| S.No. |
Project Activity |
PA & Local Benefits |
Impact |
Mitigation Measures/ Recommendations |
| 1 |
Restructuring of PTR into Periyar East and Periyar West divisions |
- Improved administrative structure for better management with specific administrative responsibilities and territories for operation
|
- Lack of integration between two divisions may result in management actions in isolation
|
- Mechanism for ensuring information exchange and dialogue between two divisions at all levels needed for well co-ordinated efforts for conservation of the PA values
|
| 2 |
Road improvement (Mavady to Venniyar, Kokkara to Mullakudy, Ambady to Mullakkudy, Labbakandom to Mullakkudy) |
- Improved infrastructure for patrolling
|
- Improved access for illegal activities
|
- Regulation of speed and construction of barriers at appropriate location may reduce road impacts. Since the work involves only improvement the impacts would be mitigable
|
| 3 |
Wireless steel towers (28 in number) and fire watch towers |
- Improved infrastructure for better communication for effective management
|
- Some likely visual and aesthetic impacts
|
- Locations are practical options
- Camouflaging may improve aesthic value
|
| 4 |
Improvement of Vayals (Anchuruli, Seethakkulym, Vanchivayal, Vamanakulum, Aruviyoda, Pachakanam & Meethakanan) |
- Improved sightings of animals like sambar, gaur and elephant
- Provide good feeding ground for herbivores
- Provide hunting ground for carnivores
|
- Pressures from cattle grazing and human interference may lead to poor utilization of some vayals and invasion by weeds may have degradational impacts
|
- Maintenance of vayals important for conservation of marshy vegetation
- Care should be taken to regularly uproot exotic weeds such as Eupatorium and Lantana
|
| 5 |
Creation of shallow water bodies (near Sevaloda and Poovarasu) |
- Attraction for water birds
- Improved suitability of habitat for water birds both migratory and local
- Improved quality of habitat for herbivores due to improved water availability in peak summer
|
- Probability of use by livestock and human beings in these locations may lower suitability for birds
|
- Monitoring of these water bodies to assess their utilization by wild animals (already in progress) will help in assessing the suitability of location of water bodies for proposing alternatives in future
|
| 6 |
Trek path |
- Improved patrolling and protection
- Serve as animal routes
- Plays important role in monitoring of tiger and other large carnivores
|
- Freshly cleared trek paths likely to promote weedy growth and secondary colonizers
- May lead to increased vulnerability and threats if used by trespassers
- Some soil erosion and damage to microbial organisms may occur leading to decline in soil fertility
- Suppression of growth of some select spp. such as Lantana indica, an indigenous species with rare distribution in PTR
|
- Maintenance of trek paths may decrease the need for additional new trek paths
- Regular weeding/clearing
- Monitoring use of trek paths by animals for their utility as animal route
- Use of traditional pilgrim routes as trek paths may decrease the need for additional new trek paths
|
| 7 |
Controlled burning in hill savannahs |
- Increased food availability
- Improved productivity
- Improved palatability of grass for herbivores
|
- Temporary disturbance to animals and associated changes in movement patterns
|
- Size of area to be burnt needs careful assessment
- Burn in patches to create mosaic of burnt and unburnt patches
- For long term monitoring of impacts of controlled burning, experimental plots to be created and monitored to assess the ecological changes in burnt and unburnt areas
|
| 8 |
Weed removal (Lantana, Eupatorium, Mikania spp.) |
|
- Probability of increased growth of weeds due to dispersal of seeds and reestablishment.
- Removal of Lantana will reduce cover for grey jungle fowl, reduce habitat for butterflies and reduce cover for otters
|
- Ensure that eradication of weed takes place before flowering and the roots of uprooted plants do not come in contact with the soil.
- Eradication of Lantana to be confined to Vayals.
