A visit to gharana wetland🦢🕊️


A trip was organised on 4rth of December 2021,to GHARANA WETLAND, R.S Pura by M.sc.1st year Students and Teachers ( batch 2020- 2021)

Wetland

The name 'Wetland' is composed of two words namely 'wet' and 'land' which gives the idea of a land absorbed with water supporting a great variety of flora and fauna.
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water,either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months).
The water in wetland is either freshwater,brackish,or saltwater.

Gharana wetland


Ghar - ana wetland ( meaning welcome home)  

It  is a Paradise of migratory birds.The Gharana wetland conservation reserve ( GWCR) is a semi-arid wetland adjacent to agricultural areas on the Indo- Pakistan border

It is also known as ' Bird watchers paradise'

Despite being declared an important Bird Area (IBA) by birdlife international,the occurrence and distribution of birds has not been well documented in this area.

The wetland has also recieved international recognition as one of the most important Bird areas in the world by Birdlife international (UK) and the Bombay Natural History Society ( BNHS)

Location

coordinates 32°65'54"N.   74°39'1"E



It is located along the border in RS Pura tehsil of Jammu district about 30 kms from jammu near Gharana village.





In Gharana wetland more than 170 resident of migratory species have been reported by the reaseachers of Jammu University. Some of the flagship species are  Bar headed Geese, Grey Lag Goose,Shelduck,Pochard, Gadwill, Pintail Duck, Mallard, Spoonbills, Common Cranes,wooly necked storks and wigeon, Whistling Teals.


Main Attractions:

The world's highest altitude migrants,Bar headed goose is the highest at Gharana wetland.These migratory birds cover more than 1000 miles distance in a single day .These  birds migrate to Gharana for a hospital habitat from freezing temperature of central Asia .some other famous birds found in and around Gharana wetland reserve include cattle  egret,black stork , northern Pintail Common teal , Northern Shoveler, Red - wattled lapwing,Rocks , pigeon ruddy , Shelduck, laughing dove, Common sand Piper,black Duronto, yellow wagtail,red vented bull, etc. 
It is a treat for any bird watcher to witness such varied species of birds at one place.

The right time to visit Gharana wetland is during winters (December - March) for witnessing the arrival of famous bar- headed Geese is around 9 am to 10 am

Major  issues

Certain issues pertaining to land acquisition and loss of moisture in the area has threatened the wetland since along time ,but recent developments seem to have changed the scenario. Like, the issue of land encroachment around the wetland is in the final stages in court.
Another major issue was lack of water and moisture in the land because usually the water overflowing nearby fields would sleep into the wetland and keep it alive but lately, the wetland started drying up so in order to counter that ,a water pump has been  put in place to keep the land moist and thriving for avifauna.



My experience

I visited Gharana wetland  on 4rth of December 2021,while I was persuing my pg sem 2 . For the first time I got chance to visit there ,and I consider  myself very lucky that I got this opportunity. There we saw variety of birds, water plants ,  (water hyacinth) etc.
 We were unable to capture  picture of all the birds .

"In Nature , Silence is loud .you can sit  and enjoy the subtle sounds that surround you"

The Gharana wetland is surrounded by vilagge and large agriculture land






 In the above image is  the view of village of gharana .


Environmental Aspect:

 It was seen that locals were ignorant about wetland (99%) ,with no idea about pollution and it's effects ,as a result of which fertilizers and pesticides were being used with more than prescribed limits in the fields.

Conclusion:

After visiting there ,I concluded that , locals are totally ignorant about the results of their activities on or around the wetland,Gharana wetland is the only water for them along which they can dump their waste and in which they can bath their animals. Farming is the main occupation  of the villagers of Gharana wetland.

Looking at the various threats being faced by Gharana  wetland,we must adopt certain ways for its conservation and management, which include adopting National Environmental policy  ,2006 capacity building and community participation as the main strategies to overcome the problems being faced by the Gharana wetland.







Bibliography:

All the  images are clicked by me , information is collected from internet ,and I  have also sheared my personal experience in this blog

Shabina Akhter lone 

05-Msz-20 

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