Ghar-ana wetland (meaning welcome home) is paradise of migratory birds. Gharana wetlands every year receive about 10000 to 20000 migratory birds in winter. wetlands is Notified under J&K Wildlife Act and are recognized Important Birding sites by the BNHS The Gharana wetland conservation reserve (GWCR) is a semi-arid wetland adjacent to agricultural areas on the Indo-Pakistani border.Gharana wetland is located along the border in RS Pura tehsil of Jammu district about 30 kms from Jammu near Gharana village.
MAIN ENTRANCE OF GHARANA WETLAND
DIVERSITY OF SPECIES IN GHARANA WETLAND
From 24 surveys over 1 year, we recorded 151 species from 45 families and 15 orders. 41% of species were listed as ‘rare’ and only 22% were ‘very common’. The largest number of families belonged to the order Passeriformes (40%), followed by Charadriiformes (14%) and Coraciiformes (11%). The most species (12%), were found in the family Anatidae (Anseriformes—widely recognized as bio-indicators), followed by Accipitridae (Falconiformes;12%) and Muscicapidae (Passeriformes; 6%). Carnivores and insectivores were the feeding guilds most frequently observed. Indeed, more than 50% of all species fed on the abundant fish, mollusks and insects and larvae. Bark-feeders and nectarivores were the least common.
MAIN ATTRACTION
The world's highest altitude migrants, Bar-headed goose is the highlight at Gharana wetland. These migratory birds cover more than 1000 miles distance in a single day. These birds migrate to Gharana for a hospitable habitat from freezing temperatures 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, rock pigeon, ruddy shelduck, laughing dove, common sand piper, black Duronto, yellow wagtail, red-vented bulbul, bay-backed shrike etc. It is a treat for any bird watcher to witness such varied species of birds at one place.
The maximum number of families belonged to the order Passeriformes, 18 (40% of total) followed by Charadriiformes, 6 (14%). Most identified species belonged to Anatidae 19 (12%), followed by Accipitridae 18 (12%) and Muscicapidae 9 (6%). After ranking avifauna into three categories based on their cumulative abundance , we learned that 62 (41% of total) species were rare, 56 species (37% of total) were common, and 33 (22% of total) species were very common. Nine globally-threatened species were identified: Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala, Wooly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus, Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, Black-headed (White) Ibis Threskiomis melanocephalus, Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca, Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga, Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus and Indian River Tern Sterna aurantia. Among 151 total species, 74 (49%) were winter visitors, 54 (36%) were resident, 11 (7%) were vagrant and 12 (8%) were summer visito
Alot Of these Geese in the evening they dont settle in the wet land they go flied on the flieds and slowly slowly batch wise batch they flied to pakistan and in morning come back to india
SETTLE DOWN IN FIELD
SETTLE DOWN IN FIELD
FLIED BATCH WISE
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I visited the wetland for the first time on 4th of December ,2021.It was an educational trip organised by GCW,Parade Jammu for M.Sc.Zoology students. It was an amazing experience that i ever had .After birding these migratory birds one can say that foreign friends calling jammuities to gharana wetland All you need to do is get on the road cary binoculars and seek out the bar headed geese and much more . Birding could escape the stress and help to conserve the avain species
THREATS
Certain issues pertaining to land acquisition and loss of moisture in the area has threatened the wetland since a long 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. Soon, the occupants of agricultural land around gharana reserve will be provided with the compensation and then there will be no hurdle in acquiring the original area of wetland. Besides, another major issue was lack of water and moisture in the land because usually the water overflowing nearby fields would seep 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
IMPORTANCE
These wetlands are not only home to birds but provide an excellent opportunity to the state government to develop them as Eco-Tourist destinations for attracting National and International tourists. Birding fairs, Bird Watching ad Bird Eco-Tourism is a multimillion dollar tourism industry in the world. We should think of developing wetlands both for the domestic as well as International tourism. If these wetlands are developed, this will give boost to the border tourism as well as alterative tourism opportunity to the tourists visiting Vaishno Devi as well as Kashmir valley. In this effort both Tourism and Wildlife Department can join hands for collaborative investment and development. Development of border wetlands is a win - win situation for both Wildlife as well as Tourism departments.
Conservation of wetlands
Efforts to conserve wetlands in India began in 1987 and the main focus of governmental efforts was on biological methods of conservation rather than adopting engineering options. A national wetland-mapping project has also been initiated for an integrated approach on conservation. In certain wetland sites it is heartening to see the Government, NGOs and local community coming together to save our wetlands and thus realize the objectives of Ramsar Convention.
The National Committee on Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs, constituted for advising the Government on appropriate policies and measures to be taken for conservation and management of the wetlands, has identified 93 wetlands for conservation and management on priority basis
Biblography
pictures and video are taken by me.and some from net Here I had shared my experience and the information about the place is gathered from internet.
DEKSHIKA ANAND
10- MSZ -20
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