Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, Pondicherry

History

The Vedanthangal lake bird sanctuary has a tradition of the people actively protecting birds coming to the area since time immemorial. The local people understood the relationship between birds and the productivity of their crops even before the concept of wildlife conservation came into vogue. They knew that the bird droppings in the water created guano which acted as fertilizer. Towards the end of the 18th century local villagers complained to the collector of Chengalpet Lionel Palace, about the British soldiers shooting the birds. They demanded and obtained a 'Cowle' from the collector (Mr Place, Collector of Chingleput 1796-1798) to protect the birds. In 1936 the collector officially recognized the lake as a sanctuary. In 1962 it was given the legal status of reserved forest under the Madras Forest Act. Several accounts of the sanctuary were published in the mid-19th century. In 1936, the park was notified as a sanctuary, and in 1962, the Madras Forest Act legally accorded the status of a reserve forest to Vedanthangal. Ten years later, the place was declared as a wildlife sanctuary. In the government order dated 8 July 1988, the area was declared as 'Vedanthangal Lake Bird Sanctuary', under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. In 1967, a rest house was constructed for the convenience of visiting inspecting officers and tourists. The area had a compact grove of more than 500 Barringtonia trees earlier. An additional 100 trees were planted in 1973 and over 1,000 trees were planted in 1996.