries. Besides, many regions are declared as reserve forests.
•
In recent times, due to anthropogenic pressures the intactness of the Western
Ghats is getting fragmented day-by-day. Most of the ecosystem, which is outside
protected area is now in danger. The habitat of plants and animals is also threatened
due to large-scale deforestation and destruction of forests.
Introduction
What is ecological sensitivity;many definitions offered,unlikely that clarity
will emerge, social concerns an important basis. We offer the following:
Define ecological sensitivity:concerns the Western Ghats ecosystem as a
single unit; its ability to cope with environmental stresses – stresses like
various human induced developments and their impacts;future impacts due to
climate change; essentially the ecological resilience and how it might vary from
landscape to landscape;
The most sensitive landscapes are those with the least resilience;Ecological
Resilience may be assessed based on our understanding of trends of change in
communities of woody plants, amphibians and birds or vertebrate animals in
general;it is the lag-time (the time taken by different landscapes and their
biological communities to come back to the pre-disturbance state; we may
adopt the following working definition:
Definition of ESA:
“An ecological sensitive area (ESA) is a bio-climatic unit (as demarcated by entire
landscapes) in the Western Ghats wherein human impacts have locally caused
irreversible changes in the structure of biological communities (as evident in
number/ composition of species and their relative abundances) and their natural
habitats”
Protected areas and ESA’
ESA’s
•
Protected areas in contrast to ESA’s : Extensive, standard, heavy and rigid
restrictions, no scope for adaptive management, largely focused on flagship
species and their habitats, leaves out small, unique habitats
•
ESA’s may have Protected areas embedded in them, of various extents, could
focus on small special habitats, flexible, adaptive regime of regulation, Whole
HP, Sikkim as examples
Proposed criteria
Biological- cultural/ geo-climatic/ People’s perceptions
Biological: Richness: organismal and habitat;
Rarity: organismal and habitat;
Biologcial productivity with NDVI and extent of aquatic habitats as the basis;
cultural significance
Goeclimatic: Topography: steep slopes, high altitudes; Precipitation: high
rainfall;
People’s perceptions: Public and Local bodies, especially Zilla Panchayats;
invite people to submit perceptions, rationale and desired set of regulations
Study area
Western Ghats region of all six states
(Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat)
Methodology
Western Ghats science database components:
1 .Topography database :The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from ASTER(
Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) elevation
data, at a spatial resolution of 30 m, would enable to derive slope, aspect of any
given point.The data has a raster structure.
2 Climate: The time series data on rainfall by the IMD is an important constituent.
Essentially the data is point information. The FIP has also information on the
bioclimate for the vegetation types of Western Ghats.
3 Land use /Land cover maps: The nation wide LU/LC information being generated by
ISRO at 56 m resolution provides state of land cover for 2009 vintage. For the
purpose of ESA exercise, following broad classes will be used. These are Forest,
Agriculture,water /wetlands, settlements and barren areas
4 Plant biodiversity maps: The ISRO has, in its nation wide study, generated vegetation
types and their spatial distribution with landscape ecological attributes such as
fragmentation, patchiness and others. These inputs will also constitute a database
for ESA.
5 Roads and settlements:
settlements: A measure of human activity would be obtained by using
these datasets.
6 Human population:
population Data on aggregated taluk level human population will be made
use of.
7 Corridors:
Corridors: As much of our extant biodivesrity is existing outside the formal protected
areas. It would be essential to look into information on Corridors. {This will be
derived information?}
8 Data on plants:
plants : A geographic grid referenced (5X5 ') plant species database
available with UAS will be made use of. Possibly endemic, rare, endangered
threatened species status will be practical criteria to be used.
9 Data on animal species:
species: Distribution information of approx 400 endemic species of
vertebrates, butterflies of Western Ghats would be generated on half degree square
grid for the WG (Careearth datasets).
Maps based on data analysis
1) Generate two generic maps; assigning sensitivity levels; one based on Biological data and the
other on Goeclimatic data:
2) Classify the entire Western Ghats into landscapes of varying levels of ecological sensitivity
3) Grade the different landscapes along a scale of decreasing sensitivity; example Grade I being the
most sensitive, Grade II less sensitive and so on
4) List out the salient physiographic (including climate) and ecological attributes adopted in
grading landscapes: Level 1: Geo-climatic attributes: Rainfall, length of the dry season (as
inferred from the number of rainy days), altitude (standard low, medium, high and montane as
that adopted by the French Institute in their vegetation maps), slope, vegetation type,
fragmentation, connectivity and corridors, settlements, road network; all this information
presented on a grid map of size 0.5deg x 0.5deg between 8 degN and 21degN; 73 degE and 78
degE; covering 100 grids of approximately 55km x 55km. at this scale the largest single bioclimatic unit (as defined by a single grid) will be around 3000km2; most others will be smaller
as the western Grids will include the Arabian sea and the eastern grids, the Plateau outside the
limits of the Western Ghats.
Level 2: Biological Attributes: essentially information on endemic species limited to
1) endemic angiosperms (c. 1700spp as available in Dr Ganeshiah’s database), 2) endemic
butterflies (37 species), 3) endemic fishes (c. 130 spp), 4) endemic amphibians (c. 125
species), 5) endemic reptiles (c. 100 species), 6) endemic birds (19 species), and 7) endemic
mammals (13-15 species); faunal data will be extracted from the NBSAP prepared by
RJRD/Care Earth; the information when superimposed on the Geo-climate map will
provide grid-wise information on the number of endemic species in selected classes of
plants and animals. It is also possible to add information on wild relatives of crop
plants if available on these grids. Further, the distribution of Protected Areas on the grids
can also been shown.
