Efforts on to secure Ramsar wetland tag for Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary

Though there were 80 Ramsar wetland sites in India, none of them were from Telangana. Manjeera would be the first Ramsar site in the State if it got the recognition this year.

Sangareddy: The State Forest department is making efforts to get a Ramsar wetland site status for the Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary near Sangareddy town.

Though there were 80 Ramsar wetland sites in India, none of them were from Telangana. Manjeera would be the first Ramsar site in the State if it got the recognition this year. Experts felt that Manjeera was richer in flora and fauna than a good number of sites in India which had already got the tag. While a team of experts from the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was expected to visit Telangana on July 11 and 12, the Forest department was preparing to get the tag with multiple presentations before the team.

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As the first step towards it, a team of senior officials along with District Collector Valluru Kranthi, accompanied by wildlife activists and forest officials, visited Manjeera on Monday.

Seasoned wildlife photographer Sriram Reddy said wildlife photographers had sighted 303 bird species at Manjeera so far, which included 117 migratory bird species. Nine of these bird species fall under the threatened category while 58 and 43 of them would fall under the High Priority and Schedule-1 categories respectively. Four bird species were endemic to Manjeera only. According to the International union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, there were 10 near-threatened species, five vulnerable species, one engaged species, and three critical endangered species in Manjeera. It is also a breeding centre for mugger crocodiles. Manjeera, known for its rich flora and fauna, had more than 170 mugger crocodiles apart from 57 kinds of fish species, 32 kinds of butterflies, 28 odonates, 31 reptiles, 25 invertebrates and 25 orchids.

The team enquired with District Forest Officer Ch Sridhar Rao what they would do for the conservation of birds and other species if Manjeera got some funds now. The Forest department was preparing to send a proposal to the Ramsar Convention shortly by preparing a report with the support of wildlife activists in Telangana. The Manjeera wetland site was spread over 20 square kilometres from Manjeera Dam and Singur dam, both built across river Manjeera in Sangareddy district 20 km apart. It had six islands where most of the bird species were found. The Collector said the wetland would get international attention once it got the Ramsar tag. Additional funds would also be available to carry out conservation activities besides regular monitoring.