Palni Hills Conservation Council 21st Annual report Introduction: The Council has been active in protecting common property resources since 1988. The legal proceedings started at that time to prevent eutrophication of the Kodai Lake was one of the primary activities of the council. But the water quality of the lake has deteriorated ever since and except for periods of heavy rains the oxygen levels are low and the appearance of the water is that of pea soup. A change in strategy has now been adopted, and the approach now is to involve the stake holders; educate them on the problems and motivate them to take action to protect common property resources. Thus the Council has now taken up the task of reducing nutrient input in to the lake through stakeholder participation. As part of an initiative of the Peoples Commission on Environment and Development India, New Delhi and assisted by the Ford Foundation the council has been implementing works at the lake watershed to reduce nutrient input in to the lake waters. An attempt has been made to form a Project Advisory Group to force responsibility on authorities and make them part of the ecorestoration of the Kodaikanal lake. The much awaited proposal to work at the coast has been approved and the Council has now a nursery; apiary and staff managing the same at the coastal village of Tranquebar in Nagapattinam district The attempt there is to revive the Degraded mangrove forests at the estuaries of the Cauvery and its tributaries The work of tree growing at drylands has been given a new impetus with a programme to rejuvenate dry lands that belong to small farmers at three watersheds. The thrust is to introduce hardy shrubs, creepers, hedge plants and direct sowing of drought tolerant tree species at appropriate times. This will serve as a model for tackling the problem of bringing the vast areas that are now left uncultivated at the foothills of the Palnis. The Executive Commitee of the Council that met 12 times during the last year represented by the following members, herewith presents its report on the activities of the Council 1. Mr. J.Nath President 2. Rev. Fr.Britto Vice President 3. R.Kannan Vice-President 4. Mrs. Girija Viraraghavan Secretary 5. Mr. N.Natarajan Treasurer 6. Mrs. Pippa Mukherjee Joint Secretary 7. Mr. M.S.Viraraghavan EC Member 8. Mr. Raja Gopal Durai Raja EC Member 9. Mr. Vijay Kumar Johnson Member 10. Mr. Madhu Ramnath Member 11. Mr. David Thomas Member 12. Ms. Rebecca Chacko Member List of Members 1. Annual Members - 24 2. Life Members - 182 3. Institutional Members - 3 A. Upper Hill Field Activities Ecorestoration of Lake with Stake Holder Participation The lake water quality has deteriorated with Dissolved Oxygen levels plunging to 3 mg per litre at the time of writing this report. The Council has adopted a strategy to create awareness among stake holders; authorities and land owners in the lake catchment basin. The proposal supported by PCED covers three mountain lakes and involves setting up a Project Advisory Group to carry out pilot restoration activities. The project has a component of Public Hearings where stakeholders are given a chance to voice their concern and through which the authorities are helped to take corrective measures to reduce the nutrient input in the waters. Stakeholder identification and pilot level activities As a first step the Council has identified the local stakeholders as three Boat clubs; two schools; two commercial residencies and a hotel as primary stake holders. There are a further bungalows and dwellings that have as many as 1200 toilets that leach nutrients in to the lake waters. There are a number of migrant stakeholders who come to the lake periphery each day and leave in the evening. These are shopkeepers; bicycle rental owners; horse caddies and curio vendors. Solid waste management in boats and periphery It was found that the trash thrown in to the waters by joy riders was too much to be ignored. A system of trash cans has been put in to the boats with cooperation from the boat clubs. This has now reduced the waste thrown in the lake and has prompted the shop keepers at the periphery to make their own trash cans for prevention of garbage from entering the lake. Silt trap load reduction Out of the nineteen silt traps only a few are serving their purpose and there is need to address the issue at the level of catchment area treatment. Hence all the streams that discharge silt were analysed and remedial measures have been discussed. Sites that offer conducive environment for arresting the silt much before they enter the silt trap have been identified. The approach is to plant unobtrusive native plants that can trap the mud and filter the waters that are enriched with nutrients. The Sweet Flag; Acorus calamus is doing well at three sites now and multiplication of willow is in progress at our nurseries. It is proposed to try the willow in selected sites. Horse Dung removal There are approximately 75 horses that are used for Joy Riding around the lake. The owners bring the animals in the morning near the park and wait to woo a tourist and return home only in the evening, thus all the excreta and urine of the horses are let out on the road. As and when it rains these are washed in to the lake waters. The load from them is estimated around 100kg of nitrogen; 50kg of Phosphates and 60kg of Potash per animal per year. This undoubtedly is one of the chief nutrient sources for eutrophication of the water