1 A CONCISE REPORT ON BIODIVERSITY LOSS DUE TO 2018 FLOOD IN KERALA (Impact assessment conducted by Kerala State Biodiversity Board) Editors Dr. S.C. Joshi IFS (Rtd.), Dr. V. Balakrishnan, Dr. N. Preetha Editorial Board Dr. K. Satheeshkumar Sri. K.V. Govindan Dr. K.T. Chandramohanan Dr. T.S. Swapna Sri. A.K. Dharni IFS © Kerala State Biodiversity Board 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, tramsmitted in any form or by any means graphics, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior writted permission of the publisher. Published By Member Secretary Kerala State Biodiversity Board ISBN: 978-81-934231-3-4 Design and Layout Dr. Baijulal B A CONCISE REPORT ON BIODIVERSITY LOSS DUE TO 2018 FLOOD IN KERALA (Impact assessment conducted by Kerala State Biodiversity Board) EdItorS Dr. S.C. Joshi IFS (Rtd.) Dr. V. Balakrishnan Dr. N. Preetha Kerala State Biodiversity Board No.30 (3)/Press/CMO/2020. 06th January, 2020. MESSAGE The Kerala State Biodiversity Board in association with the Biodiversity Management Committees - which exist in all Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations in the State - had conducted a rapid Impact Assessment of floods and landslides on the State’s biodiversity, following the natural disaster of 2018. This assessment has laid the foundation for a recovery and ecosystem based rejuvenation process at the local level. Subsequently, as a follow up, Universities and R&D institutions have conducted 28 studies on areas requiring attention, with an emphasis on riverine rejuvenation. I am happy to note that a compilation of the key outcomes are being published. I congratulate the KSBB, all the BMCs, Universities and R&D institutions for making this possible. I hope that it will enable the realisation of a “Nava Keralam’, which is biodiversity inclusive. My best wishes. Pinarayi Vijayan MESSAGE In the wake of the 2018 and 2019 floods, Kerala’s vulnerability to natural disasters is the subject of study by various research organisations, Kerala Government has established the Rebuild Kerala Initiative to build ecological and technical safeguards with the main objective of “Building Back Better”. Protection of environmentally fragile areas, coastal lands and low lying lands is a key priority. Kerala State Biodiversity Board commissioned several studies and the book is a compilation of the salient findings of these studies. I am sure that the results of these studies will enable to lay the foundation for ecosystem based recovery programme. I hope the Biodiversity Management Committees established at local level will take the lead in this. Foreword A diverse ecosystem is more resilient to Climate Change. Thus while 2011-20 was declared as the UN decade on Biodiversity, 2021-30 has been declared as UN decade on Ecosystem restoration. Ecosystem restoration is fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, mainly those on climate change, poverty eradication, food security, water and biodiversity conservation. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration unites the world behind a common goal: preventing, halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Forests, grasslands, croplands, wetlands, savannahs, and other terrestrial to inland water ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems and urban environments—all of them are in dire need of some level of protection and restoration. Nature- based solutions to restoration range from protecting natural areas to increasing the genetic diversity of trees to increase forest resilience, to making cities greener. Unsustainable human activities, from farming and mining to industry, infrastructure and tourism, are degrading the diverse ecosystems of Kerala with negative impacts on biological diversity and peoples’ livelihoods. The natural disasters which Kerala witnessed shall be taken up as a wakening up call and there has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now. The Government of Kerala through the Rebuild Kerala Development Plan is seeing the reconstruction as an opportunity to build back better through a people inclusive programme. The key outcomes of this study include prioritization of areas for recovery measures at Periyar, Pampa, Bharatapuzha and Chalakudy river basin and prioritization of riparian species for ecorestoration. The results of the study were shared with the respective BMCs and I hope that the BMCs will learn from the major findings of these studies and implement the recommendations locally. Dr. S.C. Joshi IFS (Rtd.) Chariman Preface Kerala State Biodiversity Board in association with Biodiversity Management Committee’s conducted a Rapid Impact Assessment of flood/ landslides on Biodiversity during 2018. It is for the first time in India that such an assessment of impact of natural disasters on Biodiversity was conducted at LSG level incorporating