5) Prepare a map of the entire Western Ghats delineating landscapes by their respective
ecological sensitivity grade; this can primarily be guided by the geo-climate especially total
annual rainfall and length of the dry season; Pascal (1988) describes the variation in the
length of the dry season; there is a north-south and east-west gradient; north-south it is like
this; Travancore (between Trivandrum and Allepey the dry period is 3-4 months and in the
higher elevation 2-3 months; between Palghat Gap and 13deg 30’ (around Dakshina
Kannada) it is it is 4-5 months; between 13deg 30’ and 14deg 15’ (Honnavar) it is 5-6 months;
north of 17deg 49’ (Harnai) it exceeds 7 months. Similarly, there is an east-west gradient
although not so marked; along the east in the southern Ghats (south of Palghat) the dry
season varies from 3-8 months over a distance of just 17km; around Palghat gap it is 5-8
months over 30km. near Chickamagalur, it varies from 5-8 over 55km eastwards. Most
significant is in Palni Hills (foothills) 5-12 months; 50% of the years it has been 7-9 months.
6) The map will generally guide the delineation of any landscape as ecologically
sensitive area (ESA)
7) Biological communities and species can be used as tools for prioritizing landscapes
8) Biological communities and species should have one or more characteristics such as
being relic, representative,endemic, endangered, of great human use value, etc
9) All other values being equal, priority should be accorded to landscapes that are likely
to complement ongoing conservation efforts when delineated as ESA
Tentatively the following classes have been suggested: (Grade I most sensitive)
Grade I:Type A; Long dry seasons (6-9m); Wet (5000-9000mm);Medium-high
steepness;Western Ghats ; north of 13o N;Typically what is often described as northern
Western Ghats ; Example Maharashtra
Grade I: Type B; Montane (above 1500m); E & NE aspect; Steepness – high; Dry-moist;
Medium-long dry season; Palni Hills and Eastern Anaimalai Hills; Example
Kodaikanal
Grade II Landscapes: Pleistocene Landscapes High to Montane altitude; W-SW aspect;
Steepness – high; Wet; Short-medium dry season; Nilgiri Hills, Anaimalai Hills, High
Ranges & other Hills in the southern Western Ghats
Grade III Landscapes: watersheds; unique hydrological cycles; High density of first order
streams;Torrents, cascades and waterfalls
Grade IV Landscapes: hill-coast ecotones To be managed in conjunction with CRZ
notification/rules/amendments; Low elevation; Coasts of north central Western Ghats;
Example – Karwar, Honnavar
Grade V Landscapes: cultural landscapes; Landscapes that have preserved pre-colonial
human traditions & livelihoods; High density of sacred landscape elements; Vayal,
traditional cardamom, betel-nut cultivations, others (Data on crop plants and wild
relatives from NBPGR will be useful here)
Grade VI Landscapes; Landscapes that have shown the most resilience;does not
however mean they are to be thrown open to further abuse
Assessment at Levels 2: Biological attributes: prioritization; Biological Communities; Relic,
Representative; Restricted range; High species richness; High levels of endemism; High
ecological service value; Species – Endemic; Endangered; Sacred/Venerated; High human
use value
ClassClass-1 or Critical LevelLevel-1 ESA:
ESA Are those that are identified as sensitive by all the
three approaches independently- viz., geo-climatic, biological and public perception.
These can be straight away listed and given to local managers and research workers
to demarcate the exact boundaries to be notified as the CR- 1 ESAsa
ClassClass-2 or Critical LevelLevel-2 ESA:
ESA: Identified as sensitive based on geo-climatic and
biological but not essentially by the public perception. These need to be identified as
generic areas and much more fine scale zonation can be done by field visits and local
details.
ClassClass-3 or Critical LevelLevel-3 ESA : Identified as sensitive by any of the approaches
but those we can not immediately conclude. They need to be taken for further debate
and discussion both among the scientific groups, public and forest / biodiversity
managers.
Execution of the project
1. Dr. S N Prasad -SACON (-Investigator)
2.Dr. Ranjit Daniels – Care Earth (Investigator)
3.Representatives from NRSC, ISRO, Hyderabad
4.Dr KN Ganeshiah, (Investigator)UAS,Bangalore
Cost Estimates
Item
Du ration
Research Associate
6months
192000
JRF
6months
94000
Care Earth
Cost (lakh)
225000
UAS
40000
Travel
50000
Brain storming workshop(1)
50000
Contingency
20000
Tota l
831000
Institutional charges
124650
Grand Total
955650
Proposed output
Though the study is only three months duration, only preliminary output can be expected
from the present study.
The proposed output as follows:
follows
1.Spatial delineation of Ecologically sensitive areas in Western Ghats region
2.Vegetation type map of WG.
Responsibilities of SACON
1. SACON would carry out the assessment as per the objectives and provide all the
Deliverables mentioned.
Responsibilities of NRSC
1.To provide all raster, vector, classified layers, Western Ghats boundary,
topographic maps and any other relevant information necessitated therewith.
2.Time to time discussion on the progress of the study
Responsibilities of WGEEP
1. For giving suggestions from time to time to improve the quality of the study
2.To carry out discussions with other board members of WGEEP
3.To facilitate collection of literature on Western Ghats from various research institutions
PROPOSED TRACK TWO ACTIVITIES
1.A quick desk work to list potential ESAs (begin
with 70 odd persons identified to write papers)
2.set up field initiatives with state
biodiversity boards and /or other stakeholders to
check