An attempt to protect Niyamgiri's flora and fauna through the camera frame

By Akshaya Kumar Sahoo



Bhubaneswar, Oct. 5: As the Orissa government desperately tries to hand over Niyamgiri hills to a joint-venture company of the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation and the London based Vedanta Alumina Limited for bauxite mining, a leading environmental organization – Wildlife Society of Orissa – is making all-out efforts to desist the government from its bid.

The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), which has been arguing that the rich biodiversity of Niyamgiri hills would be seriously disturbed if mining is allowed there, organised an exhibition of photographs on plants, orchids, insects, mammals, snakes, frogs and tribes of Niyamgiri at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Kendra, Bhubaneswar, on Thursday (October 5 last). The exhibition showcased the hill's incredibly rich bio diversity.

For the first time, the people of Orissa, especially those who are living in cities and towns, got a rare opportunity to view a pictorial display of rare pictures of important flora and faunal species of the region.

The exhibition was inaugurated by not any VIP or VVIP, but by the members of the Dongria Kondh tribe who are Niyamgiri's indigenous inhabitants. Dongria Kondh is a primitive tribal group with unique dressing style and living habits who are confined to this hill only.

Their numbers are dwindling and are about 7, 500.

This hill range depicts a unique range of flora and fauna. Recent surveys have yielded more than 602 plant species belonging to 114 families. At least 15 high-altitude plants were found here which can only survive in the high hill range. Besides, 15 conservation dependent plant species were also identified from here.

Nearly 50 species of important medicinal plants, about 20 species of wild ornamental plants and more than 10 species of wild relatives of crop plants have been found on Niayamgiri hills.

"Wild relatives of cultivated sugar cane plant, like Saccharum arundinaceum and S.munja are not only used for medicinal purposes, but can also serve as a vital source of pure genetic material for generating new and improved hybrids of sugarcane," said Wildlife Society of Orissa secretary Biswajit Mohanty.

Latest orchidological studies, informed Mr Mohanty, indicate the presence of more than 50 orchidaceous species.

Dendrobium transparens is an uncommon species with large and showy flowers. The dominant species is Cymbidium aloifolium, which is an indicator of the presence of mature forest trees as it thrives on mature trees.

Among the plant species threatened elsewhere but found commonly in Niyamgiri are Persea macrantha, Rauvolfia serpentina, and Gloriosa superba. The first species (Persea macrantha) has its great commercial importance in the agarbatti industry.

Rare plants like Krushna Jubaraj (Melasma Thomsonii) have been found in this region. The Proctological Society of India during a survey in 2002 had observed that Niyamgiri was among the four major spots of Orissa for medicinal plants and rich diversity.

Several wildlife species including the tiger, elephants, leopard, sloth bear, sambhar, chital, barking deer, pangolin, four-horned antelope and rare birds like the Great Indian Pied Hornbill, Hill mynah, Racket tailed drongo, Grey jungle fowl are reported from this area

A species of Cat snake ( Boiga spp) has also been reported from here.

Zoologists are striving to identify the specimen of which there is no known photograph and it is believed that this could be a species new to science. The Travancore Wolf snake (Lycodon travancoricaus) earlier reported by British zoologists from the Jeypore hills has been rediscovered after 128 years. Similarly, a skink (Scincella spp.) is the first report from Orissa.

Rare lizards like Golden Gecko (Callodactylodes aureus) and Large Termite Hill Gecko (Hemidactlyus subtriedrus) have been discovered from Niyamgiri. The large termite Hill Gecko (Hemidactlyus subtriedrus), is the first record from Orissa from this place. This Gecko is also extremely rare since no photo of this species is available so far in any published book in India.

The Golden Gecko is of special interest to world herpetologists as it represents one of two known genus Callodactylodes, who are considered as Gondwana relics. This Gecko is one of the rarest lizards of India, and is endemic to the Eastern Ghats of India and was previously located at only one location in AP. Due to its extremely rare status, this lizard is classified in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

It is worth mentioning here that Niyamgiri is a hill range, about 250 square kilometer in area lying between 19.33 degree North latitude and 83. 25 degree East longitude with a maximum height of 1306 metres in Western Orissa's Kalahandi district.

The Niyamgiri forests were declared as a game reserve by the erstwhile Maharaja of Kalahandi in view of its extremely rich wildlife populations