1 Species (Peacock, Shikra &Pied Harrier)

Annexure-10

Schedule – 1 Species (Peacock, Shikra &pied harrier) Conservation Plan

M/s. R.[Answer P. to POLYMERS TOR no. 5(v)]

Peacock Shikra

Pied harrier

Prepared By: FAE/A/EMP: Dr. Pankaj Joshi T. R. Associates Ahmedabad

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Introduction:

M/s. Matru Industries is a partnership firm proposing to set up a micro scale Resin Manufacturing unit at Survey No: 409 Paiki 3, Plot No. 8, Village : Nava Sadulka, Taluka & District : Morbi - 363641, Gujarat. Resin will be manufactured within the industry for sale purpose. Proposed production of resins will be of 1700 MT/Month. Production details are given below:

Production Sr. No. Name of the Product Capacity CAS Number (MT/Month) Phenol Formaldehyde 1. 200 9003-35-4 Resin 2. Urea Formaldehyde Resin 1200 9011-05-6 Melamine Formaldehyde 3. 300 9003-08-1 Resin Total Production Capacity 1700 --

M/s. Matru Industries has a total plot area of 587.29 m2. Out of the stated 587.29 m2 of land area approximately 198.34 m2 is green belt area (approx. 33.77 % of the total land area). The total estimated cost of the proposed project is Rs. 90 Lakhs. Total budget allocation towards Environmental Management Facilities will be approx. Rs. 14.71 Lakhs

Salient Features within 10 km radius surroundings area as follows: Sr. No. Important Features Description Survey No.: 409, Paiki 3, Plot No.: 8, Village: Nava 1 Location Sadulka, Taluka & District: Morbi, Gujarat – 363641.

2 GPS Coordinates Latitude: 22°55'29.55"N Longitude: 70°49'43.60"E

3 Temperature Range 20.9˚C to 34.1˚C1

4 Mean Sea Level 36 m 5 Annual Rain Fall 676.1 mm (average) Nazarbaug Railway Station – 12.50 km in SSE 6 Nearest Railway Station direction 7 Nearest Airport Rajkot Airport – 68.33 km in South direction 8 Nearest Town Morbi – 10.04 km in S direction 9 Nearest Village Nava Sadluka– 1.40 km in NNW direction 10 Nearest National Highway NH 27 – 0.31 km in W direction

11 Nearest State Highway SH 321 – 6.73 km in E direction Macchu River – 4.45 km in W direction 12 Nearest River/Water body Canal – 0.97 Km SE direction Macchu River/Dam – 18.03 km in SSE direction

1 Climatological Normals (1981 – 2010)

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Sr. No. Important Features Description 13 National Parks / Sanctuary None within 10 km radius

M/s. T. R. Associates (NABET Accredited EIA Consultant) (NABET/EIA/1922/RA0142 (Rev.01)) was appointed by M/s. Matru Industries to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment study for their proposed project of Resins.

M/s. T. R. Associates performed Ecology & Biodiversity Study during their Baseline monitoring in the Post monsoon period of October to December, 2018

Total 168 plant species, 7 herpetofauna, 38 birds and 6 species of mammals were reported from the buffer zone of M/s. Matru Industries in the study during the baseline monitoring. However, no threatened biodiversity was reported with high density or richness from the core and buffer zones of the study area. Schedule 1 species (Indian peafowl, Shikra & pied harrier) was found in the buffer area. In addition, no true multi species forest type was recorded in the vicinity of the five kilometer radii of the project site. There are no direct or indirect threats predicted due to production at project location. The terrestrial ecosystem is considerably free from the project related impacts as the project associated activities do not required any additional land.

Schedule 1 species Peacock, Shikra & pied harrier was found in the buffer area of the site during the Ecology & Biodiversity study.

Conservation Plan for Peacock

Schedule - 1 species, Peacock was found in the buffer area of the site during the Ecology & Biodiversity study.

