Saturday 23 May 2015

CAMP DIARIES - Sitanadi Herpeto Camp



A boat ride into the Mangrove forest

Day – 1                                                                                                16.5.15
                        The first day comes to an end...and quite interestingly. Our day began at 6, when we landed in Karkala and took two other buses to reach our base camp, Sitanadi at 7:20. After about an hour of looking around, we had a quick breakfast and another half hour of getting to know the place better. Soon after, we had an ice – breaking session where we introduced ourselves, our natives and the reason we decided to participate in the camp, followed by one – to – one interactions with our new found camp mates. We were asked to freshen up after lunch as there was a nature walk scheduled but unfortunately, it was delayed by almost an hour due to a heavy downpour.
Malabar giant squirrel

                                    We soon started on our nature walk and a pretty unpleasant surprise awaited us in the form of leeches...hundreds of them, crawling up on the legs of every person passing by their path. We soon reached one edge of the river where we clicked a few group pictures and moved on forward. We came across a river crossing after which we spotted a Grey - Headed Fish Eagle. On our return, we spent about a half hour getting rid of all the remaining leeches from our bodies. Later, we saw an RSPB video clip on birds and a short movie on the Kudremukh habitat and the dangers the area faces. After this, we had dinner and had another film session – ‘Fabulous Frogs’ pictured by BBC along with Sir David Attenborough. It was a beautiful and inspirational way to end our very first day in the camp.

A tree frog on the rock

Indian bull frog














Day – 2                                                                                                17.5.15
                                      The second day in camp dawned early for us, with us getting up at 5:30 a.m. for a bird watching session. We sat for an hour on the river bank, observing different birds, fish behaviour and the changing calls of the Wild with passing time. A short breakfast later, we set out on a trek to the Kundadri hill. Half the way, we covered by a bus after which we walked for a few miles, observing the different vegetation in the terrain. We came across 3 species of snakes and various fruits one of which was edible, Artocarpus lakoocha commonly called ‘vaatehuli’ in Kannada. About another 5 min of bus ride, we climbed up a few steps to reach the top of the mountain where the whole of Western Ghats was visible. It was an overwhelming experience. Back at the camp, after lunch and a few minutes rest later, we had a group discussion with Dr.Sethu Ramalingam who was one of our resource persons, starting with our views on the previous day’s film show. It lead to a pretty deep discussion on frogs, the hazards their population faces and the steps we can take to protect them. We also learnt about combofrogs, culturing frogs and the sources that harm them.
A nawab butterfly
                           
         Later, we played games that involved a lot of concentration and creativity. This was followed by another documentary, ‘Frogs – A Thin Green Line’ by PBS which focused mainly on the reasons for the depletion of the frog population, particularly being the Kitrit fungal disease. A short discussion on the movie, and on benthic animals with Sethu sir, a small team of us set out on the lookout for frogs and we were fortunate to find a tree frog among them. Sadly, we had to return early due to rains and time constraint but every minute was worth it. It was an eventful day.

A wood mushroom

Day – 3                                                                                             18.5.15
                                       Our day started with a very interesting activity. We were assigned the task of collecting different types of leaves to understand the vegetation and diversity of plant life in the terrain. We were split into 3 groups and each team moved into a different part of the forest. We collected numerous leaves for over an hour, all along the way looking out for leeches and very probable birds or animals. On our return, we were asked to arrange all the leaves and through short interactions, learnt a few basic concepts about them from Mrs. Geetha. Further, we also had the task of arranging the collected leaves into the form of different animals which we completed in about an hour.
A land crab

                                    Later, our team was taken down to the river for the purpose of studying fish. After hours of trying to catch the fish and collect them, we made a sketch of all the specimens collected and on our way back, found a frog on the off-track which was shot and filmed. Then, we had a session for snake handling where we handled a Brown Vine Snake and then had an interactive session with 2 internship students who were in the campus for the census of Lion Tailed Macaques. We clarified related doubts with them and had a very long session. At night, for the third time, we went out frog hunting and had a surprisingly lucky night. We were fortunate to encounter a Crab, a Checkered Keelback and Catfish. We collected the specimens and returned to our tents. The day ended quite quickly.
 
