Wetlands and Streams

 The wetlands harbor peaty soils, which are rich and filled with stored carbon. A large clump of tussock grass for instance, which can be several hundred years in age, could be capable of storing more carbon than a individual tree. Disruptions over the years have now created a need for shola-grassland mosaics to be conserved.  In a healthy shola-grassland mosaic watershed, regardless of the season in the year, the rate of flow of water of a stream for example, will remain more or less the same. The capacity to store water during the monsoonal seasons, and slowly release it at a steady rate, plays the primary role in keeping the major rivers that originate from here, perennial.
 

Coonoor is a town in the Nilgiris, which faces severe water shortages during the summers. A large area of this township has been urbanized and tea plantations surround it. Much of the natural watersheds and spaces for storage of water have been displaced to altered landuses. Along with Clean Connoor, a non-profit organization of this township, we started ecological resotation of a wetland in region known as Yedapalli. Vounteers from Clean Conoor group are seen planting native tussock grasses, supplied by us, in the marsh. 

We are also working on other village lands with private lands in the larger Yedapalli watershed region, to help improve the overall hydrology and ecology.