A Walk on the Frontline

We heard a Tiger growling at a distance beyond our sight as we prepared for a walk in tiger terrain accompanied by a Beat guard and two watchers. They took us on one of their patrolling routes, connecting one Patrolling Camp to the other. We were following a narrow jungle trail bordered by new growth of dense bamboo(Dendrocalamus strictus) when the guard received a wireless message that a Tiger has been sighted ahead on the same trail so he decided to skip the trail and lead us along a stream originating near the next camp. While on the way the watchers checked the stagnant water pools on the stream to make sure they haven’t been poisoned and measured the depth of the pools to account for water availability. These are important precautions to be taken especially during the summer seasons when water is limited and animals congregate to drink from stagnant pools which can be easily poisoned by poachers using agricultural pesticides. This can be done even by villagers seeking revenge for losses caused by animals or just as revenge against the authorities. The pools are checked for any kind of signs such as precipitates, color, floating layers on water or any other suspicious substances. Such water bodies are frequented by wildlife which was indicated by the presence of ungulate tracks and scat of Sloth Bear and therefore the nearby foot trails and animal trails need to be examined for snares placed by poachers. Each and every such water body is checked especially those in certain designated ‘sensitive areas’ and the date of examination is written on a nearby rock or tree with paint. Caves or Overhangs in gorges also need to be checked for use by poachers as natural shelters.

Foot patrolling is also required to keep a tab on illegal harvest of timber as well as non-timber forest products such as Honey, Bamboo, flowers of Mahua(Madhuca indica) used for making liquor, Leaves of Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) used for making ‘Bidi’, Seeds of Chironji(Buchanania lanzan) used in Sweets, bark of Bauhinia vahlii from which ropes are made and Gum of Sal(Shorea robusta) used as a fumigant. Collection of such NTFP’s which are also referred to as Minor Forest Products (MFP’s) may sound harmless but villagers are willing to chop down an entire tree for the sake of collecting few ounces of honey form bark-dwelling bees, inflict deep wounds on Sal to collect gum leading to the death of such trees or ignite fires to clear the undergrowth to facilitate Mahua flower collection and to stimulate new leaf flush of Tendu leaves. Intrusions of MFP collectors also increase the risk of Human-Animal Conflicts and hence needs to be curbed in Critical Wildlife areas.

We arrived at the camp after quenching our thirst with the clear waters of the tiny perennial pool which is shared by the patrolling parties with the wildlife around as they camp here throughout the year. The patrolling camp is a modest structure with a kitchen equipped with a ‘chula’ and a water purifier, the single room with a chest to store bedding and blankets. The camp is also equipped with solar powered lighting and there’s a toilet built outside. There’s also a shack in front of the camp meant of the visiting Officers who join the patrolling parties from time to time as everyone from the Range Forest Officers (RFO’s) to the Field Director is supposed to participate in the ‘legwork’ as they call it. Patrolling by Officers is required to boost the morale of the frontline staff and the Officers ensure that regular patrolling is being carried out judging by the use of patrolling trails and the camp. The guards are also motivated to plant fruiting trees such as bananas and vegetables for recreation as it also serves to judge the upkeep and use of the camp. After every patrol the guard is also required to fill a Patrolling Register which contains a detailed record of the foot patrol and a Sightings Register of the species, numbers, age and sex of the major mammals sighted and records of indirect evidences such as signs.

There are more than 100 such patrolling camps strategically located across the Tiger Reserve which are manned by a Beat Guard and one or two watchers. The permanent ones are manned throughout the year while temporary ones are those operational during summer as Fire-watching positions constructed on vantage points and those used during monsoons when surveillance is crucial as vehicular patrolling is difficult.

Hunger pangs prompted us that is was time to head back to our base and so we waved good bye to our hosts. On the way back we spotted a huge Wild Boar(Sus scrofa) utilizing its upward tusks to plow away soil from the ground in search of tubers and roots in the process loosening-up soil compacted by hooves of hoarding Cervids. Our Gypsies distracted it but it didn't scramble into the thickets but held its ground and moved along the road until finally retreating into the forest. Such lack of flight response to humans by animals is seen when they are left unmolested and are not persecuted by humans and was a testimony to the protection provided.