community perspectives of the affect on Biodiversity and Ecosystems. The report submitted to Government included impact on species both flora and fauna and ecosystems. Major causes of disaster according to community includes Land use change in wetlands, Removal of river bank vegetation, Construction activities in hill slopes, Unsustainable quarrying etc. As a follow-up to this areas requiring attention were prioritized and 28 studies related to assessment of impact of floods/ landslides on Biodiversity and ecosystem were awarded to R & D institutions and Universities. The studies included Impact of natural disasters on riparian vegetation of nine rivers, four studies relating to tribal livelihood, eight relating to flora, three relating to fauna, one relating to Agriculture, two relating to forest ecosystems and two relating to mangrove ecosystems. The present book is a compilation of the salient findings and recommendations of the studies. I wish to thank all the institutes/ NGOs who have undertaken this work in a time bound manner. Dr. V. Balakrishanan Member Secretary CONTENT Page No Introduction 1 I IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON TERRESTRIAL AND 3 AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM 1 Impact of natural disasters on Terrestrial ecosystem 3 in high ranges of Kerala - Wayanad, Palghat, Idukki, Thrissur 2 Impact of flood on riverine vegetation of Pamba, 24 Periyar, Chalakudy, Bharatapuzha, Kallai, Chaliyar, Achenkovil, Manimala, Korapuzha, Kuttiyadi river 3 Impact of Flood on Mangrove Ecosystem of 50 Mangalavanam, Pathiramanal, Pallipuaram, Perumbalam 4 Impact of floods on Selected faunal species 54 5 Impact of floods on Soil biota of Pamba, Periyar and 62 Chalakudy 6 Impact of landslides and floods on Livelihood of 64 tribal communities in flood affected areas 7 Impact of floods on agriculture- Alapuzha (Kuttanad) 71 and Wayand 8 Flood and spread of invasive species 76 II STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLAN FOR 82 ECORESTORATION Conclusions 107 Annexure 128 List of Research Team 1 Dr. BabuAmbat and Dr. Sabu T., Centre for Environment and Development , Thiruvananthapuram 2 Dr. Sarita G. Bhat and Dr. Sreekanth P.M. Department of Biotechnology, KUSAT, Kochi 3 Dr. P.O. Nameer, Professor & Head (Wildlife) & The Dean of the Academy of Climate Change Education (ACCER), KAU, Thrissur. 4 Dr. Rajeev Raghavan, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Fisheries Resource Management, KUFOS, Kochi. 5 Dr. Renjan Mathew, State Director, WWF-India, Thiruvananthapuram, 6 Dr. Maya C. Nair, Assistant Professor, Post Graduate & Research Department of Botany, Govt. Victoria College, Palakkad. 7 Dr. N. S. Pradeep, Senior Scientist, KSCSTE-Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute for Plant Sciences, Kozhikode. 8 Dr. R. Prakash Kumar and Dr. Deepu Sivadas, JNTBGRI, Thiruvananthapuram. 9 Dr. K.G. Padmakumar, Director, International Research and Training centre for Below Sea level Farming (IRTCBSF), Alappuzha. 10 Dr. Sreekumar V.B., Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur. 11 Dr. F.G. Benno Pereira, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Trivandrum. 12 Dr. Shiburaj S., JNTBGRI, Thiruvananthapuram, 13 Dr. P.M. Radhamany, Professor, Department of Botany, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram 14 Dr. Jitesh Krishnan R, Asst. Professor, Dept of Botany, NSS, College, Pandalam, Patahanamthitta. 15 Dr. M. Rajendraprasad, Scientist, JNTBGRI, Thiruvananthapuram, 16 Dr. Suhara Beevy S., Associate Professor & Head, Department of Botany, University of Kerala, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram 17 Dr. M.G. Sanal Kumar, Asst. Professor and Research Department of Zoology, NSS College, Pandalam, Patahanamthitta. 18 Dr. N. Shibin Mohanan, Asst. Professor and FLAIR - Kerala Faculty Nirmala College, Department of Botany, Muvattupuzha 19 Dr. Jose Mathew, Asst. Professor, Department of Botany, SD College, Alappuzha. 20 Dr. Sarita G. Bhat and Dr. Bindiya E.S., Department of Biotechnology, CUFOS, Kochi. 21 Dr. G. Suresh and Dr. A Satheesan, Principal Coordinator, CMD, Thiruvananthapuram. 22 T.R. Suma, Scientist, Community Agro-biodiversity Centre, MSSRF, Wayanad. 23 Dr. S. Sreekumar and Dr. K.K. Seethalekshmi, IRTC, Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC), Mundur, Palakkad. 24 Dr. Amitha Bachan K.H., Assistant Professor & Research Guide, Department of Botany, MES Asmabi College, Thrissur. 25 Dr. Suresh V. Assistant Professor, Dept. of Botany, Govt. Victoria College, Palakkad. 26 Dr. Richard Scaria, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography, Govt. College,Chittur, Palakkad. 27 Dr. G. Suresh, Project Director, CMD, Thiruvananthapuram. 28 Dr. E.A. Siril. Associate Professor, Dept. of Botany, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Thiruvananthapuram.