Mangalore village helps to conserve natural diversity

Recall the imagery of Noah's Ark brimming with fauna of every kind saved from a catastrophic flood, and from Hindu mythology of Manu who collected seeds and animals to repopulate the earth after a great deluge.

A sleepy village about 19 kilometres from Mangalore is weaving a story akin to these legends. A group of individuals under the patronage of the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama Society (PNDS) has started collecting all botanical and biological species endemic to the Western Ghats.

The botanical inventory has a count of 600 species so far. "There is an urgent need to save and protect the Western Ghat species by creating a live Western Ghat museum where these species are scientifically preserved. Due to habitat loss many species are being pushed to extinction. This also includes various fish and amphibians found in the rivers of the Western Ghats," says Jayaprakash Bhandary, wildlife warden, Pilikula Nisarga Dhama.

In the recent past, conservationists have expressed concern over the pace in which the Western Ghats are being degraded. They attribute the degradation to various developmental projects that include construction of roads, hydroelectric projects, expansion of agriculture, horticulture and plantations in the Western Ghats. The forests have clearly been overexploited for human sustenance.

According to a study carried out by academics Ramesh and Swaminathan nearly 12% of the Western Ghat forests have been completely lost in the last two decades. This in turn has dried several water bodies, taking a toll on several types of fish, turtles and snakes. 

"The streams and rivers of the Western Ghats are very diverse in fish, snakes and turtles. Based on sporadic studies, as many as 218 species were found here and many of them have already slipped into extinction and some of them are now counting days. This summer will be crucial for the survival of many of them," says researcher Gerard Vikram Lobo.

The PNDS has now taken up the task of protecting the fresh water fish, snake and turtle diversity and has created several special ponds and tanks where the species have been introduced for breeding. About 23 species that were on the extinction list have been successfully bred already.

"We do not know how big the programme will be, because on a day-to-day basis we get new species from our Western Ghat associates," comments JR Lobo, executive director, PNDS.

Following freshwater fish, snake and turtle conservation programmes in Pilikula many other Zoological parks in the country have started fish, snake and turtle diversity conservation programmes.