Afoot: Exploring the Northern Western Ghats
The avatar worn by Sahyadri right
now is that of the most intimidating kind. She stands tall for all to see, but
she’s quite unseen in the glare of the summer sun. Her summer cloak is but one
of her finest looks, powerful and hard to comprehend. Only her true residents,
the tribal communities, with their rich indigenous knowledge, can live the
summer wrath.
Her monsoon avatar is completely
the opposite. The Sahyadri lets her traces be followed by trekkers, naturalists
and photographers. It has been eight months since the last monsoon. Her magic
still enchants us, and we yearn to return until the big spell of monsoon
relives the parched landscape.
Yet Sahyadri is not completely out
of bounds during the scorching summer. In fact, my search for the summer angel
that Rudyard Kipling said “no one can feel” turned partly successful. I will
write about it next month in the first monsoon showers.
Today, I am glad to say that I
have compiled the last monsoon’s sightings into one document. While I did say I
would publish it in December, I could begin working on it only in January, and
here it is. To sum up the last monsoon’s expeditions, I roamed in fourteen
different places, in ten different habitats; photographed fifty-six species of
plants, several fungi, crustaceans, mollusks and millipedes, two-thirty-five
specimens of insects belonging to thirteen Orders, fourty-four specimens of
Arachnids and a few fishes. In all, about three-fifty different specimens (mostly
all different species) were recorded. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of
life that Sahyadri nurtures.
You can view and download (unfortunately, you are required to sign up to download on Slideshare) the report:
I appreciate your feedback,
corrections and identifications.
More importantly, the Ministry of
Environment and Forests has made public the most awaited report by Western
Ghats Ecology Experts Panel (WGEEP). I’d recommend checking the New Releases
section (to the right) on MoEF’s website.
Really Nice job aniruddha! it will definitely encourage readers to analyze their regular sightings and come up with such a wonderful data!
ReplyDeleteReally a Great Job buddy , loved the the detailed information and your photography of course .
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