A little crab
Day – 4                                                                                        19.5.15
                                    On this day, we started with bird watching by the river side and spotted a Grey – Headed Fish Eagle. We also heard the calls of a Woodpecker and a Lesser Grey – Headed Fish Eagle. Gobbling down our breakfast, we headed further down the road to Koodalutheertha Waterfalls. On the way, we found a Garcinia indica tree that bore fruits locally known as ‘Punarpuli’ and is used in preparing certain food items. We also learnt that the juice and the fruit itself have highly cooling and healing properties for common ailments such as cold and sore throats. We resumed our journey and reached the starting point of our trek. It was a comparatively easy climb and we reached our destination in oddly an hour’s time. The trek to the falls was quite interesting as there were so many things to see and so many leeches to escape from. The view on reaching the top was highly overwhelming. We enjoyed the falls for more than an hour and returned back t our base camp. We freshened up and played a game to keep our minds alert, which was followed by a slideshow by Manu Sir on the features of Western Ghats. We learnt about the different geographical, demographical and the diversity aspects of the Ghats. After dinner, we watched a film show, ‘Meet the Monkeys’ and it was absolutely an out – of – the – world experience for us. After a short discussion on the movie and its pros and cons, our day came to an end.
 
A Bonnet Macaque disturbed in its nap 
Day – 5                                                                                             20.5.15
                                    Our morning began with an early breakfast and we set out on a trek to Vonakobbe falls. First, we stopped near a small clearing and got down from our bus to begin our walk. A short distance later, the leeches started coming out of their cover and all of us had to take precautionary measures and apply Dettol to the exposed areas of our legs to protect them from the hundreds of leeches crawling our way. Just a few metres ahead, the young tots found the climb to be too tedious and the fear of leeches hindering their progress. Consequently, they moved back to the bus but a select few of us continued our journey upwards. It was a highly steep terrain but somehow after lots of panting and puffing, sweating and slipping, we finally made it to the top of the majestic falls. The first feeling was immense and it left us speechless. We spent a few but memorable minutes on the top and started our climb downwards. It was comparatively difficult as the forest floor was slippery and we had very few grips and holds. We finally made it to the bottom, covered in sweat and a wonderful surprise awaited us. Manu Sir had sent for us Chapatis and raw Mango chutney!! It was eaten and done with, in less than 5 minutes and we were left craving for more.
A bracket fungus on a tree

                                       On our return, we had lunch and about an hour later we gathered again to submit our diaries. Later, we celebrated a camp – mate’s birthday grandiosely and ate quite well. For the younger ones, the cake and ice – cream were a welcome break from a week long diet of simple vegetarian food. Shortly afterwards, we had the opportunity to see all the pictures taken in the past few days. Our day ended for us on a tired note.

White breasted Kingfisher
Day 6                                                                                                   21.5.15
                                       The last day of camp! The morning had a strong feeling in it...the feeling of finality; the feeling that we wouldn’t be visiting this beautiful place anytime very soon now. We packed our bags and stacked into the mini bus and set off to Kundapur to see the Mangroves. We were fortunate enough to spot a rare species of Crab after which we went out boating and learnt about the Mangrove vegetation first hand. On our return, we set out again...this time to a forest guest house where a good meal was arranged for us.
Handling a snake

                                     Next we moved to the balcony of one of the guest houses reserved for IFS officers where we had a bird’s eye view of the Byndoor beach and we just couldn’t get enough of it. After learning about Tidal Zones and various other technicalities of the sea from Sethu Sir, we set foot on the beach itself and collected various sea – shells, crabs, sting ray, barnacle, sea anemone, sea urchin and other specimens. After about an hour of fun, we went out for dinner and then, it was time to say goodbye to our new found friends and leave towards our respective nests. There is still a small hope for another adventure, another trip to the Wild, another set of humans that want to bring about a change and the hope for more and more Knowledge to grab hold of.
A delicate gill pattern of a mushroom
A pond heron by Seethanadi


Until then, we shall sign off hoping to have instilled in you, reader, the same interest and passion for Wildlife that we have. Until then...