Our experience enlightened us about the most basic and crucial unit of Protected Areas Management i.e. the Beat and the Beat Guard and while the vacancies of frontline staff hover at around 25-30% in even the best of our PAs and the higher-ups discuss the use of Satellites to Monitor Fires and Encroachments and Wireless Infrared Sensors to detect trespassers we must always remember that it is the Frontline staff and effective ‘legwork’ which is most important for a Park’s Success.

- Aditya Malgaonkar

18/01/2011

The Co-existence Syndrome

Mendha Lekha, a tribal hamlet in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra will become the first village in the country to be granted the right to harvest bamboo as per the provisions of The Forest Rights Act 2006(FRA) which quite ironically enlists bamboo as a ‘minor forest produce’! The Extraction of Bamboo which is treated as Timber as per the Indian Forest Act 1927 will no longer be in the control of the Forest Department. While it will surely benefit the Gond Tribals and the Naxal affected District of Gadchiroli to generate revenue, the fate of Bamboo Groves, a unique feature of Tropical Asian forests is sealed.

Do we know the Total percentile biomass bamboo contributes to in a Forest? Do we know their Regeneration rates? And Extraction of how many tons per unit Area will not degrade the forest? If no, then on what basis is Bamboo considered a minor produce? What are the measures to prevent over exploitation of this resource by the Gram Sabha which will ‘manage’ its extraction? These are the many questions to which I suppose we will not find convincing answers, and this is an example of how this new brand of environmentalism infected with the ‘co-existence syndrome’ has further eroded the Forest protection laws, made things more difficult than ever for the already weakened Forest Department and strengthened the forces involved in the use, misuse and abuse of nature.

Now before you comment about how tribals live in harmony with the forest, How they should have their right to maintain their traditional ways, how ‘sustainable development’ can take place, I would like state a very fundamental truth about Humans which is contradictory to the ‘co-existence theory’, that is ‘Humans CANNOT co-exist with Forest’ this is not an ideology, philosophy or any agenda it’s a basic character that has influenced human evolution. Our Ancestors left the Trees for Grasslands more than 4 million years ago! We developed erect posture as an adaptation of our grassland habitat, developed weapons to hunt ungulate prey which was abundant in grasslands, developed settled agriculture and then when our natural grassland habitat become saturated or degraded we destroyed forests and ‘created’ grasslands. Tribals don’t live in Forests they live in ‘grasslands’ which they have created in these Forests, grasslands which are growing in size due to the growth of tribal population.

The Second problem in the Co-existence theory is that the ‘world is a village’, forest produce are not just used locally but exported to National and International Markets, Markets for which the size and rate of supply CANNOT be Sustainable. The Bamboo from Gadchiroli will find its way into Nagpur’s construction industry, will stimulate more demand, degrade forests in the region and at the same time discourage Bamboo Cultivation which is sustainable in the truest sense.

Considering the trend of conversion of forests into grasslands and ultimately into barren lands, I think there is an urgent need to protect whatever little forests we are left with from all abusive human influences and extraction for ‘minor forest produce’ be it bamboo or tendu can hardly be called sustainable. It is best for us to encourage modern agricultural and animal husbandry practices and reduce unsustainable dependence on forests.

- Aditya Malgaonkar

Adventure is just bad planning - Excursion to Amboli

1^st and 2^nd September 2010

Sawantwadi and Amboli

The title of this post is a quote by Norwegian Explorer Roald Amundsen which I feel best describes our time in Amboli, a small hill station in Sindhudurgh District of Maharashtra. We had long planed out Zoology Short Excursion to this place and had booked tickets to Sawantwadi which is a town 30km from Amboli and is connected to Mumbai via the Konkan Railway. After having to cancel our tickets due to the landslides in Amboli and getting the trip postponed, we were disappointed when a second landslide occurred. But this time we decided not to let that thwart us and went ahead with our journey with no plans about what to do once we reach there. On reaching Sawantwadi in the evening we checked into a Lodge near the ST Bus Depot, which was also being used by the local pimps and their Prostitutes as we later discovered.(thanks to Jacob's keen ears) The next day we left for Malvan as the road to Amboli was still blocked. After coming back from malvan having enjoyed the Tarkarli beach and scrumptious Malvani Food, we got to know that the road to Amboli had been cleared and so the next day we arrived at Amboli.

