POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Point Calimere Wildlife & Bird Sancutuary (herein after referred to as ‘the Ramsar Site’s) is located along the Palk Strait in three districts of Tamil Nadu: Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur.  It lies in between 79.399 E & 79.884 E longitudes and 10.276 E & 10.826 N latitudes, covering an area of 38,500 hectares from Point Calimere in the east to Adirampattinam in the west. The Ramsar Site comprises of Point Calimere Sanctuary, Panchanadikulam Wetland, Unsurveyed Salt Swamp, Thalainayar Reserved Forest and Muthupet Mangroves. Except the Thalainayar Reserved Forest, the remaining constituents are parts of the Great Vedaranyam Swamp.

Bio-geographically, the Ramsar Site is a mix of salt swamps, mangroves, backwaters, mudflats, grasslands and Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. It has recorded the largest congregation of migratory waterbirds in the country with a peak population exceeding 100,000. A total of 269 species of birds have been recorded in the Ramsar Site of which 103 are migratory waterbirds. Apart from the Rann of Kutch in India, these waterbirds come from different parts of the world such as Eastern Siberia, Northern Russia, Central Asia and parts of Europe. They start arriving from October onwards coinciding with the onset of the northeast monsoon and start flying back to their breeding places from January. The waterbirds include globally threatened species such as the Spotbilled Pelican (Pelecanus philippensis), Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), Spoonbill Sandpiper (Calidris pygmeus) and the Blacknecked Stork (Ephippiorhynchusasiaticus) [Red data Book of threatened species of BirdLife International 2001]. The near threatened species visiting the Ramsar Site include species such as the White Ibis (Treskiornis melanocephalus, Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus), Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor), Spoonbill (Palatalea leucorodia), Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) and Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala). Besides waterbidrs, migratory landbirds also visit the Ramsar Site during October-November while visiting places further south.

Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary (2147 hectares) forms the eastern limit of the Ramsar Site. It is the most well known constituent of the site and is famous for the large congregations of waterbirds, particularly the Greater Flamingo. The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest of the sanctuary is considered as the best in the country, both in terms of species richness and conservation status. The sanctuary is home to the largest population of the endemic Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in South India. 364 species of flowering plants including 198 species of medicinal plants have been recorded in the sanctuary. In terms of bio-diversity, Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary is the richest component of the Ramsar Site. The sanctuary has also been listed as one of the Important BirdAreas of the country by the Bombay Natural History Society.

Muthupet is the largest mangrove wetland in Tamil Nadu covering an area of 11,900 hectares. It constitutes the western limit of the Ramsar Site and is located 50 km to the west of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary. The wetland comprises of mangroves, creeks, a lagoon and mudflats. Avicennia marina is the dominant mangrove species in Muthupet and accounts for about 95% of the vegetative cover. Other mangroves species found in Muthupet are: Aegiceras corniculatum. Excoecaria agallocha. Lumnitzera racemosa and Acanthus ilicifolius. The associated halophytes include species such as Suaeda monoica, Suaeda maritime, Salicornia brachiata and Sesuvium portulacastrum.  The wetlands of Muthupet are frequented by most of the waterbirds visiting the Ramsar Site.
Panchanadikulam Wetland (8097 hectares) and the Unsurveyed Salt Swamp (15,120 hectares) are expanses of mudflats and backwater that are located between Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary and Muthupet mangroves. These are contiguous areas and are frequented by the entire spectrum of waterbirds visiting the Ramsar Site. Vegetation is sparse in these areas with only Prospis juliflora and mangroves occurring sporadically along the coast. The mudflats remain dry for most part of the year. However, during the rainy months from October to January, these mudflats get inundated with flood water and abound with more than a hundred species of migratory waterbirds.

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