Monkeys sit on tree branches in opposition to the backdrop of clouds hanging on the hills of Eastern Ghats in Araku
| Photo Credit: KR Deepak
TREE Foundation
Supraja Dharini of TREE Foundation with rehabilitated Olive Ridley turtle
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Founded in 2002 by Chennai-based Supraja Dharini, TREE Foundation’s major focus is marine conservation. Olive Ridley turtles nest alongside the sandy seashores of the East coast of India and share their offshore habitat with hawksbill turtles and inexperienced turtles. Since the Seventies, there was a 90% discount in nesting numbers of Olive Ridleys.
Analysing the socio-economic elements, TREE Foundation established community-based sea turtle conservation programmes to coach and interact marginalised artisanal fishing communities from villages alongside the east coast of India in Tamil Nadu and subsequently in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to guard practically 700 kilometres of nesting habitat shoreline. Through the three States, greater than 360 native younger fishermen, a lot of whom have been beforehand turtle egg poachers, are now engaged as Sea Turtle Protection Force (STPF) members.
The breeding and nesting season for Olive Ridleys is between December and April. “Female sea turtles are the only marine species that come ashore to lay nests and thus truly are the connection between the land and the ocean. It is during this time that breeding turtles become vulnerable due to the high threat of interactions with commercial and artisanal fishers and their gear. A high number of dead and alive stranded adult Olive Ridleys are recorded along the east coast between January and March each year. Though the nesting turtles and their eggs are being monitored on the protected beaches, it is equally important to protect the turtles in their ocean habitat as well,” says Supraja. To handle this difficulty, TREE Foundation works collectively with the Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department, the Department of Fisheries of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, the Indian Coast Guard and the Marine Police. As a part of the muse’s conservation efforts, about 67,360 kilograms of ghost nets have been retrieved from the ocean since June 2021 by the fishermen who have been incentivised with the assist of CSR funding.
The basis’s community-based conservation programme additionally turned the Yenadi tribal communities of Andhra Pradesh, who have been as soon as sea turtle poachers, into protectors of the ecosystem. Today, the fishing neighborhood makes use of restrictive gear administration and follows seasonal closures at sea.
With assist from the National Biodiversity Authority of India since 2010, biodiversity consciousness programmes are being performed for academics and college students in greater than 500 faculties, involving them in tree plantation drives, coastal and water physique cleanups, pond ecosystem creation and organising of hen homes in their faculties and localities.
“We are working towards expanding the current programme to protect turtles at sea and minimise accidental catch during fishing in order to reduce mortality of turtles coming to nest, in addition to protecting turtle nesting sites and eggs,” provides Supraja.
Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society
Murthy Kantimahanti of Eastern Ghats Widlife Society in a snake rescue mission
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
From defending probably the most trafficked mammal species in the world, the Indian pangolin, to King Cobra conservation programmes in Northern Andhra Pradesh and conservation of inland fishing cat populations in the wetlands of Srikakulam district, Eastern Ghats Widlife Society (EGWS) has been extensively working in the direction of wildlife and biodiversity conservation in the State. It has initiated species-targeted surveys in one of many largest tiger reserves in the nation – Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR), to guard the the Indian pangolin. “The objective of the project is to assess the presence of Indian pangolin in protected and unprotected human-dominated landscapes of NSTR; understand local perceptions of rural communities living alongside the pangolin habitat; assess human-induced threats (drivers of trade) to the species and the habitat in the region; impart awareness and build capacity to strengthen conservation efforts and develop a conservation action plan for the Indian pangolins in NSTR,” says Murthy Kanthimahanti, founding father of Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society.
The workforce of EGWS are deploying signal surveys, focused digital camera trapping, and assessing historic information in order to to map the species distribution.
In the Northern belt of the Eastern Ghats, EGWS has been working to guard threatened king cobra populations in addition to different snake species by way of human-snake battle mitigation, nesting habitat preservation, training and neighborhood outreach. “The landscape harbors different habitats and has been neglected by wildlife authorities and researchers alike owing to the fact that most of the conservation attention goes to the Western Ghats or other bio-diversity rich spots in the country,” says Murthy. The distributional information collected by way of EGWS’ king cobra undertaking is crucial to establish areas that want safety in a largely unexplored area. “Through community-centered conservation efforts and using the king cobra as an umbrella species, we aim to protect the habitat and biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats and reduce human-snake conflicts in South India,” provides Murthy.
EGWS has additionally been working to preserve inland fishing cat populations in city and rural landscapes of the Northern belt of Eastern Ghats by way of exploring hall connectivity between supply populations, native capability constructing, efficient menace discount programmes and neighborhood outreach.
Animal Warriors Conservation Society
Animal Warriors Conservation Society working with fishermen to retrieve ghost nets in Kothapatnam.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The society works in two numerous landscapes of Andhra Pradesh in the direction of wildlife and biodiversity conservation efforts. A 3-member workforce screens its undertaking in Kothapatnam in Prakasham district to mitigate ecological and financial affect of ghost nets. Here, it’s operating the From Ghost Nets to Sports Nets undertaking in which they incentivise native fishermen handy over ghost nets which are then modified into badminton and volleyball nets. “We are working towards identifying the habitual snag points at sea to prevent the fishermen from venturing there. For this, we are mapping the ocean floor through sonar and other technology,” says Jakka Amarnath, chief of wildlife and dialog of Animal Warriors Conservation Society (AWCS).
AWCS is at the moment working in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department for monitoring tigers in the transient corridors of North Andhra Pradesh Eastern Ghats since April 2022. “Right now, we are assessing the movement of two tigers around Kakinada, Anakapalle, Vizianagaram, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Parvathipuram districts. Our objective is to avoid man-animal conflict and assist the villagers in getting compensation in case of cattle loss through proper evidence gathering,” says Amarnath.
The society can be working in the Parvathipuram space to watch elephant motion and can shortly be testing two devises meant to soundly drive tuskers away from human habitation.