Amboli was damp and everything from the Hotel Floor to the bed sheets gave you a sticky feeling when you touched them, in fact Amboli gives you a constant feeling of being wet no matter how hard you try to stay dry, but the worst of monsoon rains seemed to have subsided. We left for a trail into the forest as soon as we had some breakfast. The calls of Malabar Whistling Thrush attracted us towards a road sided by dense vegetation and going into the forest. We spotted a Green vine snake just as we entered the forest, further ahead we spotted nothing else other than

the countless leeches crawling up our feet and most people were too frustrated to continue and left back after an hour or so while me along with few others were lucky to encounter a Barking Deer Muntiacus muntjak just a few minutes later. In the evening we came across more of the little things that you would see in a forest which included a Banded ground Gecko (Geckoella), Camel Crickets (Rhaphidophoridae), Sheild Tailed Snake (Uropeltis sp) and a Tarantula (Theraphosidae). I wasn’t disappointed by the relatively few morning and evening sightings as I was looking forward to a eventful Night Trail.

But after having a delightful Malvani Dinner Parkar Sir went straight to have a good night sleep while none of the girls and only two of the boys showed up for the Night Trail. So we started at around 11.00pm with Shantikumar and Johann accompanying me. I remember the look on Johann face when he saw me moving towards the same leech infested Forest trail that we took in the morning but we decided to go for it and we saw a Malabar pit viper on that trail and all those leech bites were worth that find. After going back to the market to have some tea we took the Highway going east to Belgaon and searched along the road.

The forest was resonating with the calls of Bush frogs(Raorchestes sp) and several other species; I was busy photographing things that Johann and shanti were skillfully finding. A beautiful Tusshar Silk Moth attracted my attention, while shanti searched for the Bush frogs and Johann proved that he’s the boss when it comes to spotting spiders as after spotting one spider after another he came across a large and handsomely colored Sparrasid Spider probably belonging to the Genus Heteropoda. Little else was seen after that and therefore we took a diversion 2 kms east of the Amboli to the Hiranyakeshi temple some 4km away with a hope of finding more things, but sadly there was very little forest left along the road and we did not see anything interesting. To make things worst it started raining and we were drenched from head to toe by the time we reached the temple at around 4.30am in the morning. My friends made use of the cobbled stone parapet of a house to catch some sleep while I slept on its veranda, we woke up at 6.00am to discover that our hands and feet had turned white and were numb due to the cold.

This usually happens in cold and wet weather but in our case it was severe as we had not eaten anything after having dinner and had walked 10kms or more in the night. When it’s cold your body needs to spend energy to heat itself up, but we has none left in us thus forcing the body to use a secondary method which involves the restriction of blood flow into extremities such as fingers and toes as well as the skin. However we managed to get ourselves back on our feet and were able to trek 6kms back to the hotel. On our way back we came across Black Bulbuls, Paradisefly Catchers, White Rumped Shama and Malabar Whistling Thrushes inhabiting the trees, Red Wattled Lapwings in the fields while Spot Billed Ducks, Lesser Whistling Ducks and Open Bills were seen inhabiting the flooded the banks of the Hiranyakeshi River.

Looking back at Amboli and Malvan Excursion I conclude that it was the finest trip I have ever been to with people who had absolutely no Interest in Zoology or at least in the non-textual part of it but it’s good to see that through such ventures these students of zoology are taking interest in Binoculars along with microscopes and are learning things in the Field and not just in the laboratories but on the other hand it’s a matter of great concern that 49 Mining leases had been granted in Sindhudurg District alone before the Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh ordered a review of Mining leases but if the leases are cleared acres of pristine forests like Amboli are at risk of being lost forever.

- Aditya Malgaonkar

Zoology Excursion to Amboli Ghats and Malvan

Date and Locations :-
30th & 31st August
Aboard Mandovi Express
Sawantwadi & Malvan

We were in all nineteen Zoology students of

Wilson College of Mumbai eager to begin with our highly awaited Zoology Short Excursion to explore the Biodiversity of Amboli Ghats and the Fishing Industry at Malvan. while me, Shanti bhandari, Jacob Aghamkar and Johanna Daniels had some bit of outdoor experience, others were quite enthusiastic to gain their experience of the world. We were headed towards Sawantwadi aboard the Mandovi Express on 30th of August, the train departed from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) at 7.00am and barely two hours later somewhere ahead of Panvel we were enjoying the views of green hills, grassy plains and flowing streams. But something didn’t seem right; the water in the streams was all muddy indicating soil erosion. And soil erosion had in fact taken place because the landscape was covered with only monsoonal grasses and shrubs, there were no thick forests to stop the flow of water and help it seep into the ground on the other hand entire hills were carved out to satisfy the demand for construction materials exposing the naked soil to heavy rains. As we moved further south into Konkan I pointed out to my friends that the streams are running with clear white water because the valleys are still well wooded and hills still untouched by miners. This relatively unspoiled landscape of southern konkan enchanted during our journey and our excursion it seemed had started before even reaching Sawantwadi.