Peacock or Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is a familiar and universally known large pheasant. It is a National Bird of India, belongs to Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 obsereved in some of the villgaes of the study area.

Apperance:

The male has a spectacular glossy green long tail feathers that may be more than 60 percent of the bird’s total body length. These feathers have blue, golden green and copper colored ocelli (eyes). The long tail feathers are used for mating rituals like courtship displays. The feathers are arched into a magnificent fan shaped form across the back of the bird and almost touching the found on both sides. Females do not have these graceful tail feathers. They have the fan like crest with whitish face and throat, chestnut brown crown and hind neck, metallic green upper breast and mantle, white belly and brown back rump and tail. Their primaries are dark brown.

Classification:

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1 Kingdom : Animalia 2 Phylum : Chordata 3 Class : Aves 4 Order : Galliformes 5 Family : Phasianidae 6 Genus : Pavo 7 Species : Pavo cristatus 8 Local Name: Peacock or Mor Peacock Habitat

Study Approach :

The core zone and the area near to the project site was found and obsedrved as the habitat of Schedule I species Pavo cristatus which is commonly known as Peacock or Mor. Study has been done in order to do biological survey of core and buffer zone of the study area.

Sightings and Habitat Use:

Direct Peacock habitat was sighted at the area nearby project size as welll some of villages covered in the core zone which was the nearby villages from the project site. The area was found human dominated and associated surround habitats i.e. near agricultural fields and water bodies. This species is well adapted to natural village environment.

Threats in the Study Area:

No any threat has been observed for peacock or its habitats in the study area. Though, habitat improvement programme is recommended for improvement of population status of this national bird “Peacock”.

Conservation Measures:

Direct and indirect approach is required to provide effective conservation, which is recommended as under:

 By conducting awareness programmes for conservation of peacocks in the near by area.  Increasing the tree cover in the core area for shelter and roosting of peacocks. This can be achieved by planting of tree in core zone. Some local species such as Jamfal, Dadam, Karela, kapas, magphali, Limbu, Ambo, etc. can be planted. Planting of tree groves in school compounds in the nearby villages of the project site can also be carried out.  Some provision of rewards to informers for the control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife.

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 Provision of veterinary care and cages for injured or sick deformed birds.

Aspects:

1.Plantation: Planatation of plant species suggested by forest department and local people should be carried out once in a year in 5 villages mentioned above. This will provide shelter to the pecocks and more habitats will be develped.

2.Awareness Programmes: Awareness programes for peacock conservation should be carried out once in a year in the schools of different nearby villages. The objectives of this programme will be,

 To creat awareness to the people in the village about the forest laws regarding punishments being given for killing the peacocks; knowledge of giving first aid treatment in case of injury; motivation to use Natural fertilizes and insecticides in Agriculture.  Students will be taught about the behavioral and family studies of the Peacock.  Oath for conservation of peacock will be taken by students and the villagers.

Conservation Plan for Shikra & The pied harrier

Bird of prey called raptor is recorded under Accipitridae family and distributed very commonly in and around the proposed project landscape and found mainly in agriculture ecosystems associate with seasonal wetlands and riverine.

The following are main characters and ecological details for this species is mentioned in various published literatures and references including Wikipedia Google (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikra):

The shikra is a small raptor (26–30 cm long) and like most other Accipiter hawks, this species has short rounded wings and a narrow and somewhat long tail. Adults are whitish on the underside with fine rufous bars while the upperparts are grey. The lower belly is less barred and the thighs are whitish. Males have a red iris while the females have a less red (yellowish orange) iris and brownish upperparts apart from heavier barring on the underparts. The females are slightly larger. The mesial stripe on the throat is dark but narrow. In flight the male seen from below shows a light wing lining (underwing coverts) and has blackish wing tips. When seen from above the tail bands are faintly marked on the lateral tail feathers and not as strongly marked as in the Eurasian sparrowhawk. The central tail feathers are unbended and only have a dark terminal band. Juveniles have dark streaks and spots on the upper breast and the wing is narrowly barred while the tail has dark but narrow bands. A post juvenile transitional plumage is found with very strong barring on the contour feathers of the underside.[3] The call is pee-wee, the first note being

Page 5 of 10 higher and the second being longer. In flight the calls are shorter and sharper kik-ki ... kik- ki. The Chinese sparrowhawk is somewhat similar in appearance but has swollen bright orange ceres and yellow legs with the wing tips entirely black.

