Tiruppadaimarathur Conservation Reserve is an

IUCN Category V The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natura ...

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

bird nesting area in the compound of Siva temple in Tiruppadaimarathur village, Tirunelveli District,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

. It was declared 14 February 2005 and is the first

Conservation Reserve A conservation reserve is a protected area set aside for conservation purposes. Conservation reserves by country Australia In South Australia, a conservation reserve is a type of protected area declared under the ''Crown Land Management Act 2009 ...

to be established in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The reserve is from

Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in Tirunelveli district and Kanyakumari district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu. I ...

.Tamil Nadu Forest Department (2007) Wild Biodiversity, retrieved 9/9/200
Tiruppadaimarathur Conservation Reserve
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Management

The village community and

Tamil Nadu Forest Department The Madras Forest Department, now officially, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, is a government department of Tamil Nadu. The department is responsible for managing all the protected areas and forests plus environmental and wildlife related issues ...

manage the area. Community participation and public support is crucial for any

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

effort to succeed. Amendments to the Wild life Protection Act in 2003, provided a mechanism to provide recognition and legal backing to community initiated efforts in wildlife protection. It provides for a flexible system wherein wildlife conservation is achieved without compromising community needs. Tiruppadaimarathur Conservation Reserve is the result of the village community coming forward to protect the birds nesting in their village and acting for declaration of a conservation reserve. This reserve was declared by Government of Tamil Nadu G.O.Ms. No.17 Environment and Forests Dept.

Fauna and flora

Over 400 little egrets,

pond heron Pond herons (''Ardeola'') are herons, typically long with an wingspan. Most breed in the tropical Old World, but the migratory squacco heron occurs in southern Europe and the Middle East and winters in Africa. The scientific name comes fro ...

and

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctiv ...

nest in this grove of 20 huge, century-old maruthu, mahwa,

neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus '' Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...

and illuppai trees and feed in the many agricultural fields, a few ponds and the Tamiraparani River adjacent to it. Pond heron and egrets also nesting in backyards of few village houses, while painted storks are only around the temple.

Spot-billed pelican The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...

s also come for refuge but are not nesting.

References

{{Bird Sanctuaries IUCN Category V Protected areas of Tamil Nadu Tirunelveli district 2005 establishments in Tamil Nadu Protected areas established in 2005