VOLUME VIISSUE 1July - september 2014TCSRD Round Up
Conserve
Whale Shark and Coral Reef Projects
The International Whale Shark Day was celebrated at Gandhinagar on 30th August 2014 with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), the Gujarat Forest Department and Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) coming together to commemorate their success in protecting the Whale Sharkssince the launch of the “Save the Whale Shark” project in 2004. To further boost marine conservation in Gujarat, Mr. Vivek Menon, Executive Director and CEO of WTI and Mr. R. Mukundan, Managing Director at Tata Chemicals also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, firming Tata Chemicals’ continued support for marine conservation in the state.
The Whale Shark Conservation Report and the Mithapur Coral Reef Recovery Report were released commemorating the event, in addition to posters on International Whale Shark Day and the Mithapur Coral Reef - all ventures of WTI in collaboration with the State Forest Dept. and Tata Chemicals.
One more Whale shark was rescued during the month of Sept. ‘14 taking the total number of Whale Sharks rescued till date to 432.
Work on monitoring of biological parameters at the Mithapur coral reef continued during the reporting period.
Mangrove Plantation Project
Plantation maintenance and “Entromorpha” algae removal work continued at the Rukshmani Creek plantation site near Dwarka. The site has been experiencing heavy entromorpha algae growth which adversely affects the tender mangrove seedlings.
A mangrove nursery has been established at Arambda Saltworks and 25,000 seedlings of the “Avicennia marina” species have been raised. These seedlings shall be transplanted at the Rukshmani site in January 2015. Monthly waterfowl surveys were conducted during the reporting period.
Biodiversity Reserve Plantation Project
Work on removal of GandoBaval (Prosopisjuliflora) sprouts and re-growth post the monsoon rains was taken up with support from employee volunteers and their family members. Work on consolidation of the endangered Gugal (Commiphorawightii) plantation was completed on 15 acres. Awareness programs on importance of indigenous flora were organized for employee volunteers as also students who helped in plantation maintenance activities.
Three new indigenous flora species - Dioscoreabublifera (Varahikand); Abrusprecatorius (Chanothi); Balanitesroxburghii (Ingorio) – were introduced at the plantation site. The Chief Conservator of Forest – Marine National Park, visited site on 28th Sept. 2014 and plantation of Dioscoreabublifera was done by him. The plantation of Balanitesroxburghii (Ingorio) was done by Mr. M. Ravindranath, Vice President-Mfg., Chemicals Division.
Monthly bird surveys were conducted on regular basis.
ECO Club Program
A total of 41 programs on Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change, conservation of snakes and turtles etc. were organised at ECO Club schools and neighbourhoods during the reporting period. More than 3,900 students, teachers, employee volunteers and their family members were covered under these programs. Monthly meetings of ECO Club volunteers were organized regularly and a visit to the Mithapur coral reef was organised for marine-life study. Awareness program on “Climate Change” and snake conservation were organised for the SNDT students at Suraj karadi SNDT Centre.
A tree plantation program was organised to mark the World Nature Conservation Day on 28th July 2014.
Tree Census and plastic waste collection drives were organised as part of the Tata Engage Volunteering Week-II while beach cleaning program was undertaken at the Mithapur beach as a part of the International Coastal Clean-up Day on 28th Sept. 2014.
Monitoring of birdlife at CharaklaSaltworks
Work on monitoring of the waterfowl population at CharaklaSaltworks continued through the period and bird counts organized. Monitoring of Caspian Tern nesting was also undertaken More than 270 nests were recorded at Charkla during the season.
Climate Neutral Village Project
Taking a broader approach towards tackling the effects of climate change in the Okhamandal region, a pilot project on Climate Neutral Village has been initiated at Poshitra village. The goal of this project is to facilitate communities to adopt a lifestyle which enables them cope with the effects of climate change.
In its first phase, the project aims to build a climate resilient community composed of 100 households. Meetings with the Poshitra Village Panchayat Committee were organized and Climate Change awareness programs conducted in the village. Socio-economic survey of 60 households has been completed. The survey documents all the assets (wrt agriculture, livelihoods, public resources etc.) that empower communities to adapt to climate change. By the beginning of 2015, this project is expected to be up online where details of all adaptation measures and the activities undertaken by each household and the village as a whole will be available for the public.
Organic Waste Converter
The Organic Waste Converter plant was restarted with the aim of obtaining wealth from waste and reduction of waste in Mithapur. Till date, a total of 2 tonnes (approx.) of organic manure has been produced from food waste collected from 4 locations within Mithapur township namely Maruti Hotel, Hostel Complex dining hall, Hotel Parivar and SewaSadan. 15 bags of the finished product are ready for use and another 10 cart load ready for packaging. Product samples of the first batch have been sent to M/s. Excel Industries for quality verification and the results are awaited.
Marine Turtle Survey
Okhamandal coast shelters the nesting sites of two endangered species of marine turtles: the Green Sea Turtle (Cheloniamydas) and Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelysolivacea). These turtles require a gentle slope along the beach to reach their nesting sites. In the recent years, it has been observed that changes in the climatic conditions have resulted in increased shoreline erosions. The gradient of sand dune slopes along the turtle nesting beaches has increased due to rising sea level and the resultant increase in coastal erosion. This development will make it difficult for the turtles to access their nesting sites and is bound to have a negative impact on their population.
With regard to this phenomenon, a study on coastal erosion at the five marine turtle nesting sites in Okhamandal has been taken-up - namely Okhamadhi, Shivrajpur, Sagar dam, Mithapur beach and Kala Tul beaches. Severe coastal erosion has been recorded at the Okhamadhi beach. The monitoring activities for turtle nesting and mortality also continued during the reporting period.
Plantation of mangroves in Sundarbans
TCSRD in partnership with Tagore Society for Rural Development and Grow Tree planted 50000 mangroves in Sundarbans. TCSRD in the previous years has also touched more than 200 farmers for improving their agriculture and agri-allied activities. In the coming year, TCSRD has plans to improve employable skills of unemployed youth and introduce education projects for bringing drop out children to mainstream education.
Rural Energy
TCSRD, Haldia constructed 120 Energy Efficient Chullah in the rural households helping to reduce dependency on fuel-wood.
At Mithapur,440 acres was covered under solar zatka fencing benefitting 22 beneficiaries. To promote alternate source of energy, 10 solar street lights were installed in 10 villages.
Water conservation program at Mithapur
Drip and sprinklers are the two ways which are being promoted by TCSRD under the water conservation program. Till September, 15 acres under drip irrigation and 88 acres under sprinkler irrigation have been covered.