KERI: The Maharashtra government on Thursday declared myristica swamp vegetation in Bambarde village of Dodamarg taluka as a biodiversity heritage site. It is located a few kilometres away from Goa’s border.
It is the eighth site in Maharashtra and the first in Sindhudurg district to be given the heritage tag. Spread over an area of 2.6ha, it has been protected for centuries by the villagers of Hevale as a sacred grove.
Malhar Indulkar, a wildlifer working on documenting otters in the Tillari, came across the myristica swamp in Maloli, in Sattari, Goa, after he participated in a ‘nature orientation camp’ organised by the Goa-based Vivekanand Environment Awareness Brigade, Keri.
Amazed with the biodiversity of the myristica swamp, Indulkar informed the Maharashtra forest department about the site at Dodamarg.
“For ages, the villagers of Hevale have protected this unique fresh water swamp at the foothills of the Western Ghats in the Tillari river basin. As this area has now been given a heritage tag, it will be possible to protect and conserve this unique ecosystem with its biodiversity for posterity,” deputy conservator of forests, Sawantwadi, Samadhan Chavan told TOI.
Narayan Desai from Hevale said, “Our villagers have protected this area as a sacred grove of ‘Kanalachi rai’. This area is indeed a repository of unique biodiversity and gives a peak into remnants of the ancient landscape that once thrived in the region.”
Sanket Naik, a wildlifer from Dodamarg, said that this tag has to light biological richness of the Tillari region.
A few kilometers away, Nagargao village in Sattari has three myristica swamp sites. In South Goa, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary has myristica swamp vegetation in Bhati and Netravalli villages.
The Maharashtra forest department has decided to constitute a local management committee for protection of this swamp with a ten-year management plan.