Some 25 km away from Satara in Maharashtra is a place which is as unique as it is beautiful. Locals call it Kas Pathar, while others know it as Kaas plateau. Kaas showcases nature in its magnificent glory, but this precious ecosystem is a fragile one, with heightened tourism in the last few years disturbing its ecology. NGOs, the government and locals have now chipped in to conserve Kaas.
Leading the conservation efforts are Satara-based gastrointestinal surgeon Dr Sandeep Shrotri and Dr Aparna Watve, an ecologist with Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Maharashtra’s Tuljapur. Their efforts proved fruitful when in 2012 Kaas was included among UNESCO’s 39 World Natural Heritage Sites along the Western Ghats.
Growing up in Satara, Shrotri’s love for nature manifested itself in cycling trips to nearby vales and mountains with school buddies, with him setting up the NGO Ranwata Nature and Environment Conservation Society in 2002.
Ayurvedic doctor Dr Sanjay Limaye sparked Shrotri’s interest in Kaas. “Dr Limaye often spoke to me about the place’s unique flora, insectivorous plants, flowers that changed their sex every year and other such interesting tidbits. When the 2004 tsunami claimed his life at Nicobar Island, I recalled his conservation about Kaas. Till then, for most people the only connection with Kaas was the man-made lake that served as Satara’s water source. I wrote articles about Kaas in local newspapers, with a booklet being published in 2006,” says 50-year-old Shroti.
That was when he understood the special habitat that Kaas represented. Efforts for its conservation began with seminars and nearby villages being roped in for the programme. Shrotri says that with some 350 flower species—of which 19-20 are endemic—Kaas is nature’s own laboratory to aid the creation of new species.
Kaas came into 42-year-old Watve’s line of vision in 2003 while she was studying the rocky plateaus of Maharashtra for her post-doctoral work. At that time, there were hardly any tourists in Kaas; just locals and a some nature lovers. “Kaas began to get noticed in the 1980s with the first scientific paper on it being released in 1973,” she says.
During 2009-2011, when tourists started thronging Kaas, Watve got involved in conservation work. “Studying about plateau ecology, I knew Kaas was special and that it could not sustain the onslaught of exploitative tourism that happened on the Panchgani tableland. After my study, I kept busy with conservation activities with one of the projects needing me to network with all local organisations working on plateaus across Maharashtra, providing them scientific information. That was when I met Dr Shrotri,” she says.
The duo advocated Kaas’ cause when UNESCO was considering world natural heritage sites. Shrotri made a detailed brief to be handed over to UNESCO at its World Heritage Convention in St. Petersburg in 2012 and Watve’s conservation management planning inputs found a place in the Kolhapur forest department’s project report. “Kaas was the first place to get nominated of the 39 world natural heritages sites on the Western Ghats,” says Shrotri.
Following their work, many checks have been put at Kaas. “Eco guards and eco guides man the place. Not more than 1,200 tourists are allowed on the plateau at a time. A fence has been installed along the roadside to discourage people from disturbing the flora.
Watve believes in engaging local communities in conservation because their involvement matters in the long run. “Many of them feel a lot of pride about the unique character of Kaas,” she says.