B - 304, Sanskar, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (West), Mumbai - 400049 [Website] :www.empowerfoundation.in [E]- [email protected] [M] +9198330 02600 / 9833001800 Twitter @empower__org / @aareyforest Dated : September 11, 2019 To : To: CC : Dr. Vivek Saxena, (Ex IFS) Mr.Zhang Xinsheng Ms. Inger Andersen India Representative, IUCN President, IUCN Chairperson and ED - UNEP (International Union for Conservation (International Union for Conservation The United Nations Environment Programme of Nature) of Nature) Division of Environmental Law & Conventions C-10 Gulmohar Park, Rue Mauverney 28 P.O Box 30552, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya New Delhi 110 049, India 1196 Gland, Switzerland Tel: +254 20 7624011 Tel: +91 (11) 2652 7742 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] / [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Subject : Urgent Intervention for Saving the Leopards and Wildlife of Aarey Forest 5 wild species in IUCN's Red List - Near Threatened or Vulnerable category under threat ! Dear Sir, We are a Mumbai based NGO working on Wildlife Conservation, predominantly Leopards of Mumbai, India. We have been working on reducing Man-Leopard conflicts in the Aarey region of Mumbai since last 10 years. Today, Mumbai the financial capital of India battles on the 4th position as the World's Most polluted Megacity (WHO) and the citizen are trying to save their green lungs - Aarey Forest and its wildlife, most of which are listed in IUCNs Red-List, many inching close to the endangered category, currently in the threatening and vulnerable categories. At this juncture, the citizen of Mumbai look forward to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), which is the global authority on the status of the natural world working on the measures needed to safeguard it covering species survival, environmental law, protected areas, ecosystem management etc. India is proud to have you, Dr. Saxena as Chief of IUCN India with your expertise in Environment and Wildlife as a senior IFS officer who has worked on the grounds as well as at MOEF (Ministry of Environment and Forest). And Mr. Zhang Xinsheng's, President of IUCN and founder of Eco Forum in China being an ex Minister, People Republic of China would appreciate the citizen's concern. A brief Background on Aarey Forest, Mumbai : Aarey Forest in Mumbai is a 3000 acre green lung, a habitat to 9 Leopards besides various species of mammals, birds, reptiles and butterflies in total around 290 wild species as below : (Mirza and Sanap, 2010) and also has been home to new species being discovered in recent times (Bauer and Agrawal, 2016; Sanap, Celeb and Joglekar, 2019) Category of Types of Key wildlife IUCN Red List-near Threatened / Vulnerable list Wildlife species Big Cats 1 Leopard (Panthera pardus) - 9 (I) Leopard (Panthera pardus) - Vulnerable category Leopards as on date Other 15 Sambhar deer, Barking deer, Spotted (II) Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor)- Vulnerable category Mammals Deer, Civet cat, Rusty spotted cat, (III) Rusty spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) - Near Wild boar, Jackal, Langurs, Monkeys Threatened Birds 76 Brahmini Kite, Parakeets, Egrets, (IV) Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria)- Near Drongos, Herons etc threatened (V) Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)-Vulnerable category Now endangered Vultures were seen till 2008 (Shivkar, 2008) Reptiles 38 Python, Cobra, Russel Viper, Krait etc New lizard species in 2016 : Cyrtodactylus Varadgirii Amphibians 13 Frog categories and toad categories Insects 27 Spiders and Theraphosid Spiders, New spider discovered in 2019 : Jerzego sunillimaye Scorpion categories 3 Spiders rediscovered after 122 years (Langelurillus onyx, Piranthus decorus and Langelurillus lacteus) in 2017 Heterophrictus aareyensus discovered in 2014 Butterflies 86 Pansy categories, Small flat Wild flowers 34 Prickly Amaranth, Spider flowers, Forest Ghost flowers etc Total 290 Total Wild Species in Aarey Forest (1) The current status : Aarey Forest as per government records was transferred to the Forest department in 1969 and is contiguous to Sanjay Gandhi National Park The Government records in 2019 confirm presence of Leopards (earlier communication to IUCN President dated September 7th attached for your reference) - In the last 3 years (2016, 2017 and 2018), 7 (Seven) Leopards were rescued by the Forest department in the Aarey Region. Sharing 4 Press articles. The current Issue : Currently, a Maintenance shed for washing and maintaining the proposed Metro coaches for Metro III is being proposed. This calls for cutting of 2702 trees and destruction of Habitat of the Wildlife. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) study basis which JICA Japan has sanctioned the loan has stated that there is no Wildlife in Aarey Forest and various facts are in-correct (Sharing a summary note and 2 press articles for reference) Aarey Forest is around ~3 kilometers from Sanjay Gandhi National Park so any construction activity is not permitted within 4 kilometers of any national park (as per Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 or MOEF's guideline on Eco Senstive Zone under the provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986) Our Request There are various evidences available on the presence of wildlife including 9 Leopards in Aarey (Sharing some for reference - We can share innumerable pictures, videos and press articles upon demand). We request IUCN to intervene in the matter in the larger interest of the citizen of Mumbai and world at large to save and protect the wildlife of Aarey Forest including 9 Leopards which are listed in Schedule I of The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; under the highest level of protection and also falling under the IUCN's Red List under the Vulnerable category (IUCN 2019) We request you to kindly make a visit to Aarey Forest to witness the Wildlife, Rich Biodiversity and their habitats - Mumbai Citizen will be proud to show their #AareyForest jewel to an international conservation body like IUCN ! We have always admired Ms. Inger Anderson, the erstwhile Director General of IUCN, now, the Chairperson of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and have marked her a copy for UNEPs and UN's kind information and intervention on the subject. Hope IUCN will ensure that AareyForest DOES NOT become another Amazon ! We look forward to your further guidance and intervention in the matter Thanking You, Yours Truly, For Empower Foundation, Sheetal Mehta | Secretary General +91 9833002600 +91 9833001800 Annexed herewith : A report "Evidences of Wildlife in Aarey Forest Mumbai, India" (Page 3 - 25) (2) Evidences of Wildlife in Aarey Forest Mumbai, India A report compiled by Empower Foundation, Mumbai (3) Contents of the Exhibits Exhibit No Content Pages 1 Government records showing Aarey as a Forest 5 - 6 a. MRSAC portal, Govt. of Maharashtra showing Aarey as a Forest (as on Sep 10, 19) b. RTI Reply by Dept. of Forest, Government of Maharashtra confirming rescue of 7 leopards in Aarey Region in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) 2 Some Pictures of Wildlife in Aarey Forest 7- 15 3 Bibliography and references 16 4 Press articles on Presence of Leopards in Aarey (dated September 17-21 7, 2019) 5 Short Summary of 7 points mis-represented in EIA (Environment 22-24 Impact Assessment Study) on Aarey Forest and Press articles on the above . (4) Exhibit 1 (1A)Government Records showing Aarey as a Forest and having presence of Leopards http://mrsac.maharashtra.gov.in/geoportal/ Government of Maharashtra (Dept of Planning) site showing Aarey is a Forest Distance from proposed Aarey Metro Depot site to Vihar Lake which is a part of SGNP is 3.7 kms (Man walking), whereas straight-line method or for a Leopard it will be much shorter (5) (1B) Government of Maharashtra's - Forest Department confirms presence of Leopards in Aarey Region (7 Leopards rescued in the last 3 years) (6) Exhibit 2 Some pictures of Wildlife in Aarey Forest with sources (a) Leopards of Aarey Photo by Steven van Dortmond.https://india.mongabay.com/2018/11/the-leopards-of-aarey/ Photo by Prabhu Swami. https://india.mongabay.com/2018/11/the-leopards-of-aarey (7) https://india.mongabay.com/2018/11/the-leopards-of-aarey/ Photo by Ranjeet Jadhav. https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/in-pics-rare-birds-animals-insects-mumbai-s-aarey-milk-colony-is-real-life-jungle-book/story- reE3q9bLuJXGvVn6FT5epL.html Photo by Nikit Surve (8) Leopard trapped ~400 meters from the proposed Aarey Metro shed Photo : By Empower Foundation. Full video available Rescue operation just ~400 meters from the proposed Aarey Metro shed (9) (b) Some Mammals of Aarey https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/in-pics-rare-birds-animals-insects-mumbai-s-aarey-milk-colony-is-real-life-jungle-book/story- reE3q9bLuJXGvVn6FT5epL.html Photo by Hindustan Times file records Injured deer at Aarey | Ref - Farhan Shaikh and Badri Chatterjee https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/mumbai-autorickshaw-driver-hits-deer-on-western-express-highway-driver-animal-injured/story- 7CG9x6xgXXtsgvMckvV6eM.html (10) (c) Insects and Spider of Aarey Idiops rubrollimbatus (male) was discovered in 2012. (Photo by Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza ) https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/in-pics-rare-birds-animals-insects-mumbai-s-aarey-milk-colony-is-real-life-jungle-book/story- reE3q9bLuJXGvVn6FT5epL.html Heterophrictus aareyensis was discovered at Aarey in 2014. ( Rajesh Sanap and Zeeshan Mirza ) https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/in-pics-rare-birds-animals-insects-mumbai-s-aarey-milk-colony-is-real-life-jungle-book/story-