Documentation

SKCRF has taken a lead in documenting all resources and activities related to Kangayam breed in the western part of Tamilnadu.

Best livestock keepers and practitioners following traditional practices have been identified and documented by SKCRF. They have been nominated for best livestock keepers. A best breed saviour award was constituted by NBA to which SKCRF facilitated the program by nominating people and several of them have been recipients of the award. Following this, more people have been getting interested in following the traditional practices and has served as a major awareness program for saving the breed.

A major documentation for the Bio-cultural protocol (BCP) of the Kangayam-Korangadu has been accomplished. BCPs are documents that empower stake holders to ascertain their rights for the resources and cultural practices they own in a geographic region.  UNEP says, “BCP articulate community-determined values, procedures, and priorities. They set out rights and responsibilities under customary, state, and international law as the basis for engaging with external actors such as Governments, companies, academics, and NGOs. They can be used as catalysts for constructive and proactive responses to threats and opportunities posed by land and resource development, conservation, research, and other legal and policy frameworks.”

In collaboration with TISS another documentation was done at field level to document “Understanding Prespectives on Conservation of Indigeneous Cattle Breeds in the districts of Madurai And Tirupur in the state of Tamil Nadu”. For this documentation, extensive field work was done in Tirupur district.

A cattle census has been planned for the entire Kangayam cattle region in Tamilnadu to study the demography of the cattle over period.

Flora and Fauna of Korangadu

Environmentalists have been interested in studying the Korangadu (a unique silvi pasture grazing system of western Tamilnadu). Naturalists like Mr.Theodore Bhaskaran, Mr.Seshan, Prof.Jayakumar have visited and studied the habitait. Prof.Murugavel an environmentalist has been researching on the flora and fauna since 2011. Nearly 118 species of birds have been identified and documented by Team C.A.R.E. the environment club of Venkateswara College of engineering, Chennai. As a first step a documentation of the birds in Korangadu has been listed. Publication is under way.