President's intervention sought to protect Tiger Reserve

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 15 (UNI) A group of activists involved in biodiversity and protected area managment have sought the intervention of President A P J Abdul Kalam, to save the Periyar Tiger Reserve, one of the country's outstanding sanctuaries, from ''impending ecological destruction.'' In a letter to the President, they said the move to increase the storage level of the Mullaperiyar Dam would submerge nearly all of the critical grassland ecosystem of the Periyar Sanctuary that was a major habitat of the tiger as well as several other endangered species like elephant, leopard, lion-tailed macaque, sloth bear, gaur, nilgiri langur-- all listed in the schedule one of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972).

They said Periyar Reserve, mainly comprised on evergreen and moist deciduous forests, was a text book case demonstrating the importance of grasslands for the herbivores and hence for the predators too.

A study conducted by the scientists of the Kerala Forest Research Institute in 2000, had concluded that an increase in the dam's water level to 152 ft (as demanded by the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department) could submerge 11.219 sq kms of the reserve, mainly the grasslands.

In the event of the water level rise to 136 ft, more than half of the total grasslands of the sanctuary measured as 12 sq kms, would be lost.

This 777 sq km sanctuary, whose 350 sq km core area is designated as a national park, was the most important protected area in the globally significant biodiversity hotspot of the Southern Western Ghats.

The reserve is home to over 1,963 flowering plants of which 120 species are globally threatened. A staggering 150 species make up the rich grasslands of the sanctuary.

The vertebrate fauna of this Tiger Reserve is composed of more than 557 species, including nearly all the charismatic fauna of the subcontinent.

This unique natural endowment was a valuable national heritage and it shall not be allowed to be impaired. At a time when the country was desperately seeking to protect the dwindling tiger population, this Tiger Reserve deserves special protection rather than ecological disturbance, they added.

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