‘Perali Poguru,’ a wetland near Bapatla, finds a place among the five wetlands in the State of the 100 identified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for restoration and preservation. The tiny wetland, just about 4 km from Suryalanka beach, is frequented by migratory birds and has emerged as a new tourist destination.
The other four wetlands — Coringa (near Kakinada), Pulicat (Nellore), Kolleru (West Godavari ) and Nelapattu (Nellore) —are among the five identified by the A.P. Forest Department for preservation. The decision to preserve the endangered wetlands, taken at the Conference of Parties to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD CoP 14), is part of the Union Government’s ‘har ghar mein jal’ (water in every house) programme.
The 30th meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals is being held from February 15 to February 22 at Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat. The Forest Department would showcase marine biodiversity and coastal conservation of the State at this event.
Endangered species
“The long coastline of AP is home to some of endangered aquatic mammals such as dophins, sperm whales, and olive ridley turtles and a vast mangrove forest cover. We will showcase the rich biodiversity of the State at the special Indian pavilion being set up at the conference,’’ Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wild Life Warden D. Nalini Mohan told The Hindu on Wednesday.
The Forest Department recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Greenco Systems Pvt Ltd to preserve the Great Indian Bustard, a rare bird species, at Orvakal in Kurnool district with the latter promising ₹11.63 crore for solar fencing. The bird is an endangered species facing threat from human activity and other birds.