|
Most of the members in Thanal are nature enthusiasts and nurture a passion for the wilderness and wild life. Many of our members
who grew up with the Nature Club movement are in their own ways bird lovers and we participate in bird surveys and also organize
awareness camps. We were associated with the publication of the very popular book - Kerala Birds - by the renowned ornithologist
K K Neelakantan. We also organize bird surveys and have some studies to our credit. In the last five years (since 1999),
we have organized Bird Surveys at Aralam wildlife sanctuary along with the Kerala Forest Department.
C Sasikumar, one of our founder members is a well-known ornithologist and is involved in a unique study of the Crested
Goshawk, a highly endangered species of raptors for the last eight years.
Raju S, who is currently training coordinator at the Zero Waste Centre, is also a keen ornithologist and he has compiled
a check-list of Birds in the Athirappilly Forest Area (2002).
S Unnikrishnan, writer and activist did a study on the status of the unique Kole wetlands of Central Kerala (1990).
Tourism is a growing industry in the Kerala State and the coast and backwaters are much affected by the pollution and
negative effects of construction, development and waste. A preliminary compilation was done on the impact of Tourism on the
wetlands for Equations, Banglore (2000).
The coast which adorns the State in its west dips into the Arabian Sea and is one of the States great boons. The coast
is intensively active with fishing. But indiscriminate fishing, trawling, development activities, especially for tourism,
harbours and even mining have affected life here.
Marine Turtles have been of great concern for us, and another of our founder members and the Director, C Jayakumar has
been working on Marine Turtle conservation for nearly a decade now. He has done studies to map the marine turtle landing
sites in the State. This study was supported by the Wild Life Institute, Dehradun and also by the Kerala Forest Department(2002).
Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development ( KRPLLD) also supported a research on the community participation in
marine turtle conservation(2002). Most of this research work is completed and we are in phase of action to identify conservation
spots and work on community leading the action for protection.
Of late some of our members have felt the need to study Butterflies, Reptiles, Amphibians and Insects especially with
the role that the beings play in supporting our life systems. These are some of the areas that have been identified for future
work, but much depends on the interest that the young members of the team who have propounded them can sustain.
|