- Avoid eradication of Eupatorium along the lake fringes used by otters
|
| 9 |
Ganja eradication (Thannikuddy, Brandi para) |
- Habitat restoration
- Reduced incidence of large scale felling and poaching associated with Ganja cultivation
|
- Decreased threat from external factors
|
- Regular patrolling to avoid encroachment of fresh areas for cultivation.
- Setting up of protection camp and frequent combing operations.
- Effective interstate patrolling
- Initiate some trust building activities/ ecodevelopment activities to break the nexus for this illegal activity
|
| 10 |
Raising 50000 seedlings & planting of Ficus sp. |
- Raising a key stone species of biodiversity for restoring status of degraded areas.
- Participatory exercise for good will building
|
- Most plants perish because of trampling (this has already been observed)
|
- Collective effort of maintenance by Forest Department and EDC will ensure better protection
|
| 11 |
Plantation of fruit bearing trees |
- Improve habitat for avifauna
|
- Excessive planting may affect the grassland structure
|
- A good strategy will be to assess present status of food plant availability and determine the species preference before undertaking mass planting of fruit trees
|
| 12 |
Elephant proof trench around staff guard/ staff quarters |
|
- Erosion and loose soil may result in gradual back filling of trench reducing efficacy of the trench in isolating the quarter from elephants and other animals
|
- Maintenance on regular basis.
|
| 13 |
Construction of guard quarters (at Kandattinkara,Thamara Manalar, Ummikkppam) |
|
- May induce some temporary disturbance during construction
- Building resource extraction from within PA
|
- Contractual clauses can prevent extraction of building material from PA and also ensure site management to reduce to disturbance
|
| 14 |
Vistaline clearance (Theekkady checkpost to Boat landing, Kokkara to Mangladevi, Kardikaval to Mullakkudy IVth mile to Uppupara in the Sabrimala traditional route, Vallakadau to damsite and Pothunkandam |
- A management tool to prevent extension of fire into the forest from road side
- Practice helpful for promoting sighting of wild animals
- Increases tourist attraction
- Increases visibility for patrolling
- Clearance also acts as fire line
|
- Promotes establishment of exotic weeds & secondary colonizers
- Accidental removal of saplings of forest tree sp.
|
- Operation to be performed carefully to avoid destruction of tree saplings.
- The clearance to be taken after monsoon period or preferably in dry season
- Burn removed material and clear areas to prevent weed proliferation
|
| 15 |
Improvement of Mangladevi and Malparra camping sites |
- Better patrolling and protection
- Better infrastructure for monitoring and research initiatives
|
- Minimal impacts in construction phase
|
- Involves only improvement. Disturbance to site can be prevented by some caution in material transportation and waste management
|
| 16 |
Creation of artificial nest for birds (more than 150) |
- Provide additional nest to replace the nesting site on dead trees in the submergence area that are declining due to decomposition & cutting
|
- May not be true replacement for natural nesting sites.
- Acceptability of artificial nests may be a factor
|
- A regular monitoring to be carried out to understand the use of artificial nests by water birds and to subsequently improve upon design
|
| 17 |
Indigenous plantation for habitat restoration in areas previously under Eucalyptus plantation (Brandipara area) |
- Restoration and enrichment of wildlife habitats
- Improved wilderness quality and biodiversity richness in a mosaic of habitat consisting of grassland and scattered indigenous species
- Reduced pressure of resource extraction temporarily due to availability of thatch grass and fuel wood
|
- Extraction activities likely to cause disturbance to wildlife habitat and wildlife and can affect regenerative potential
- Coppicing may slow the process of conversion.
- Transportation of extracted Eucalyptus may lead to increased pressures on road and increased disturbance
- Reduced wage opportunities after extraction works completed.
- Non availability of fuelwood plantations may shift pressures on natural forests
|
- Develop the area patch wise and habitat wise for ecological restoration.
- Ensure removal of stumps to avoid coppicing in future
- Provide job opportunities to dependent locals communities for job involving protection and monitoring of cleared areas
|
