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Natural History of Rishi Valley

Rishi Valley is located in a drought-prone area of Andhra Pradesh, in the district of Rayalaseema, which can be translated into 'The Stony Realm'. The region has been termed so partly due to the erratic rainfall in the area, which makes agriculture and farming difficult, as well as the abundance of granite rocks found across the Valley. Rishi Valley stands around 800 meters above sea level,and thus it experiences a salubrious climate, with temperatures rarely rising above 38°C (100.4°F) or falling below 10°C (50°F). The soil type varies from black cotton soil, also known as vertisol, to red laterite soil. Though the humus content in the sol is low, it is able to support a variety of vegetational types, such as a small zone of wetlands, deciduous woodlands, dry scrublands and drylands.

When the school was set up, open wells were the only source of water. By the 1960s, pipelines were laid from Horsley Hills to Rishi Valley. The open wells went dry for four years (1981-1985) due to extensive farming and channel irrigation. As soon as the open wells went dry, borewells were laid in order to satisfy the new water requirements of the school. The introduction of borewells led to groundwater depletion while the open wells were neglected. Because the introduction of borewells led to farmers changing their old agricultural patterns, shifting from dry land crops to more water-intense crops, the groundwater table was further eroded.

Conservation

The conservation work of Rishi Valley Education Centre concentrates on the following areas:

1. Water Conservation 2. Reforesting barren hill slopes 3. Soil and moisture conservation and wasteland development 4. Use of alternative energy

More than twenty years of water harvesting from the seventies to the nineties saw the Indian Government donate land for the construction of seven percolation tanks at the edge of the campus and on hillsides. Two tanks were initially dug: the first, called ' Lost Lake' was situated midway up the hills to the south of the campus helped regenerate 150 acres of a once barren hillside. The other, situated in the valley, services wells 3 miles downstream and has resulted in a much more prosperous farming community. Five more tanks were built more recently in the valley. There are several smaller tanks to recharge wells on the campus itself.

Beginning in 1988, under a grant from the Wasteland Development Board, the Indian Government built small check dams and bunds along the contours of 800-hectares of hillside, surrounding the campus. This meant persuading villagers to donate labour and allow construction of bunds across their small holdings. Custard Apples, which goats avoid, were planted along the bunds to hold in soil. The Rishi Valley Dairy is engaged in the task of breeding Ongole cattle, a domesticated breed famous for the load carrying capacity of the male cow.

Reforestation

In 1980, 150 acres of adjoining hillside were leased to Rishi Valley School by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for reforestation. The aim of this lease was to grow an abundance of trees on the hills. As a first step, a fence was constructed around the South Hills, to keep away grazing sheep and cattle. An arrangement was reached with the members of the surrounding villages, to take fodder from the hills.In spite of this, relations with the surrounding villages remained tense for several years, during which time the reforestation drive on the South Hills began in earnest. Almost 20,000 trees and shrubs and 1000's of seedlings were planted by students of the school, during these years, although their efforts were thwarted to some extent by prolonged droughts in the region during the 1980's. In 1988, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh helped the school finance a percolation tank on 20 acres of low lying land on the campus of the school. The large basin was to collect rain water from surrounding hills and service through underground channels the dry wells throughout the valley and beyond.

Birds

Work began on identifying and cataloging bird species in the valley in 1990. Mr. Rangaswami had spent several years in Rishi Valley in the 1970's, when a checklist of local birds was first drawn up. In 1990, when a superficial survey of bird species in the valley was conducted, it was noted that the number of bird species had risen considerably. By March 1993, 170 bird species, which is approximately 40% of the bird species recorded in the state of Andhra Pradesh, were identified in Rishi Valley, including the rare and endemic Yellow-Throated Bulbul, Pycnonotus xantholaemus. Perhaps the most spectacular comeback has been that of the Yellow-throated Bulbul. Recorded from Rishi Valley in the early 1990s, this bird had not been seen on the campus, and its immediate vicinity, with certainty, ever since. The birds could however be regularly seen in the foothills of Horsley Hills, just three kilometers or so, at the western end of the valley..This event was reported to the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP), and as a result, Rishi Valley was included in the Biodiversity Map and Computerized Data Base maintained by the Council at its headquarters in Cambridge, England, as one of the areas in the tropics for global conservation, whose response was: 'We have little recent published information on the distribution of this species in the ornithological literature, despite that fact that it is unique to India and apparently rather a scarce bird. Your record is therefore extremely valuable to the Biodiversity Project.'

The Yellow-throated Bulbul, Pycnotus Xantholaemus

In 1997, Rishi Valley set up an Institute for Bird Studies and Natural History, which monitors bird populations in the vicinity and currently runs a Home Studies Course in Ornithology

The drylands of Rishi Valley are of a varied complexion and include bare hill slopes on the north and north-eastern sides of the which surround the road leading to the school. Dodonea bushes, Anona squamosas, Cassia auriculatus and the many species of acacias that grow in these drylands have adapted to the prevalent conditions. Many of these plants have deep roots and are thus able to withstand long periods of drought. Grains, weeds, termites, insects and larvae constitute the diets of many of the birds that inhabit this terrain. A variety of birds inhabit the dryland areas, such as Singing Bush Larks Mirafra javanica, Ashy-crowned Finch-Larks Eremopterix grisea, Jungle Wren-Warblers Prinia salvatica, and the Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata.

The project to create a forest on the bare hillsides of the south of the Rishi Valley campus started in the late 1970's with the construction of a high bund to hold the water running down the hillsides. The result was a thick growth of Bamboo, Lantana bushes and native species of trees like pongamia, albizzia, morinda, nux-vomica and sandalwood around the area. Many species of birds which migrate to the woodlands of Rishi Valley during the dry period return to exploit the varied ecological niches which open up during the rainy season, from January to September. Several other species such as doves, quails, the Red-vented, Red-whiskered and Yellow-throated bulbuls, malhokas, babblers and rock thrushes live in the area all year around, and since trees are scarce in this area, the resident birds build nests just above ground level. Scublands cover nearly 35% of the ecosystem of Rishi Valley.

Rishi Valley Special Development Area (RVSDA)

The Government of Andhra Pradesh undertook a singular step to declare Rishi Valley and its surrounding area a Special Development Area (RVSDA) and constitute the Rishi Valley Special Development Authority (RVDA). This was done in January 2008 vide G.O. (Government Order) Ms No. 97 MA. The G.O was issued under the Andhra Pradesh Urban Areas (Development) Act, 1975 (AP UADA). The main objectives of this initiative were to: 1. protect and conserve Rishi Valley's ecological diversity and prevent it from being degraded, through unrestrained growth; 2. ensure conservation that does not compromise the livelihoods of rural communities of the area and ensure inclusive growth of all stakeholders; 3. preserve Rishi Valley's cultural heritage.

The boundaries of the RVSDA define a hydrogeological unit covering an area of 5176.97 acres in the Kurabalakota Mandal of Chittoor District. The geographical extent of the RVSDA is 33 hamlets in Thettu and Kurabalakota Panchayats (including the Rishi Valley Education Centre) of Kurabalakota Mandal. Rishi Valley Education Center (RVEC) is one of many stakeholders in what is essentially an Andhra Pradesh State Government driven programme. However, due to RVEC's 80 year history at this location and convergence of environmental interests with that of the RVSDA, it plays the role of facilitator. RVEC also works closely with Government Departments to ensure that relevant development programmes are effectively implemented in the RVSDA. RVEC engages actively on a day to day basis with District and Panchayat level administration.