Biodiversity and Beyond: The Story of Point Calimere (Short Tamil Version)
September 19th, 2024
Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary is the first Ramsar Site in the state of Tamil Nadu covering an area of 38,500 ha comprising of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary (2147 ha), Panchanadikulam Wetland (8097 ha), Thalainayar Reserved Forest (1236 ha), Muthupet Mangroves (11900 ha) and unsurveyed salt swamp (15120 ha). The Ramsar Site is a mix of salt swamps, mangroves, backwaters, mudflats, grasslands and Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. The wetland complex supports one of the largest congregations of migratory waterbirds in the country with a peak count exceeding 0.1 million individuals. A total of 269 species of birds have been recorded in this area of which 103 are migratory waterbirds including the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Point Calimere has also been listed as one of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) of the country. It has been a regular nesting site of the Olive Ridley Turtles and home to one of the largest populations of blackbucks in South India.
Point Calimere buffers communities living around the wetland from the impacts of storm surges, coastal floods and cyclones, and helps stabilize the coastline. The swamp areas act as a carbon sink and play an important role in the nitrogen and nutrient cycle. The diverse habitats provide an important nursery area for shrimp, crustaceans, molluscs, and fishes. Nearly 0.1 million people depend on fishing, salt production, agriculture, aquaculture, and eco-tourism activities in and around the Ramsar Site.
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A production of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India. This film was produced as a part of the Indo-German Technical Cooperation project ‘Wetlands Management for Biodiversity and Climate Protection’, which is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). BMUV supports this initiative based on a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
