Wetland and Waterbird Heritage of Gujarat- An Illustrated Directory (An Outcome of the Project “Wetland & Waterbirds of Gujarat – A Status Report of Wetlands and Waterbirds of Gujarat State including a Wetland Directory”) Final Report Submitted by Dr. Ketan Tatu, Principal Investigator (Ahmedabad) Submitted to Training and Research Circle Gujarat State Forest Department, Gandhinagar December 2012 Wetland and Waterbird Heritage of Gujarat- An Illustrated Directory (An Outcome of the Project “Wetland & Waterbirds of Gujarat – A Status Report of Wetlands and Waterbirds of Gujarat State including a Wetland Directory”) Final Report Submitted by Dr. Ketan Tatu Principal Investigator Ahmedabad Submitted to Training and Research Circle (TRC) Gujarat State Forest Department Gandhinagar December 2012 Sponsored by Training and Research Circle, Gujarat State Forest Department Gandhinagar Acknowledgements I express my sincere thankfulness and profound gratitude to Dr. H. S. Singh, currently an Addl. PCCF, Gujarat Forest Dept. and then Director, Gujarat Forest Research Institute, Gandhinagar, who gave me the opportunity and help to carry out the present study. Without the kind support and advice rendered by Dr. B. H. Patel, IFS, Dy. CF (Research), Gujarat Forest Research Institute, Gandhinagar, regarding the essential formalities this work would not have been completed. I am also thankful to Shri R. N. Tripathi, the then Director, Gujarat Forest Research Institute, Gandhinagar for supporting this work and giving me necessary extension for completion of this work. I also extend my thanks to Shri D. S. Narve, CCF and Director, Gujarat Forest Research Institute, Gandhinagar for being patient and supportive in the last phase of the study. I am highly indebted to Shri B. J. Pathak, CCF and Director GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar, for his kind support in the form of facilitating time to complete this work. I am thankful to respected PCCF and Head of the Forest Force (Gujarat State), Addl. PCCF, D & M (Gujarat State), CCF (GujaratState) and Director, GEER Foundation, Director, TRC and other senior officers for giving their suggestions for finalization of the report in the draft report evaluation meeting held on 4-12-2012. Some well-wishers have also helped me by providing regional data about wetlands and waterbirds. My highest and respectful thanks are due to Shri Shantilal Varu, veteran bird expert from Kachchh, who not only provided field level data on wetlands and waterbirds of Kachchh, but also guided me in selecting important wetlands of Kachchh for the field work. His help was remarkable in the sense that he never denied in giving prompt feedback to my wetland/waterbird related inquiries whenever I required. Thanks are also due to Shri Bharat Rughani for providing wetland related information of Porbandar district, Shri Mohammad Jat for providing wetland/waterbird related information of Paalan wetland of Valsad district and Shri Palak Thakore for providing wetland/waterbird related information of Lakhi dam, Surat district. I am also thankful to numerous anonymous locals who conversed with me at numerous wetlands and shared wetland related information. Some other well-wishers have given invaluable help by providing necessary literature. I am sincerely thankful to Dr. Bakul Trivedi (Editor Vihang) and Mr Hemant Suthar (then RFO, GFD) for providing past issues of “Vihang”. This work could not reach the final stage of draft submission without persistent help by my wife Dr. Amita Tatu, Asst. Professor(Botany), Gujarat Arts and Science College, Govt. of Gujarat. She sacrificed many of her leisure hours for typing, editing and conducting field-work and hydrophyte-related discussions. My son Avichal’s enthusiasm to accompany me to various wetlands of Central and North Gujarat gave me boost in carrying out field work. Despite his young age, he helped me in field-work by recording field-based information in multiple ways. My wife and son have shared my work-load and worries pertaining to completion of this work which I carried out simultaneously with demanding tasks of GEER Foundation. I am sure this work could be completed within two years if it was the only major work assigned to me. Thanks to the Almighty God who led this work to this final stage. Dr. Ketan S. Tatu CONTENTS Acknowledgements Contents Chapter-1: Background Information (Overall Status) Chapter-2: Dams Chapter-3: Irrigation Reservoirs Chapter-4: Natural Lakes Chapter-5: Village Ponds Chapter-6: City Reservoirs Chapter-7: Salt Pans Chapter-8: Marshy Wetlands Chapter-9: Other Inland Wetlands Chapter-10: Management Suggestions References Annexure-I: