Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary is a protected area in Tamil Nadu, South India, covering along the Palk Strait where it meets the Bay of Bengal at Point Calimere at the southeastern tip of Nagapattinam District. It was created in 1967 for the conservation of the blackbuck and also hosts large congregations of waterbirds, especially greater flamingos. It has been classified as an Important Bird Area.
Geography
thumb|Aerial view of Point Calimere
thumb|Map of the sanctuary
Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary forms the easternmost and most biologically diverse part of Ramsar Site no. 1210 which on 19 August 2002, was declared a place of international importance for the conservation of waterbirds and their wetlands habitats. This site comprises PCWBS, Panchanadikulam Wetland, Unsurveyed Salt swamp, Thalainayar Reserved Forest and Muthupet Mangroves. It is all part of the Great Vedaranyam Swamp, except the reserved forest.
The sanctuary is an island surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Palk Straight to the south and swampy backwaters and salt pans to the west and north. Low sand dunes are located along the coast and along the western periphery with coastal plains, tidal mud-flats and shallow seasonal ponds in between. Sand dunes in the east are mostly now stabilised by Prosopis juliflora and the higher dunes in the west are stabilised by dense dry evergreen forests. The tallest dune in the sanctuary and the highest point of land in Nagapattinam District is . at the northwest corner of the sanctuary at Ramar Padam.
History
thumb|Water transport to PCWBS by bullock cart
In the early years of the Sanctuary management was concentrated on prevention of poaching and provision of water to the wildlife. Poaching has been controlled but water supply is a continuing effort. In 1979 the first of several water troughs supplied from water barrels transported by bullock cart and open wells were built. Beginning in 2001–02 several perennial water holes supplied by pipe from bore wells and a large elevated water tank on the western edge of the sanctuary were built.
Several tree planting schemes to increase biodiversity have yielded poor results, with the exception of Casuarina equisetifolia. Current practice is to avoid new tree planting and concentrate on removal of the invasive Prosopis juliflora. An annual wildlife census has been conducted since 1991.
The Bombay Natural History Society has been conducting regular bird migration studies in the sanctuary since 1959. In 2007 it is building a new field station in Kodaikadu.
On 9 March 1998 a modern lighthouse near Kodaikorai Beach was commissioned.
In 1999 many speed breakers were installed on the Vedaranyam – Kodaikorai road which have effectively prevented the killing of wildlife by speeding vehicles. In 2004/05 nearly 100 boundary pillars were erected for boundary demarcation.
The documentary film Point Calimere – Little Kingdom by the Coast by Shekar Dattatri won the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) Vatavaran 2007 award in the Nature category.
Flora
thumb|Mangrove forest at Muthupet
This site is a mix of salt swamps, mangroves, backwaters, mudflats, grasslands and East Deccan dry evergreen forests. 364 of flowering plant species have been identified in the sanctuary of which 50% are herbs and the others are climbers, shrubs and trees. About 198 of these have medicinal properties. Manilkara hexandra, locally called Palai is the dominant dry evergreen species and an important food source for fruit eating birds. Middle canopy is dominated by the invasive Prosopis juliflora and the most abundant undergrowth is Memecylon umbellatum.
Other notable animals include: chital, golden jackal, bonnet monkey, wild boar, monitor lizard, short-nosed fruit bat, small Indian civet, Indian star tortoise, Indian grey mongoose, black-naped hare, jungle cat and feral horse.