- Praneetha M

Tuesday 5 May 2015

Getting back to the great outdoors

Hasiru Hejje
              A Green School initiative of Mysore Amateur Naturalists
227, 3rd Main, A-1 Block, Viyayanagara, Mysore-570 017

 
On the banks of Sitanadi
Getting back to the great outdoors

As Part of the Summer Nature Study program of Mysore Amateur Naturalists we are conducting a six days residential Nature camp in the Western Ghats. The aim of the camp is to bring in a deep cultural change and connecting children to Nature, so that they can be more confident, healthier and happier as citizens of future. The camp has lots of hands on activities but without any intriguing time limit that puts the child into curriculum like pressure. They are encouraged to explore and realize the mysteries of Nature for themselves.
 
Learning in the wild
 With Children getting less time to spend in Nature than ever before, the biggest victim is Mother Nature herself. We share our concern through exposing children to eminent persons in the field who have lived their lives with different approaches to care for and share Nature. With a battery of resource persons who have worked with Nature and children for more than two decades this annual camp has become a Social movement.
Climbing up the creek


Our environment-based education movement-- will help students realize that school isn't a form of incarceration, but a portal to the wider world with numerous possibilities and lesser completion. That reduces the stress upon your children and energizes them for the coming year in school.
Exploration of the rain forest

The camp site is at Sita Nadi Herpeto Camp, in Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in Udapi district. It is a serene, child-friendly campus and off the main stream life and provides an excellent atmosphere to immerse oneself in nature and devote for self exploration.
 
A walk in the forest stream
The camp begins on 16th morning and ends on the 21st  evening, May 2015. There are limited seats so book your seats at the earliest.


Contact: 9886383793.

What is the new definition of forest!!??


The government is set to introduce a new definition of forests that could exclude urban green belts such as the Mangar Bani range in the NCR and potentially open them up to unchecked commercial use as no prior permission will be needed to cut trees.
Only areas notified as forests and those that have a dense tree canopy will be treated as forests, says a draft proposal by the environment ministry.
This will virtually take out all green areas that came up after 1980 — when the Forest Conservation Act was notified — from a national forest protection regime, speeding up industrial projects.
The new definition will nullify a Supreme Court guideline that brought around 20% of India’s geographical area under the ambit of the forest act that mandates government approval for cutting of trees.
The guideline upset the government and industry because it increased judicial intervention. The ministry now wants a leaner definition of forest for faster project approvals.
“Yes, we will come out with definition of forest soon,” environment minister Prakash Javadekar told a news channel on Saturday. “Notified forests and those with good canopy (tree cover) will be defined as forest,” the minister said, terming it as a pro-environment move.
The first casualty could be the Mangar range, a natural forest in Haryana’s Faridabad, that acts as the lungs for the national capital region but has been repeatedly targeted for big-ticket infrastructure projects because of its proximity to Delhi.
Mangar may not be classified as a forest because of its small spread, a shot in the arm for the Haryana government that is waiting for the new definition to allow residential complexes in one of NCR’s last surviving virgin forest.
Officials say the new definition will also speed up infrastructure development as mandatory approval from the statutory forest advisory committee will not be required to clear trees for widening roads and laying railway lines, including a dedicated freight corridor.
The new proposal would also mean a different definition for forest in each state, depending upon its geographical area and forest density.
“States with better green cover will get more flexibility in forest diversion for allowing projects than ones where forests are in a bad state,” a ministry official said, adding the definition was being fine tuned.

The new proposal will also give freedom to state governments to cut trees for development purpose without any prior approval. But, would result in protection of forest areas with a good tree cover, the official added.
The Supreme Court norm created a lot of confusion in forest regulation and the government wanted to end the ambiguity with a scientific definition, the official said.
A solution was provided by TSR Subramanian committee that said only those green areas notified as forest before October 25, 1980, when the forest act came into force, should be treated as forests and the ministry worked on those proposals.