After arriving at Sawantwadi at around 7.30pm we took three 6-seater rickshaws from the Sawantwadi Road Railway Station to Ajinkya Lodge near the ST Stand. The Next morning we caught a St Bus to Malvan from Sawantwadi via Kasal. It’s the longest route to Malwan possible and It took us 2 ½ Hours to reach Malvan, however the route was amazingly scenic especially the hills of Kasal at the famous Kasal ‘taka’ where a pristine stream flows. This is where I went camping for the very first time in my life some 12 years back, it brought back all those ever enjoyable memories of catching fish in the stream and enjoying the aroma of Mast Malvani Chicken being cooked by my aunt while we were still half submerged in the cold water. Those nostalgic memories made sure I kept smiling even as I felt asleep in the bus much to the amusement of others. I woke up when we reached Malvan and had hard time convincing my friends that it was the water in the streams and the mist covered hills that kept me smiling and not the new girl in class.

Malvan is a major Fishing port on the Western coast and after arriving there we went to the Malvan Jetty to have a look at the Fishing Industry i.e the Type of fish caught, the types of Nets, boats, other equipment and Methods used, but unfortunately the sea had continued to stay choppy even after ‘Narali Pornima’ and therefore the Customs Department still had not permitted off-shore fishing, however we saw one group of fishermen involved in readying Rampani Nets(Shore Seine) by attaching floaters and sinkers to it, while another group of men were busy ferrying Trawl nets aboard fiber glass Canoes to their main trawlers as they were hopefull that the sea will calm down soon.

‘Rampani’ is a type of net or rather a unique method used for shoreline fishing. A single net can be four thousand to five thousand feet long and is laid into the water in a semicircular manner around the fish shoals, adjoining the shore with the help of a canoe, the net is then pulled up towards the shore by ropes attached to both its ends. Pulling the net to the shore requires super human strength and the entire fishing village may have to get their hands dirty and spend hours to do this job. In the past Wilson College Zoology students have had the opportunity to participate in this game of Tug of War, we however had no such luck. This way of fishing is now rapidly becoming unpopular because overfishing, pollution due to oil leaks and sewage have led to the decline of shoreline fish stocks leading local fishermen to risk their lives by moving farther away from the shore with their traditional canoes which are inappropriate for off-shore fishing.

But Off-Shore fishing is the future it seems and those with larger Satpati Boats have mechanized them for exploring new fishing grounds. Satpati Boats are Medium sized fishing vessels around 12 to 14 meter long and 3 meters broad these are named after the Satpati Village in Maharashtra were they are manufactured in good numbers. Out of all the indigenous fishing vessels Satpatis are the most suitable for motorization and off-shore fishing due to their robust hull design. These ‘Trawlers’ as they are now called use trawl nets and Purse Seines for fishing. The use of trawl nets is highly indiscriminate especially the micro-nets which result in almost 30-40% by-catch i.e fish and other sea creatures which are useless of human consumption and are turned into manure and poultry feed.

After observing the fishing activities we went to the fish market where the hustle and bustle was much less than the usual and only small numbers of fisherwomen were seen marketing the fish. These women belonging to the Koli community which has been traditionally involved in fishing, with the women involved in selling of fish, adult males in fishing while youngsters and elderly in maintenance of nets, boats and other fishing equipment. No one is a competitor in the fishing community and every one helps each other in tasks which require manpower like pulling up large boats onto the shore to protect them from rough weather or for repairs.

