KBA Profile: Vamanapuram River National Site Name Vamanapuram River English Name KBA delineation Catchment Focal area delineation Yes - Kallar stream The Vamanapuram River KBA is a freeflowing river (has no dams) originates in the Chemunji Hills and drains the Ponmudi Hills, Agasthyamalai range, Western Ghats. The upper catchments Site description are covered by rainforest and designated as Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary (also an IBA). As the river flows downstream it is heavily degraded as its catchment is covered by a mosaic of dense uraban areas with 'home gardens', and rubber and oil palm plantations. Management required at Yes catchment scale Management required at focal Yes area within catchment KBA Trigger Species Group Species Criterion1 Criterion2 Criterion3 Notes Cylindrothelphusa Crabs NA 8709.900448 NA Focal area species steniops Travancoriana Crabs NA 4396.99854 NA Focal area species charu Focal Area species. Point location is on border Crabs Vanni ashini NA 3313.85464 NA between Vamanapuram & Kalladayar KBAs within focal areas Crabs Vanni travancorica NA 1338.453411 NA Focal area species Fishes Batasio travancoria VU 10110.28229 NA Hyporhamphus Fishes VU 8414.933908 NA xanthopterus Monopterus Fishes EN 18181.75102 NA fossorius Pseudosphromenus Fishes VU 16673.51639 NA dayi Fishes Puntius arenatus VU 13802.26318 NA Fishes Puntius mahecola NA 16651.9995 NA Odonata Epithemis mariae NA 32143.88717 NA Focal area species Platysticta Odonata VU 29167.59293 NA Focal area species deccanensis Protosticta Odonata NA 17361.03282 NA Focal area species davenporti Protosticta Odonata NA 8144.388313 NA Focal area species rufostigma Protosticta Odonata VU 24051.87867 NA Focal area species sanguinostigma Dimeria Plants EN NA NA hohenackeri Farmeria Plants VU NA NA metzgerioides Caridina Shrimps NA 708.6015026 715 Focal area species vithuraensis Macrobrachium Shrimps NA 708.6015026 715 prabhakarani Focal Area species. Point location is on border Crabs Pilarta anuka NA NA NA between Vamanapuram & Kalladayar KBAs within focal areas Protected Areas Overlap with KBA Name Designation Desig. Type Status PA Management Focus Shendurney Sanctuary National Designated No freshwater biodiversity management focus Western Ghats World Heritage Site International Inscribed No freshwater biodiversity management focus Potential KBA Stakeholders* Vamanapuram Samrakshana Samithi River Research Centre Centre for Environment and Development Kerala Forest Department Department of Aquatic Biology, Kerala University Travancore Natural History Society Environmental Resources Research Center Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Centre KBA Freshwater Habitats 5.1 Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks(includes waterfalls) 5.2 Seasonal/Intermittent/Irregular Rivers/Streams/Creeks 5.4 Bogs Marshes Swamps Fens Peatlands[generally over 8ha] 5.7 Permanent Freshwater Marshes/Pools(under 8ha) 9.10 Estuaries Threats to KBA Threats (IUCN Classification Scheme) Notes 1.1 Housing & urban areas 1.2 Commercial & industrial areas 1.3 Tourism & recreation areas 2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops Ponmudi & Kallar 2.4 Marine & freshwater aquaculture 3.2 Mining & quarrying 8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases Sand mining & granite quaries 9.1 Domestic & urban waste water C. carpio, Tilapia, Sucker catfish 9.2 Industrial & military effluents 9.3 Agricultural & forestry effluents 9.4 Garbage & solid waste Conservation actions for KBA Conservation actions (IUCN In Needed Notes Classification Scheme) place 1.1 Site/area protection Yes Yes For the focal area (already partially covered by Wildlife Sanctuary) 1.2 Resource & habitat protection Yes Especially for focal area (from sand mining and tourism) 2.1 Site/area management Yes Catchment management 2.2 Invasive/problematic species Yes control 2.3 Habitat & natural process Yes River bank restoration restoration 4.1 Formal education Yes Policy makers, students Forest Department, Local Panchyats & Participatory Forest Management 4.2 Training Yes Committee 4.3 Awareness & communications Yes All stakeholders 5.2 Policies and regulations Yes 5.3 Private sector standards & Yes Sand mining, plantations and toursim codes Implementation of Wetland (Conservation and Management) Act 2010 5.4 Compliance and enforcement Yes & Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974. Food Security Used for food security Score Notes 1. Subsistence Optional/alternative 1 Essential staple 2 Emergency 0 2. Commercial Local 1 Regional 1 National 0 3.Migrant fishers 1 Notes Mainly fish Other Newly described freshwater shrimp (Macrobrarchium abrahamii) (2014) is endemic to this catchment (not yet assessed for the IUCN RL). There are a number of Western Ghats endemic birds, mammals, reptiles, plants Other biodiversity and amphibians found within the KBA. There are also some highly restricted range copepods found within the KBA. Protected areas overview 1. Bahir, M.M. and Yeo, D.C.J. 2007. The Gecarcinucid freshwater crabs of southern India (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 16:309-354. References 2. River Research Centre. 2013. Report on Monitoring of Fish Diversity of Rivers in Kerala. Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Thiruvananthapuram. 98 pp. Ali, A., Amitha Bachan, K.H., Anatha, L., Dahanukar, N., Jayachandran, K.V., Molur, S., Nameer, P.O., Acknowledgments Raghavan, R., Subbramanian, K.A., Rehel, S.M. and Vinod, T.R. * Potential KBA stakeholders have not been contacted in any official capacity nor have they endorsed the KBA – they are a list of potential stakeholders to inform any organisation or individual who may want to undertake conservation activities on freshwater biodiversity in this KBA .