body. We have now organized a collection mechanism for the manure. The dung is heaped at a high point and carted out of the watershed for composting. So far about 4 truckloads are sent to plains for trials with composting. Once farmers start accepting the manure as useful the cost plus expenses can be fixed to make a sale for the project work to sustain itself. Pilot composting toilet trials At the settlement of Keezhbhoomi two families have expressed interest in using a pilot model of composting toilets where the nutrients are not mixed with water but composted and the nitrogen is used directly to fertilise plants. Two such urine separating dry composting toilets have been put on trial and there are about 10 users for them now. Both were functioning satisfactorily at the time of writing this report. Engaging distant stakeholders Palani town gets its water supply from the Shanmuganadhi reservoir, which is fed by the water that flows down the Silver Cascade. The Council has started a programme for school students at Palani and has active support of the Municipality in taking up the issue of clean water for Palani Town. The citizens of Palani will form part of the citizens group who will participate in the public hearing. A flyer was made in Tamil and distributed to visitors during the peak summer season. A brochure on the lake is now under preparation for distribution outlining do's and don't's for residents and visitors alike. Shola tree nurseries A survey was undertaken to determine the requirements of settlements for trees at the lake watershed. Based on the requirements the tree nursery at the office has stocked 9050 nos of shola species for delivery to the lake watershed. During the last planting season the nursery grew and facilitated planting of 5500 nos shola tree seedlings. As part of the school programme we do bring students to work on the nursery and stress on the importance of native shola conservation. There are thirty species of shola plants which are wanted by the households at Kodaikanal. Further the nursery has started stocking plants for nutrient removal from the stream and marsh runoff at the lake watershed. We are now multiplying Sweet flag and Willow. Pallangi Nursery The nursery stocks Peach Plum and Avocado seedlings grown from seeds. The altitude is good for germination of these seeds. The landuse pattern around the centre is primarily temperate vegetables but there are some farmers who convert part of the cropping to horticulture and they are lifting plants from our nursery for growing and in situ grafting. Last year the nursery sold about 10 035 plants to customers. The current stock is approximately 9000 nos. Pallangi Kombai We started this nursery last year after a gap of a decade, primarily to cater to the needs of coffee growers and fruit orchards for shade and timber trees. The present stock is five thousand seedlings comprising Grevillea robusta; Toona ciliata Michelia shenbaga; Gmelina arborea; and fruits like lime; mandarin orange and Silk Cotton. There is good demand for cultivars of coffee suitable for this elevation and rainfall regime, which we stock as well. Poondi The village is surrounded by monocultues of wattle and eucalyptus and the irrigated lands are under temperate vegetables. There is some interest among farmers for change to horticulture or coffee under shade. But this is only a trial as they are apprehensive about the marketing set up for the new crops. But last year we only managed to grow 3000 seedlings of native timber and shola trees. The current seedling stock is 4500. Melpallam Nursery The farmers at the 1800 mts village are cultivating coffee mixed with banana and lime oranges under shade trees. We are growing selected cultivars of coffee and Silver Oak; Gmelina arborea and Toona ciliata for supply to landowners The present stock is 4800 seedllings. Last year the nursery managed to grow and facilitate planting of 3500 seedlings. Apiary activities at the Upper reaches are blessed with good rains and seasonal forage for the bees. We have 27 colonies of Apis cerana indica in different hives and have recently introduced 10 hives at Melpallam where the hill banana provides good forage for the bees Water quality monitoring The lake based water quality monitoring has been restarted with four schools at Kodaikanal. The project now has electronic instruments for pH; temperature and Dissolved Oxygen measurements. The level of oxygen is very low at 3-4 mg per liter through the summer indicating decomposing organic waste load in to the waters. Proliferation of Macrovegetation around the arm of the lake close to our office is a matter for concern. The water lily at the lake has been spreading with nutrients from leach pit toilets at the periphery increasing in numbers due to conversion of residential property in to resorts. Previously there was no Nympae at the arm closest to our office but ever since a resort has opened up the macrovegetation has been proliferating. B. Middle Palnis Nurseries and Apiaries Siruvattukadu Kombai nursery The centre primarily raises lime, coffee and pepper seedlings for distribution to the tribal farmers. Last year it promoted the planting of 1500 seedlings from the nursery. Attached to the nursery is a seed collection work that provides valuable seeds to the nurseries at the foothills. Last year we collected Mimusops elengi; Adina cordifolia; Terminalia arjuna and Pongamia glabra seeds. The centre maintains colonies of Trigona