Research Proposal Ecological Mapping Of Mula Mutha River

Research Proposal: Ecological Mapping Of Mula. Mutha River For Its Ecorestoration Purva P. Karmarkar M. Sc. Environmental Science Part-I March, 2017

Introduction: • Increasing pollution of land, water and air over the last few centuries • Ecosystems are over-used and poorly understood • A different perspective and approach to ecosystem management is required • Concept of restoration: Introduced in 1930 s, but in the past couple decades, need for restoration truly recognized • Evidence of widespread ecosystem decline is seen due to rapidly declining numer of species

River mapping: Rivers and water bodies most polluted, aquatic life deteriorated Affected mainly due to anthropogenic activities Indirect but serious impacts on human health as well Imperative to restore these water bodies back to their original conditions • Ecological mapping gives a clear idea of current scenario of the water body in terms of pollution and biodiversity • It may also help in formulating the necessary steps towards restoration • •

Origin of Research: • Comparatively new technology but rapidly gaining momentum due to urgency to prevent further destruction and induce positive effects • Ecorestoration is an elaborate process which involves survey, field study, followed by the actual process of restoration • Each step is imperative and needs to be carried out elaborately • Field study is required to map the biodiversity of the area including animals, plants and insects along with the pollution causing factors and their magnitude

Interdisciplinary Relevance: • Pollution affects biodiversity as well as the environment as a whole and has numerous effects on all the downstream factors including climate and human health • It is, therefore important to not only control the pollution levels but also aid in restoration of a place back to its original state • System involves not only environmental but anthropogenic factors as well

National and International Status: • Pollution: global problem • Water bodies all over the world are highly polluted and cleaning and restoration taking place on a wide scale • Eg. : § National: Ganga Cleanup Project, Yamuna Biodiversity Project, etc. § International: European Centre for River Restoration, Projects in USA and Mexico

Objectives: To study: • Biodiversity associated with channel and banks • Flora: Riparian plants and wetland plants • Fauna: Mainly Birds and Insects • Ecologically Sensitive Sites • Changes within the channel or banks • Pollution input • Any other significant change within river

Methodology And Plan Of Work: • First hand observations and its documentation. • Early morning and evening trail along river in certain stretches. • Taking GIS points / mark tracks etc. • Mapping all of above on google earth satellite images. • Prepare short notes stating condition for various stretches.

Collaboration: • The minor research project will be carried out in collaboration with Oikos, a Pune based company working for ecorestoration. • The research project will be part of ecorestoration process of Mula. Mutha River undertaken by the company. • The time period of the study will be of two months (May and June, 2017).

References and citations: • Ecological principles and stream restoration [Journal] / auth. Madsen B. L. . - 2005. (March 2017) • ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION: A Practical Approach [Journal] / auth. Apfelbaum Steven I. . (March 2017) • European Center for River Restoration [Online]. http: //www. ecrr. org/. (March 2017) • Ganga Action Parivar [Online]. http: //www. gangaaction. org/restoration-of-flow/. (March 2017)