The shikra is found in a range of habitats including forests, farmland and urban areas. They are usually seen singly or in pairs. The flight is typical with flaps and glides. During the breeding season pairs will soar on thermals and stoop at each other. Their flight usually draws alarms among smaller birds and squirrels. They feed on rodents (including Meriones hurrianae), squirrels, small birds, small reptiles (mainly lizards but sometimes small snakes) and insects. Small birds usually dive through foliage to avoid a shikra and a Small Blue Kingfisher has been observed diving into water to escape. Babblers have been observed to rally together to drive away a shikra. They will descend to the ground to feast on emerging winged termites, hunt at dusk for small bats (such as Cynopterus sphinx) and in rare instances they may even resort to feed on carrion. In one instance a male was found feeding on a dead chick at the nest. Their calls are mimicked by drongos and this behaviour is thought to aid in stealing food by alarming other birds that the drongos associate with.

The shikra was a favourite among falconers in India and Pakistan due to the ease with which it could be trained and was frequently used to procure food for the more prized falcons. They were noted for their pluck and ability to take much larger birds including partridges, crows and even young peafowl.

The pied harrier (Circus melanoleucos) is an Asian species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is migratory, breeding from the Amur valley in eastern Russia and north- eastern China to North Korea. Wintering individuals can be found in a wide area from Pakistan to Philippines. The population consists of approximately 10,000 individuals and the number is thought to be in moderate decline. This medium-sized harrier (length 45 cm/18in, wing span 115 cm/46in)[3] nests in steppes and associated wetlands. Wintering individuals are often seen hunting above rice paddies and marshes.

Important background and major threats for raptors:

Christopher et al., (2018) mentioned following important background and major threats for raptors with many reviews of literatures: Beyond the well-documented ecosystem services provided by scavengers and predators, raptors—e.g., hawks, harriers, kites, eagles, falcons, owls, and vultures—serve as cultural symbols, are indicators of biodiversity and environmental health, and can structure biological communities. Their

Page 6 of 10 high trophic level and generally slow life history make raptors more sensitive to anthropogenic threats (and extinction than most other bird species. Finally, compared with most birds, raptors are difficult to monitor because they occur at low population densities and can be difficult to detect.

Threats to raptors include, but are not limited to, habitat alteration or destruction, intentional killing, intentional and unintentional poisoning, electrocution, and climate change. In numerous countries and regions, legislation exists to protect birds, including raptors, from many of these threats. Some legislation, such as the United States', is designed to specifically conserve raptor species. Protected areas have been created especially for raptors, and best practices have been developed to prevent raptor mortality. Under the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (the ‘Raptors MoU’) is a legally non- binding international agreement to conserve migratory raptors throughout Africa and Eurasia. To be effective, policy and conservation action must be informed by scientific understanding of the threats raptors face and the range of potential conservation interventions. Despite their charisma and importance to ecosystem function there is currently no systematic global synthesis of the conservation status, threats, or conservation and research needs for all raptors (Christopher et al., 2018).