irridipennis in clay pots for supply to farmers. Last year the tribal beekeeper there provided 20 colonies to the amla farmers who required the same for pollination purpose. Semmadioothu Nursery and bee keeping centre The nursery and bee hives numbering 15 are managed by a tribal person. A training programme was organized at the centre for 12 tribals on alternative hive management techniques for Apis cerana indica. Situated close to the Kallar R F the the site has potential for seed collection for evergreen shola forest at middle altitudes. Seeds of Canarium strictum, Cedrella toona and Gmelina arborea were collected for multiplying at our nurseries. About 2300 seedlings of coffee, oranges and shade trees for coffee plantations were provided to tribal farmers from this nursery. Patlankadu and Oothu Beekeeping centres The last batch of trainees for keeping Apis Centre Indica at Middle altitudes took part in the training at the centre. The trainees were only 12 women from the village of Mangalam Kombu. There trainees were provided with 15 Newton hives as they were more interested in keeping hives known to them. This village has been exposed to the traditional hive for many decades. The centre managed to rear queens on two seasons but were only able to replace aging queens from old colonies and there were no new colonies to present to the trainees. C. Amaravathi Tree Growers Association project (ATA) The project has now entered in to the II phase with Danish Forestry Extension and PHCC capacity building for association formation. The ATA has now been formally registered. Enrollment of Members: During the year a total of 151 farmers who were keen to grow trees were contacted for enrollment as members of the ATA. They have agreed to pay the minimum fee for membership. They are having lands within the project area designated by the domicile of the association. As per the project proposal there will be an annual general body meeting of the association and each year the governing council will be elected from among the tree growers. Progressive tree growers It has been proposed to include tree growers from outside the project area as well as members. Then, those individuals who are willing to have contacts with the project could be named as "Progressive Tree Growers" and to join as passive members by paying Rs.25/year. Since March last year 21 tree growers have joined under this category. Project Land: The ATAP has now its own land from where the seedlings an services to members are to be initiated in the coming years. The land measures some 6 acres and is on the Udumalpet Palani highway. Though it has some basic amenities like water wells and electricity, now the project is focusing on building up infrastructure for the association. Existing plantations: The land has about 3 acres under mature, nut yielding coconuts that are irrigated through drip irrigation. This will be maintained as water is copious and the coconuts can bring income for the association in the future. Training centre: A farmers training centre that can seat 300 members is now under construction. This has been designed by DFE PC with help from a local architect and the building is to be ready for the second general body of the association in 2007 May. Shelter Belt: The new land at Vedapatti is on the wind map of Tamil nadu and we have plated wind breaks using Casuarina equisetifolia for guarding the nursery from dry winds Developing commercial ornamental nursery: The industrial belt of Coimbatore and Udumalpet offter suitable area for commercial ornamental plants. We have obtained mother plants for some 200 varieties from nurseries in Kerala. These are used for vegetative reproduction of the plants for sale and propagation. For the purpose mud pots and a shade net used as a controlled environment is conducive for developing good plants through cuttings. With the help of the Shade Net Chamber some 4000 plants have been produced and these are now for sale. Nursery Production and Distribution Tree seedlings production The tree nursery produces quality timber and usufruct tree seedlings for supply to members and farmers in the Udumalpet region. Last year the project planted 22 000 seedlings in farmers fields and three schools. Out of the these some 13 000 were produced from other nurseries of the Council. The number of sites where the activities took place were at 41 private farms and 8 school campuses. The current stock at the nursery is approximately 35 000 seedlings and the specie distribution is 62. We plan to produce seedlings to match the provenances of the members land profile that were prepared during the last phase of the project. Extension Visits: The staff have undertaken extensive field visits to convince farmers to become members of the association and avail the benefits of quality seedlings; pruning services and sale of wood produce. About 868 farmers were met with and about 470 field visits to farms were made to advice on specie selection and planting works. Membership: The visits and contacts helped achieve a membership of 151 tree growers to the ATA during the current year. Growing trees for value added timber: The project has been using shears and pruning knives attached to long teak poles to effectively prune young trees without causing injury that later produce knots in the timber. This has been carried out at 19 sites out of which some 15 were for the project planting sites and the remaining were already existing