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Introduction
Objectives
Methodology
Ecologically
Important Areas
Information
in Detail
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Ecologically
Important Areas in Tamil Nadu:
In
the present study, the Institute for Ocean Management has identified the following
sites under the category of Ecologically Important Areas (Table 1).
Table
1: Ecologically
Important Coastal Areas identified in Tamil Nadu Coast.
| District |
Site |
Ecological
Importance |
Geographic Location | Area
In km2 | | Ramnadu |
Gulf of
Mannar
(Islands between Rameswaram-Tuticorin) |
Coral Reef |
8º
45'- 9 º25' N
78º 5'-79 º30' E
|
63.226
| | Nagapattinam |
Vedaranniyam
Muthupettai | Mangroves |
10º15'-10º35'N
79º20'-79º55'E | 24.53
| | Cuddalore
| Pichavaram |
Mangroves
| 11º24'-11027'N
79º 46'- 90º48'E | 10.61 |
| Thiruvallur |
Pulicat
Lake | Lagoon
| 13º26'-13º43'N
80º03'- 80º18 E | 252.04 |
Fig:
Indicating Areas of Ecological Importance in Tamil Nadu
Geographic
Location of Tamil Nadu:
Tamil
Nadu the Southern most state in India has a geographical extent of 1,30,058km².
It is flanked by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the north and north west, the
Indian Ocean in the south, Kerala in the west and Bay of Bengal in the east. It
is located between 8° 00'-13° 30'N latitude and 76° 15'-80° 18'E Longitudes. Physiographically
the state can be divided into two broad divisions as the eastern coastal plains
and the hills of north and east, which is endowed with a varied coastal habitats
like mangroves, corals, seaweeds, sea grass beds, salt marshes, mudflats, sand
dunes etc. Tamil Nadu coast is the longest coastline (1076km) in the East Coast
of India. Ports, fishing harbors and a variety of coastal industries like nuclear
and thermal power plants, refineries, fertilizers and marine chemicals are situated
on the coast of Tamil Nadu. Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, is an important
coastal city of India having a major ports and many industries.
The
state has a number of rivers, estuaries and lagoons. The rivers flow west to east
towards the Bay of Bengal. Some of the important rivers are Kaveri, Vaigai, Tampraparni,
Periyar, Pennar. The River Kaveri is the major estuary in Tamil Nadu and the minor
estuaries include Vellar, Pazhayar, Adyar etc. The lagoons are Pulicat lake (South)
and Muthupettai.
The
state has a maximum temperature of 43° C and a minimum temperature of 18° C. The
monsoon season is usually during October to December. Tamil Nadu is well developed
in communications, a wide network of national and state highways as well as railway
lines serve the state.
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