Proposed Conservation Strategies:

In general, impact prediction methods argue that the foremost step in impact appraisal must consider and identify project actions that are likely to bring significant changes in the project environment. The present study determined to predict the likely impacts of the project in the surrounding environment with specific to biological attributes covering habitats/ecosystems and associated biodiversity. But, as discussed with client authority and surveyed in and around the project sites, there are no true multi species forest type was recorded in the vicinity of the five kilometres radii in and around the project site. It clearly indicates the low productive potential of the terrestrial ecosystem. Since the project associated activities do not required any land nearby ecological sensitive areas like rivers, forest and wilderness habitats, the terrestrial ecosystem is considerably free from the project related impacts. Therefore, the proposed project activities will not have

Page 7 of 10 any impacts like: loss of true forest habitat, floral species composition and overall faunal diversity.

While considering long-term impact by proposed project areas on vegetation and biodiversity, appropriate mitigatory measures have been suggested to improve the vegetation cover and to minimize the impacts on floral and faunal species (including RAPTORs) in and around the visible wilderness areas of project sites. In addition, it has been suggested to plant several local tree and shrub species (with following important specific terms) under afforestation program to improve their abundance status as well as wilderness areas and several characteristics to improve adjoin land to project areas:

- Tree and shrub species which are tall and bearing larger canopy cover and leaf area with different size classes (small, medium and larger) were suggested to maintain the different canopy levels at vertical profile.

- Many fruit trees and shrubs were in the selection list to attract birds, squirrel and fruit eating bats which are locally available.

- Mostly local tree and shrub species were recommended (See following list) to provide habitat for faunal species, increase the species diversity and maintain the naturalness.

List of plant species recommended to plant and improve vegetation cover in and around the project sites

Sr.No Species Name Local Name Habit Family Acacia nilotica (L.) Del. subsp. 1 Deshi Bavar Tree Mimosaceae indica (Bth.) Brenan 2 Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Limbdo Tree Meliaceae 3 Derris indica (Lam.) Bennet Karanj Tree Fabaceae 4 Ficus benghalensis L. Vad Tree Moraceae 5 Ficus religiosa L. Piparo Tree Moraceae 6 Cordia dichotoma Forst. Gunda Tree Ehretiaceae 7 Cordia gharaf (Forsk.) E.&.A. Gundi Tree Ehretiaceae 8 Salvadora oleoides Decne. Piludi Shrub Salvadoraceae 9 Salvadora persica L. Piludi Shrub Salvadoraceae

Detailed Action plan is shown in the table below.

Conservation plan

Sr. Work or Amount to be Villages No. Activity Work or activity spend in 5 years carried out during

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(1 to 5 years)

1 Local plant species will Plantation 2,00,000/- be planted for five years. Awareness programme Conducting for Peacock, Shikra & The Awareness pied harrier Nava Sadulka, conservation will be Bela Rangpar 2 Programs 75,000/- carried out once in a year (every year) in Nava Sadulka Primary School and Bela Rangpar Primary School. Total 2,75,000/- All above activities will be carried out with the consultation of local forest department and Gram Panchayat of respective villages.

The budget will be allocated in CER for the project which is shown in Below table.

Aspects:

1.Plantation: Planatation of plant species suggested by forest department and local people should be carried out once in a year in 3 villages mentioned above. This will provide shelter to the pecocks and more habitats will be develped.

2.Awareness Programmes: Awareness programes for peacock conservation should be carried out once in a year in the schools of different nearby villages. The objectives of this programme will be,

As per the circular no. F.NO. 22-67/2017-IA III, MoEF&CC, New Delhi, dated on 1st May 2018 proposed unit will spend annually minimum 2.0 % of its capital investment for carrying out various CER activities as stated below;

Yearly amount to be spent in CER Total Amount activities to Sr. Type of Activities No. (Rs. In Lakhs) be spent

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year (Rs. In Lakhs)

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1. Scholarship and educational aids distribution by project proponent to students in 0.70 0.60 0.50 1.8 Nava Sadulka Primary School.

Aspects:

0.7 lakhs, 0.6 lakh and 0.5 lakh rupees will be spend for the donation in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year respectivey in Nava Sadulka Primary School as shown in above table by M/s. Matru Industries.

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