plantations. A total number of 5400 trees have been properly pruned by the project activities. Consultancy: An industrial house has availed the consultant services of the project personnel for making a plan for tree growing at their factory premises and the project has earned its first income through consultancy. Training Tree Growers: This has been the thrust area for the project after membership enlisting and extension visits. This is to ensure that many farmers and landowners are given the right advice regarding the choice of specie selection to match their soil profile and gestation period to get returns. Last year about 86 farmers have participated in the programme. The training programme has been the key in getting advance orders for the coming years tree growing programme. Thus already some 5000 seedlings have been ordered in advance. Market Survey to assess potential for value addition to tree produce: It has been found that tree growers still prefer teak to other species as they are sure of high value at farm gate. The demand for fuelwood from tea estates at Valparai and textile units at Thiruppur has prompted some growers to look for fast growing fuel wood species. The habit of selling through timber merchants is all prevalent as the growers have little time to work through the process of cutting; transport; sawing and placing the same as marketable sawn timber. Timber shops around Pollachi and Udumalpet stock huge amount of imported timbers like Andaman Padauk; Indonesian and Australian hardwoods, that are sold cheaper than native timbers. Practical intervention in marketing: Some practical attempts were made to help the tree growers and farmers to enter into harvesting their trees and selling the same. But due to various factors these attempts did not materialise into concrete action. Thus the personnel assigned the task are now waiting for an opportune moment and inclined tree grower to come forward to sell his produce through the association for a fee that is openly agreed by the tree grower. Capacity building and training of project personnel: a) Mr.Gravers Gaard from DFE trained the staff in documenting all information about plantation and follow up activities as case history of each site. He trained the staff in pruning, selection & thinning, model plantings for wind break etc. He made a trip to Auroville along with staff and also participated in training students of GVG womens college. b) All the project staff participated in 2days trip to Auroville to have exposure to grown up trees and successful plantings. c) New staffs were sent to PHCC centres to share the experience of the senior staffs. Some of the staff visited commercial nurseries near Dindigul, Batlagundu, Coimbatore, Kerala etc to understand the latest status and techniques as the project is entering into production and sale of ornamental plants. d) Two of the project staff participated in the Elephant census in Valparai area organized by the Forest Department. The project staff went for a trek from Kookal to Kudhiraiyar. Project Steering Committee visiting PHCC Centres A two days trip to visit PHCC centers was organized for PSC members. (Viruvedu and Genguvarpatti). PHCC-PC explained the activities carried by PHCC and the team had exposure to grown up trees and other activities of PHCC. Training to students of women's college: A three months course on "Economics of Tree Planting and Management" was conducted for about thirty students and certificates issued. New recruits had also participated in this programme as a part of training for them in matters of environment and tree growing. Project Team The project now is managed by a team of personnel that numbers about 15. As the project enters second year of the IInd phase, the income from project activities are to be increased so as to meet atleast part of the expenses of the project activities. It is proposed that some of the project activities will be taken up solely on income basis Labour statistics-the project has generated about 1059 mandays of work for rural persons and 1755 women days of work for rural women through nursery raising planting and extension activities. D. Community led environment action network 1. CLEAN INDIA PROGRAMME: The program to impart environment education to schools students was organised for three zones Kodaikanal, Udumalapet and Palani. The quality of Water and Air have been tested at 15 different places (5 selected places for each zone). There are 12 schools that participate in the Clean India programme, and, 32 students from each school are Clean India students. Totally 384 students and 12 teachers are participating in the programme. We have announced "BISHNOI" Trophy for the best school. (winner-Best involvement in the Environmental activity) The competition covers activities like tree planting, organic compost, Solid Waste Management, and growing of medicinal plants. This will be evaluated at the end of this year and we give the trophy and certificates to the best organisers. 