Manivilundhan Old Lake

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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

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.

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.

Community Engagement

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

Conservation Governance

Supported the reconstitution of the Biodiversity Management Committee (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.

Systematic Monitoring

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

‘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.

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.