Malvan is known for a lot more things than fishing and fish food , the Splendid Sindudurg Fort is

one such attraction, it was in history an important asset of Shivaji’s Navy though not many people know that he actually had a Navy. Shivaji raised a strong navy to counter forigen Naval powers like the Portugese and the Siddhis and for this reason he is today recognized as The Father of the Indian Navy, Chatrapati Shivaji however owes much of his maritime glory to an Admiral named Kanoji Angre who played an important role in the conquest of the Konkan coast. It was a nostalgic movement to gaze at the grand Sindudurg Fort which bears testimony to the valour and courage of the Maratha Navy, because our first zoology excursion went to Dapoli where we happned to visit Harne Village where Kanoji was born and the Suvarnadurg Fort of which he was the Governor.

After Exploring the Malvan Coast for some more time we left for Tarkarli, a beach 4 kilometers from Malvan, which was a few years ago a virgin shore with white sand and was one of my favorite spots to visit during summer vacations. We didn’t find it in that pristine state but the Sighting of a Pair of White-Bellied Sea Eagles gave us hope that this place still retains some of its wilderness in spite of ruthless commercialization. We also collected shells of dead mollusks and a spider conch was among the various sea shells found and further ahead we found intertidal pool of sea water where fingerlings of Target Perch were seen in abundance.

It was midafternoon by the time we waked up to the end of tarkarli beach and the thought of tasting

the delicious Malvani Fish Curry and munching down on ‘Bangda fry ‘(mackerel fry) had just crossed my mind when Parkar Sir called me up and said its time for lunch !

And so we went back to Malvan and satisfied our culinary fantasies after which we returned to Sawantwadi via St bus and after reaching there at the hotel while other went shopping Me, Johann and Jacob went straight to a nearby hill. we didn't see anything really interesting there although the vegetation was luxuriant and many plants looked unfamiliar but I found out that these were the two guys along with Shanti Bhandari who were as much interested in exploring the wild as me and so made up some really adventurous plans for out next day at Amboli. ……………… to be continued.

Next week I would write about our adventures in Amboli.

Credits - Want to thank Parkar sir for involving students and considering our opinion while planing the trip, Jacob and Shebby for putting togeather an awesome shell collection, Jacob for the first Photo in this Blog and those anonymous people who uploaded the pictures of Arial view of Sindudurg Fort& Sketch of Rampani Net.

Zoological Explorations in Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary

15^th and 16^th August 2009, Bhimashankar WLS, Maharashtra

After a grueling 5 hour trek to Bhimashankar our team arrived at the house were we were supposed to stay for the night, it was a double storied house with the second floor rented to us. We had some food and as everyone got comfortable and decided to call it a day me and my brother got ready to explore the Gupt Bhimashankar Forest and left the rest house after 5.00pm.

As we moved towards Gupt Bhimashankar we crossed the Shiva Temple were Punekars paranoid by swine flu were queuing up with masks on their faces. The Gupt Bhimashankar trail starts exactly behind the temple and the garbage dumped by the pilgrims along with human feces were seen on more than 50 meters into the trail. The garbage included plastic bags, flower garlands, disposable plastic bottles, broken footwear and also disposable masks. We were really disappointed by such a terrible scene but the tall trees and thick vegetation ahead of us encouraged us to move on. It took us little more than half hour to reach gupt Bhimashankar were the Bhima river is believed to originate but this it seemed was

a false belief as the stream that we saw was flowing west down the mountain range and the Bhima is an East flowing River on the other side of the Ghats.

We explored Gupt bhimashankar for quite some time but were unsuccessful to find any interesting wildlife and when it started getting dark we decided to explore a different trail leading back to the village for nocturnal animals. While on the trail we noticed a Termite mound along side which, there was a ditch similar to the ones made by dogs, the soil was pushed behind on one side and the ditch extended into the wall of termite mound via a hole made into the wall. There are records of Pangolins also called Scaly ant eaters in Bhimashankar which are known to feed on termites by opening up their mounds; so could this be the work of this utterly strange looking insectivore?? However Pangolin burrows, which are used by these animals to hide during the daytime and are quite often seen in pangolin occupied forests, were not seen during our trail.

We moved ahead towards the village and searched the forest for another one hour without a single good sighting and just when we thought that our luck was bad, some rocks surrounded by lose and moist soil with plenty of earthworm cocoons caught my attention. We searched that area and found 3 shield-tailed snakes Uropeltis spp, 2 were seen borrowing under the rocks and one was seen on top of one large rock. These snakes are nocturnal animals and are active during the night and probably feed on earthworms and other invertebrates, they are fossoriel in habit but have been seen above the ground after rains. There are at least three species namely Uropeltis macrolepis, Uropeltis phipsonii and Uropeltis ellioti which are known to occur in this part of the Western Ghats.