2. Community Environment Action for Sustainable development. We have selected Madhanapuram - 27th Ward - Palani Municipality to implement this project in the community. It is located 1 Km from Palani Bus stand. We have got permission from Palani Municipality, and they allotted 1500 Sq.ft land for one year. We have surveyed 100 house holds to collect the organic waste to make organic compost. We have put fence by planting Jatropha curcas stakes and the community of this ward is cooperating with project personnel for making the area litter free. E. Fr. Matthew Environment centre Dryland Ecorestoration: During the last year the centre has managed to start the Council's much forgotten Green Belt around the Foot Hills program. With support from the IUCN Netherlands Drylands program the center managed to plant trees in 32 acres of land belonging to farmers. The number of trees planted is about 6500. The drought prone area has been chosen to demonstrate the long term possibilities of restoring drylands through vegetative means. The participating farmers have been made in to a Farmers Field School that meets once in a month. Apart from this the centre has managed to sell 32 500 seedlings of timber species to coffee growers at hills and farmers interested in tree growing. The nursery also helped garden land owners in the Manjalar watershed with 1500 seedlings distributed free of cost. About 1300 seedlings were provided for tree planting programmes of eight schools in the area. Environment education through Birdwatching: A project supported by the Boys Town was undertaken and 20 students from three schools participated in the programme that was for a duration of two days. The schools were Lakshmi Higher Secondary and Sundar AGNU Matriculation School from Madurai and Government Higher Sec School from Athoor. A total of 100 students participated in the program. Beekeeping Project: The project trained a last set of 20 beekeepers with minimum management techniques for keeping Apis cerana indica in different types of hive. The personnel attached to the project have produced 10 new colonies through queen grafting method and have provided 47 colonies from the wild for would be apiarists. Income Generation: The centre has started to collect tree seeds and sell the same to other nurseries and the Councils' own tree growing centres. Last year seeds of 15 species were collected and distributed. The centre also collects honey from Rock bees and processes and markets the same. Recently the personnel have started to make organic soap and we propose to market the same through the small shop for eco produce to be set up at the centre. F. Kudhirayar tree and bee nursery Dryland tree growing: As part of the IUCN assisted Dryland ecorestoration project about 2000 seedlings were planted in about 10 acres of land. The planting site close to Ivarmalai has potential for taking up the remaining part of the drylands programme in the coming year. The centre stocks seedlings numbering 35 000 for the purpose. A farm field school was initiated but due to small number of farmers could not sustain itself and we hope to start the same again this year. The tree nursery at Puliyamarathu shed was closed during the year as the farmers there were not lifting enough seedlings to justify its expenses. The nurseries put together supplied some 12 000 seedlings for commercial sale. Beekeeping activities: The centre has conducted refresher training to 20 would be beekeepers from the tribal settlement. The tribes persons tribals had been provided bee hives through a programme last year. Unfortunately the centre could not raise enough queens to populate the hives and has about 25 colonies of Indian Hive bees in different hives. A trip was organized to visit the Honavar Beekeepers Society at Northern Karnataka and the trip was for educating all the trainers and assistants involved in the project works. During the trip 100 nos Newton Hives were purchased from the Society as these were cheaper compared to wooden hives at Tamil Nadu. The centre has supplied some 50 colonies of Trigona irridipennis to farmers who cultivate Phyllanthus for pollination purposes. The present stock of Trigona is about 20 only. Methods to separate and produce queens for this specie are now under trial at the centre. Environment Education: The centre has played host to various education programme conducted by other; projects of the council. About three programmes for schools through the CLEAN INDIA program and two for college students through the ATA have been conducted at the centre. A group of school teachers were given a condensed environment education course through the project supported by the CPR Environment Education Fund. Seed Collection: The centre has collected seeds of Phyllanthus embellica and supplied 12.50 kg of seeds for the other tree growing centres of the Council. Present work is to get seeds of Carissa carandas and Melia dubia seeds for the drylands programme. Wild mango, Mangiferae indica seeds are collected each year from this centre for raising mangoes from seed stock. G. Athoor and Kannivadi Tree nursery and beekeeping centres As part of the program the nurseries from Athoor and Kannivadi managed to grow and market 58 000 seedlings during the year. The centre also produced some 10 000 Amla grafts for distribution to farmers. In the planting programme around the Kannivadi nursery 24 farmers have participated. The project has also supplied Jatropha curcas for farmers in the Athoor and Kannivadi areas. As part of the project it was planned to make biodiesel from these plants that yield fruits. The output from plants' virgin yields have not been large enough for making a viable processing unit. It is hoped that the yields will be good in the coming year and we can make an oil extractor and biodiesel processor for the nut crop. The centre maintains 12 colonies of Apis cerana indica in hives but could not conduct a successful training