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Manivilundhan Old Lake

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PROJECT 2

Manivilundhan Old Lake

A holistic conservation initiative for the long-term
protection of one of the salem’s most ecologically
important wetlands.

Project Location

Manivilundhan Village,
Thalaivasal Taluk,
Salem District.

Duration

Jan 2023 - May 2025

Project Funding:

ACSEN Foundation

Project Members

Ganeshwar S V (Lead), Angeline Mano M (Research Assistant and Chief Nature Educator), Ajay Sivakumar (Intern for 5 months) and Monica Sri K (Intern for 3 months).

About the Project

Manivilundhan Old Lake is one of Salem’s most ecologically important wetlands. We implemented a holistic conservation initiative for the long-term protection of the lake. It was our first ever CSR-funded project.

Key Outcomes:

Biodiversity Documentation

532 species of flora and fauna including 160 plants, 151 birds, 75 butterflies, 21 odonates, 19 reptiles, 10 amphibians, 10 mammals and 85 species from various other taxa.

Systematic Monitoring

Birds (two transects), Butterflies and Odonates were monitored systematically to obtain data on the frequency of occurrence.

River Tern Research

600+ hours of intensive studies on the breeding biology and breeding ecology of a pair of River Terns that nested in a man-made island in the lake.

OrniSchool’

It is the outreach and nature education program initiated by us for school students in collaboration with the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Salem and the School Education Department. Activity-based nature education programs were conducted in 50 government primary and middle schools and 2,908 students learnt about the importance of conservation linked to the lake.

Community Engagement

8,000+ people from the local communities were reached and four families purchased binoculars after our interactions.

Clean-up Drive

As part of the World Wetlands Day, a clean-up drive was conducted at the lake involving the college students, local people and employees from neighborhood companies.

Conservation Governance

BMC) of Manivilundhan Panchayat, facilitated resolutions in Gram Sabha meetings to protect the lake and prepared and submitted a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) proposal for securing long-term legal protection of the wetland.
River Tem at Manivilundhan Old Lake
‘OrniSchool’ Nature Education Program
Clean-up Drive at the lake

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Salem Annual Wetlands Survey

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Home > Projects > Salem Annual Wetlands Survey
PROJECT 1

Salem Annual Wetlands Survey

A Citizen Science event to track the health of
wetlands in Salem District

Citizen Science

Community Participation for better conservation

The Salem Annual Wetlands Survey (SAWS) is a citizen science event initiated by the Salem Ornithological Foundation.
The programme aims to track the status and health of the waterbodies in Salem District from 01 to 31 January of each year. A total of 350+ wetlands have been documented so far and 100 ecologically significant wetlands are monitored annually.

Objectives:

To monitor the health of wetlands and their overall bird populations.

To assess the status of resident and migratory waterbirds and their habitats.

To educate and raise awareness about the values and importance of wetlands.

To advocate the inclusion of wetland conservation into local governance policies.

To apply the wise use principles and guidelines of the Ramsar Convention.
Year No. of Wetlands
Surveyed		 No. of Bird Species
Recorded		 Total No. of
Birds Counted		 Funding
2020
52
120
9,872
None
2021
265
169
25,485
None
2022
327
165
34,072
ACSEN
2023*
23
117
9,859
None
2024
134
170
22,865
None
2025
114
159
19,860
WINGS
2026
104
157
23,028
WINGS
2027
upcoming
*only in Attur Division. We were not able to survey additional wetlands in January 2023 due to both personal and professional reasons.

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Chinna Punalvasal Lake

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Chinna Punalvasal Lake

A vital wetland of Salem, now on the path to long-term protection. Our efforts were instrumental in the official listing of the lake as a potential Ramsar Site by the Tamil Nadu Wetlands Mission.

Project Location

Punalvasl Village , Thalaivasal Taluk , Salem District

Project Status

Ongoing

Project Funding

Living My Promise (partial)

About the Project

Chinna Punalvasal Lake is one of Salem’s most ecologically important wetlands. Our contribution was instrumental in the official listing of the lake as a potential Ramsar Site by the Tamil Nadu Wetlands Mission. We implemented a holistic conservation initiative for the long-term protection of the lake.

Expected Outcomes

38.45 acres of restored wetland and improved ecological conditions.

1,000 native tree saplings planted and maintained.

Increased bird populations and biodiversity.

Submission of the proposal for Ramsar Site.

Increased water storage of the lake by ~20 million liters.

500+ students and community members directly engaged.

Active local leadership in wetland governance inspires surrounding Panchayats to undertake similar projects.

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