While observing the snake I felt something crawling up on my arm, it was terrifying when I found out that it was a small tarantula, but it was even more terrifying when after some while I felt something crawling on my back and this time it was inside my T-Shirt!! , but thankfully it turned out to be a Banded Ground Gecko Gekoella spp.

We walked around in the forest till 7.00pm and then decided to go back for dinner. It was 7.30pm by the time we got back to the rest house but we had to control hunger as the dinner was late. Finally we were served food at 10.30 and after having my tummy full I went back into the forest for a Night trail, but this time I was all alone as my brother was too exhausted to accompany me.

The Night was cold and I was too exhausted to take a forest trail so I decided to walk along side Bhimashankar – Mansar road which connects Bhimashankar with Talegaon.

As I walked along the road long- tailed field mice were seen several times on top of small trees, but I had presumed that this was going to be a uneventful venture as I was far too exhausted for my senses do detect animals in pitch black darkness.

But in wildlife Night time is the right time and this fact got proved yet again when after some while of walking I heard something moving behind me, upon turning back a Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) was seen crossing the road and then it diapered in the darkness of the forest, this was the first time I saw this not so famous member of the cat family. The Rusty-spotted Cat is one of the smallest species of Wildcat in the world and is very difficult to see due to its shy and weary nature. Encouraged by this sighting I explored the area till 12.00; the fog was the densest I had ever seen and my 6 volt torch was only illuminating the 3 or 4 meters ahead of me, soon it also started raining which forced me to get back to the base as I was wearing my last pair of dry clothes. I went straight to bed after reaching the rest house but the thin chati and a short blanket kept me just ‘trying to sleep’ almost the whole night.

It was 7.00am when I woke up and after a rough night sleep things got worse for me as I discovered that there were no toilets and we will have to go into the forest to answer nature’s calls but I decided to control it instead. It was 9.30am when we finally made a move towards gupt bhimashankar and after a while of walking I heard calls of Giant squirrels and sure enough two were seen running up and down on a branch of a tree barley 20 meters away from us.

A large crowd gathered as I pointed towards the two arboreal animals, it was the first time they saw this animal and were observing it great interest. I hope this love and interest in nature transcend the disrespect and ignorance shown by most tourists.

After coming back to the rest house it was time to trek back to Khandas and we packed our bags and left the rest house at 11.30am. We took the same trail back to khandas but this time we took a lunch break halfway down at a dhaba on the way and were served with hot zunka and bhakri.

While trekking back to khandas me and brother got separated from the group as we waited to take pictures and accidentally took a wrong trail, but this turned out to be a rather fortunate accident as we stumbled upon a pile of fresh gaur dung as we tried to find the correct route. We started investing the nearby area for hoof marks and noticed a small pond on the edges of which we found gaur hoof marks. Gaurs or Indian Ox are rare in this area and there haven’t been any recent gaur reports from Ganesh Ghat area.

We found the right trail again and followed it down the mountain range were the group was waiting for us and we together left for Neral station and made our journey back home taking nothing but sweat memories of our adventures and some awesome photographs.

Good bye for now ..... take care and wait for more adventures !!!!

---- Aditya Malgaonkar

Trek To Bhimashankar .... Done!!! Done!!!! Done!!!! Done!!!!! 15th August 2009

15th August 2009
The Bhimashankar forest which is composed of moist deciduas, semi evergreen and evergreen forest and is a continuous patch of forest which includes the 130 km2 Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary was well as the forests of Padargad, Ahupe Ghat and Siddhagad Fort. It is one of the finest places in North Western Ghats for Biological Diversity and trekking to the evergreen forest of Bhimashankar from Khaddas was an unfulfilled dream for a long while. the trek from Khandas is belived to be a tough one and avoided by most naturalist, but the hard trail is worth its as it goes trous well wooded jungle.


After Reaching Neral at 8.30am in the morning of 15th August, we had our breakfast and soon left for Khandas. Khandas village is the starting point for most trekkers bound for Bhimashankar as well as the hill fort of Padargad, it is situated at an altitude of 200 meters above sea level, and tourism seems to be a major source of income other than cattle rearing and agriculture.