program during the year due to poor attendance in the initial stages. H. Viruveedu tree and bee nursery 1. Tree Growing activities The centre managed to plant dry land species in 15 acres of land at the Valayapatti enclave. The total number of seedlings planted under the program is 7500. The focus is to target more farmers in the area under the program for the coming season. The nursery currently stocks 35 000 seedlings for distribution to farmers in the coming planting season. Under the seedlings sale to garden lands and coffee estates for shade the centre supplied 24350 seedlings to farmers during the year. The nursery is facing competition from two government programmes where the seedlings raised by different nurseries are supplied free. 2. Beekeeping activities: The area under Drum stick in the Viruveedu area has decreased but the centre has managed to maintain about 50 colonies of Apis cerana indica in different hives. The refreshed training programme was conducted for 20 trainees selected from past batches in about 5 hamlets from the centre. The colonies are mostly from grafted queens thus they are bred by the project and we hope for honey production in the coming spring season. 3. Income generation: The centre collects and sells honey from Hunter Gatherers and during the year collected processed and sold 2250 kg of honey. The project personnel also made wax candles and soap from the beeswax. The trials have been successful and we are designing a suitable package for marketing the same. 1. Oddukkam tree nursery and Seed Center The first nursery of the Council still maintains the best status quo with little project support. Last year the 12 women workers managed to produce 87 000 seedlings and market the same to tree growers. The specie numbers exceeded 100 thus indicating very high diversity too. The seed centre collected seeds for 65 varieties of seeds and the volume was about 2500 kg. The infrastructure at the centre is now almost 20 years old and needs repairs. J. Field Biology course During the year four students from St.Olaf College Minnesota, USA visited the Palni Hills for their field biology course. Mr Andy Tompset studied the Beekeeping practices with Indian Hive bees at various centres of the PHCC. Miss Dyna Burtness analysed the agricultural practices at different elevations of the palnis and focused on mixed coffee plantations at the middle altitudes. Miss Jennifer undertook a study of use of Medicinal and Aromatic plants at selected settlements in the hills and forest edge hamlets. Miss Elizabeth learned the importance of Biological Indicators for pollution monitoring at the lake and other water streams around Kodaikanal. K. Apiary projects: The project supported by the Denmark Beekeper's Federation has run for seven years and has trained more than 600 persons in beekeeping at the six centres. The project was completed during March 2006 and activities like selecting disease resistant strains of Apis cerana indica are now suspended half way. The D B F also funded a trip by the Project Coordinator and project Supervisor to the Apimondia conference at Dublin, Ireland. They have agreed to apply for a third extension to the DANIDA and if approved the project hopes to breed disease resistant colonies. L. Coastal Resources conservation project After much waiting the Council's project to try and restore mangroves has been approved. The works are to be carried out at Tharangambadi or Tranquebar in Nagapattinam district. A project office has been opened there and there are three personnel working at the moment. We have also established a nursery to grow mangrove associates at farmers fields. The project also has set up a small apiary at the site to train men and women in beekeeping with Indian Hive bees at the coast. There are project works to provide solar LED lamps for the fisherfolk and solar water distillation modules on a trial basis. A dialogue has been established with two fishing hamlets and the community leaders there, who have agreed to the concept of restoring vegetation along two estuaries of the Cauvery, the Nandalaar and Ammanaar. The centre has a tree nursery where the focus is to grow native littoral species as opposed to the immensely common monocultures of Casaurina at the coast. M. Conclusion: The council has managed to grow and facilitate planting of 275 000 seedlings. The works last year include attempts to revive beekeeping and restore the lake water quality. The Council has been supported by the following donors in the works. Our sincere thanks to them and the personnel who have worked in various projects to implement the programs. We also thank the Forest Dept of Kodaikanal, and Forest Department of Dindigul for the cooperation in tree growing. We hope to strengthen our mandate by reaching out to new areas in the future. 1. Both Ends, Netherlands 2. Danish Forestry Extension, Denmark 3. Denmark Beekeeper's Federation, Denmark 4. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Netherlands 5. Joe Homan Trust, London 6. Boys Town, Thirumangalam 7. Wetlands International, New Delhi 8. St.Olaf College, North field, Minnesotta 9. C.P. Ramasamy Iyer Enviromental Education Centre, Chennai 10. Development Alternatives, New Delhi 11. People's Commission on Environment and Development of India, New Delhi 12. Forgotten Children, USA 13. Shegal Foundation, New Delhi Individuals 14. Mr James, P. Cormack, USA 15. Mrs Kerry Ten Kate Date: 25-08-2006 J.Nath Kodaikanal President