Conducting baseline studies for Thane Creek Project report submitted to Mangrove Cell, Maharashtra & GIZ, Mumbai Office. by Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) Anaikatty (PO), Coimbatore - 641108, Tamil Nadu In collaboration with B.N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane Conducting baseline studies for Thane Creek Project report submitted to Mangrove Cell, Maharashtra & GIZ, Mumbai Office. Project Investigator Dr. Goldin Quadros Co-Investigators Dr. P.A. Azeez, Dr. Mahendiran Mylswamy, Dr. Manchi Shirish S. In Collaboration With Prof. Dr. R.P. Athalye B.N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane Research Team Mr. Siddhesh Bhave, Ms. Sonia Benjamin, Ms. Janice Vaz, Mr. Amol Tripathi, Mr. Prathamesh Gujarpadhaye Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) Anaikatty (PO), Coimbatore - 641108, Tamil Nadu 2016 Acknowledgement Thane creek has been an ecosystem that has held our attention since the time we have known about its flamingos. When we were given the opportunity to conduct The baseline study for Thane creek” we felt blessed to learn more about this unique ecosystem the largest creek from asia. This study was possible due to Mr. N Vasudevan, IFS, CCF, Mangrove cell, Maharashtra whose vision for the mangrove habitats in Maharashtra has furthered the cause of conservation. Hence, we thank him for giving us this opportunity to be a part of his larger goal. The present study involved interactions with a number of research institutions, educational institutions, NGO’s and community, all of whom were cooperative in sharing information and helped us. Most important was the cooperation of librarians from all the institutions who went out of their way in our literature survey. On the field we were immensley helped by Mr. Pravin Koli and his family who always removed time for the study, the dedication and concern he showed for the conservation of the creek is contagious and we do hope positive actions for Thane creek.. We also thank Drs. M.U.Borkar, N.N. Patil, S.D. Rathod and P.N. Kurve From B.N.Bandodkar College of Science for their help in identifications during the field work The support provided by the villagers, corporate, education and research institutions; NGOS’s and research personell along Thane creek helped in gathering the perceptive of the stakeholders. Here, we also take the opportunity to thank all the officials from the Mangrove Cell (Maharashtra), and Ms. Meghna Davar Lagate, Mr. Bhaskar Paul, Mr. P Vaidya and Dr. Manas Manjrekar from the GIZ Mumbai office for extending their timely help during the work. Our collaborative institution namely V.P.M’s B.N.Bandodkar College of Science, Thane has always helped right from the beginning of the project. The Laboratory space, the administrative and logistic support helped in completing the taks at hand. This was mailny due to the deligent efforts of the Principal Dr. M.K.Pejaver and her team from the office and Zoology department. Lastly we are grateful to the Director, SACON Dr. K Sankar for permitting us to undertake the short term project and facilitating our field and report writing work. We also thank the administrative and the finance department for coordination during field work. Finally, we take this opportunity and acknowledge with gratitude the faculty, support staff and researchers from SACON for their interest in our work and the necessary encouragement. It is highly appreciated. Goldin Quadros P.A.Azeez R.P.Athalye Shrish S. Manchi Mahendiran Mylswamy Siddhesh D Bhave Sonia Benjamin Janice Vaz Amol Tripathi Prathamesh Gujarpadhaye i Executive summary Thane creek (Long. 72.55’ to 73.00’ E and Lat. 19.00’ to 19.15’ N) is 26 km long. It is connected to the Mumbai harbour on its south and joins by a minor connection with the Ulhas river on its north near Thane city. Geologically, the Mumbai – Thane region is part of the Deccan trap that was formed by volcanic effusions at the end of the cretaceous period (Blasco, 1975; Tandale, 1993). Primarily, both the south and north connections of Thane creek isolate the Mumbai (Bombay) island from the mainland. The creek is narrow & shallow at the riverine end due to the presence of the geomorphic head and broader & deeper towards the sea. This report on Thane Creek is based on the context of the GoI-GIZ-CMPA Maharashtra Project that intends to improve the protection of biodiversity by promoting participatory approaches to the conservation and management of coastal and marine protected areas (CMPA), and supporting the creation of new protected areas in the future. Thane Creek is one of the sites of the project with three objectives designed by the funding agency (Mangrove cell and GIZ Mumbai). The objectives are as given below. 1. Derive a baseline understanding of Thane creek through previous studies conducted and existing literature for Thane Creek on the issues of environmental & biodiversity conservation including anthropogenic pressure like pollution and waste dumping. 