Directory of Names of Wetlands That Have Been Covered Under AWC Annexure-II: Checklist of Wetland Plants (Hydrophytes and Macro-Algae) in Gujarat Annexure-III: Checklist of Wetland Birds in Gujarat Background-Wetland Status Background Information(BI) BI-1 Background-Wetland Status Background Information-Status of Wetlands in Gujarat 1. Wetlands-An Introduction Wetlands, one of the most fertile and productive ecosystems on earth cover approximately 6.4% of the land area of the earth (Mitsch and Gosselink 2000) and about 1-5% of geographical area of the country(as per various resources), support about a fifth of the known biodiversity (SAC 2011). In a strict ecological sense, wetlands are the transitional zones between permanently aquatic and terrestrial (upland) ecosystems. Therefore, wetlands have some characteristics of both, land and water. Saturation of the soil with water for long enough period is known to be a principal feature of all the wetlands. Apart from this, wetlands are known to have several characteristics that separate them from the true aquatic systems. Some of the major characteristics include: regular flooding and recession of water (resulting in „dynamic behaviour‟ of wetlands), shallow waters (usually up to 2 m), undrained hydric soil; and predominance of hydrophytic vegetation BI-2 Background-Wetland Status Due to such specific characteristics of wetlands, in developed countries like United States, “wetlands” and “deep water habitats” are considered/ treated separately. However, in India, the term “wetland” is often utilized in a broad sense. Thus, apart from shallow water areas like marshes, inter- tidal flats, shallow lakes and ponds, paddy-fields and salt-pans, the deeper waterbodies like deep lakes, dams (precisely, their associated reservoirs; e.g., Dharoi dam reservoir, Karjan dam reservoir etc.) and irrigation water storage reservoirs (e.g., Thol, Wadhvana etc.) are also considered wetlands. Such a practice is not misplaced considering the definition of wetlands propagated by Ramsar Convention, 1971 (to be precise- Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, 1971). As per Ramsar Convention, 1971: “Wetlands are “areas of marsh, fens, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceeds six meters.” It is quite clear that this definition tries to cover almost all aquatic systems/waterbodies and emphasizes “habitat” aspect (see the terms in the definition like marsh, fen, peatland, natural water area, artificial water area etc.). It may be interesting, however, to note that in many countries in the world, especially in USA, following definition of wetland developed and propagated by U S Fish and Wildlife Service is used intensively and it is BI-3 Background-Wetland Status not based on habitat aspect of wetlands (as it is in case of „Ramsar‟ definition), but on “Characteristics” (i.e., hydrological, botanical, pedological etc.) “Wetlands are lands transition between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. For the purpose of this classification wetlands must have one or more of the following three attributes: 1. At least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes; 2. The substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; 3. The substrate is non-soil and is saturates with water or covered by shallow water at some time during the growing season of the year.” After this basic understanding about wetland definition, it is desirable to shift the focus on “Wetlands of Gujarat” rather than explaining much popularized matters of “Wetlands of world” or “wetlands of India” etc. This is because, apart from providing a Directory of Wetlands of Gujarat, it is also an aim of this study to give an overall status of wetlands of Gujatat. 2. Wetlands of Gujarat Gujarat (India) is situated between 20o 01‟ and 24o 07‟ North latitudes and 68o 04‟ and 74o 04‟ East longitudes. The state covers an area of 1,96,024 BI-4 Background-Wetland Status sq. km, which is 6.19 % of the total geographical area of the country, with a longest coastline of about 1,600 km. There are twenty six districts in the state. The population of Gujarat after the conclusion of 2011 census is a little over 60.38 million, of which, males accounted for 31.48 million while the female population was 28.90 million. The state now ranks tenth in population size and shares 4.93 per cent of the country's total population. Southwest monsoons contribute to a major portion of the rainfall to the state. Annual rainfall varies from 300 mm in western half of Kutch to 1500 mm in Valsad and Dang districts. Temperature is lowest in early January, increasing gradually at first and rapidly after mid-February to