The trail leading to Bhimashankar is about 16 Km and ascends up to 900 meters, this however is not the highest point in Bhimashankar that honor goes to Nagphani (Cobra Hood) Point which is little above 1000 meter mark. There are two ways to reach the summit one through the Shiddi chi Vat (the ladder Route) which takes around 3 to 4 hours but is difficult as there is a Kada / Machi (Vertical Cliff) which needs to me crossed and the other a little longer trail through Ganesh Ghat which takes 4 to 5
hours but offers the best views of the forest, we took the Ganesh ghat route towards our
destination

We started off from Khandas at 10.30am and our 24 member team lead by five young and enthusiastic trekkers Divakar, Malhar, Lalit, and Alok who run the group called ‘Baan Hikers’ named after the highest Pinnacle in Maharashtra lead the trek.
The point from were the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary starts and were the real trek begins was some 3 kilometers away from Khandas and not 8 km as the Van Drivers in Khandas were heard screaming.


As we started climbing we realized that Bhimashankar wasn’t going to be easy as most of our team lagged behind and we had to wait of them several times on the way, but when we finally conquered the Ganesh Ghat we were rewarded by the picturesque views of the main Bhimashankar Mountain and the lush green forests on the foothills. The end of Ganesh ghat is at the same altitude as the base of Paddargad which is above 400 meters, a dhaba ahead of this point which is quite close to the main mountain was our halfway mark, we made a stop there at 1.30pm and after having some hot chai and biscuits we started back again.
The final obstacle between us and the summit was the 300 meter high and steep Ghat, which had to be climbed through a long and twisting trail crossing over moss covered rocks and slippery soil, and to make matters worse it stated raining. In spite of all these difficulties we managed to climb the gat in pouring rain and conquered it, by 3.30 pm all of us had managed to reach the summit.
Only after arriving at the place were we were supposed to spend the night and having some food we were able to rejoice our adventure as everyone shared their experiences over a cup of chai, but for me the exploration of bhimashankar had just begin as I prepared for an evening and a night trek into the forest in search of the animals which inhabit these mountains……. Keep reading will upload the rest tomorrow

---- Aditya Malgaonkar

Out of Sight and out of Mind – we are lest aware about our marine Ecosystems

It was a sunny day as we ventured out in the sea; we were heading for a snorkeling trip just behind Shivaji's Sindudurgh fort situated in the blue waters of Malvan.
Our boat stopped near some rocks behind the fort, the water was not more than 2 meters deep and the visibility was reasonably good in spite of the strong currents.
We saw fishes like the bullet fish, grouper, Red snappers, zebra fish, butterfly fish and black damsels. But it was not the fishes but the corals which were at the center of my attention; after all they were the ones responsible for the diversity of this unique ecosystem. Corals come in all shapes and colors, one can ever imagine some were round others were flat and there others with shapes I can hardly describe. We passed over a large coral which looked like an underwater bracket fungus with a diameter of more than 5 feet. The water was really shallow and I was able to feel the corals with my feet at some places.

This was an amazing experience, but our trip had a really sad ending.
As we boarded the MTDC boat, the boat man pulled up the anchor and with it uprooted a huge coral which was larger than a foot ball, and instead of feeling sorry about it he picked up the coral as all the MTDC snorkeling guides told him that he will get a good price for it! Don't be shocked, I haven't yet reached the sad ending.

After reaching the Malvan jetty we noticed many shops selling sea shells like spider cones and also corals. We saw the MTDC guides sitting next to the vendors and chatting with them, I am sure that they were helping these vendors get all these marine animals.

I informed the local press about this episode and hopefully the MTDC will try to educate their 'guides' but unfortunately it seems even Malvan is now going the Goa way, were sale of sea shells and corals is almost a cottage industry with entire households employed in their collection, polishing and sale.


But this illegal sale is just a very small part; the big picture is mush worse.
Corals and mangroves support some of the richest ecosystems on the planet earth, they crucial factors shaping marine ecology, they are also economically important as they support fish populations; therefore they are vital for sustainable fisheries (so that you can enjoy a fried fish without guilt 20 years from now). India harvests about 60, 00,000 tones of fisheries products annually it is an industry which supports lakhs of people by providing employment and nourishment. In spite of such benefits marine ecosystems are being wiped out and this clearly indicates that, lack of awareness is a major factor leading to their destruction. Being a BNHS member I really wish that we should have more about this at CEC so that we can do our bit to raise awareness.