2. Document the present biodiversity of Thane creek covering the major aspects of flora and fauna. 3. Undertake the stakeholder analysis with an especial focus on the Flamingo sanctuary area. Our Literature survey yielded 692 documents related to Thane creek These include both published and unpublished literature comprising of Academic thesis, Project reports, Journal publications, Publications in the proceedings of seminar/ conference, Online articles, Newsletters, etc. The analysis of the literature reveals that though the studies on Thane creek started before 1857, until 1956 there are only 20 publications most of which are found in books addressing general issues and pointing concerns on the Thane creek. However, it was only after the 1970’s that the volume of scientific literature on Thane creek started increasing with the establishment of several research institutions around Mumbai. As on date we found 41 Ph.D. Thesis and other publications that deal with almost every aspect of ecology and environment. The biodiversity study revealed 15 species of mangroves with the dominance of Avicennia marina acutissima and Acanthus ilicifolius throughout the creek. The IVI values also indicated the dominance of a single genera i.e Avicennia spp. throughout the creek. The study of the water quality revealed the narrow northern end of the creek to have concentrated levels of nutrients, low salinity and Dissolved oxygen and the values showed a declining trend towards the sea where the waterbody was broader. The sediments also showed a similar picture with the sediments acting as a trap for nutrients. It was also noticed that the creek had become shallower and narrower with increased levels of silt throughout the creek. The phytoplankton community comprised of 44 species, of which 36 species were recorded during the neap tidal phase and 32 during the spring tidal phase. The average population density was 5966053.65 no/L during the neap tide while during the spring tide the average density was 981517.98 no/L. The phytoplankton species belonged to 10 different classes represented by ii Bacillariophyceae being the most dominant. The zooplankton in Thane creek comprised of 24 types representing eight phyla. The arthropoda with 10 types was the most dominant among the zooplankters followed by Cnidaria, Mollusca and Annelida. The macrobenthos from the intertidal mudflats comprised of 23 species representing 5 phyla, with the Phylum Mollusca comprising of the gastropods and bivalves as the most abundant one. The benthos from within the mangroves comprised of mainly mollusca and crustacea. Mollusca was represented by total 22 species of gastropods and bivalves with the dominance of gastropods while the crustaceans comprised of 9 species. Presence of insects in the mangroves is critical because insects perform many roles within the ecosystem. During our study, we recorded 72 insects belonging to 33 different families and eight orders. The order Lepidoptera representing six families was most dominant with 31 different species comprising of 29 butterflies and 2 moth species. However, among arachnids we could document only seven species of spiders representing one order from the mangrove ecosystem of Thane creek. It was observed that the fishing activity was mainly restricted to the lower stretches (marine end) of the creek. During the investigation, 15 species of fish were recorded, consisting of 11 species of finfish, two crustaceans and two molluscan bivalves, In addition we also recorded four reptiles while we sighted six mammals and had secondary evidences of Asiatic Jackal We observed birds from within the mangroves to record the terrestrial birds associated with mangroves, as well as undertook boat surveys to document the wetland and shore birds. We recorded 155 species of birds representing 52 families with 76 wetland and shore birds. Most of the birds are of Least-Concern as per the IUCN status except 6 that are Near-Threatened and one that is Vulnerable. The third objective of stake holder analysis was addressed by three ways 1. Sending email, 2. Personal interviews and 3. Meetings. From the three we obtained several concerns that were mostly addressed to the forest department. The major and common concern was that of the restrictions being imposed by the forest department on the local fishers and the need to have the sanctuary. The fishers also seemed worried for their livelihood and expressed that the laws and rules should not marginalize them at the expense of the influential people. iii Contents S.No. Topic Pg. No. Acknowledgement i Executive summary ii 1. Introduction 01. 2. Objectives 03 3. Methodology 04. Objective 1: Literature Survey for Thane creek 04. Objective 2: Biodiversity of Thane creek 05. Objective 3: Undertake Stakeholder analysis 08. 4. Results and Discussion 09. Objective 1: Literature Survey for Thane creek 09. Objective 2: Biodiversity of Thane creek 21. Objective 3: Undertake Stakeholder analysis 65. 5. References 81.