VUFF-0103 LAKSHADWEEP MARINE BIOSPHERE RESERVE- MINICOY

VUFF-0103 LAKSHADWEEP MARINE BIOSPHERE  RESERVE- MINICOY Is.

This Lakshadweep marine biosphere reserve was activated during the MALIKU(MINICOY) DXPEDITION with the special amateur radio call sign : VU7M, between 13th to 22nd August 2012, by a group of operators with calls: VU2UR - Arasu, VU2LX - Laxmanan, VU2GGM - Govind Girmaji, VU2LU- Ramesh Kumar (Mrs Gowri, XYL of VU2LU), VU3VRL Ramesh and VU2JHM - Lion Ajoy. This activated IOTA AS-106

 The Minicoy lighthose , WLOL ARLHS LAK009, World Lighthouse on the Air WLOTA N 2958, was also activated from within its campus. The Light house of the island is one of the oldest and was constructed in 1885. The Expedition thanks the staff of Lighthouse, for the guest house accommodation and  all the hospitality.

Minicoy, locally known as Maliku; is an island in Lakshadweep group, India. Along with Viringili,  It is on Maliku atoll, the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. . Minicoy is the second largest and the southernmost among the islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago. It is located 201 km to the southsouthwest of Kalpeni, at the southern end of the Nine Degree Channel and 125 km to the north of Thuraakunu, Maldives, at the northern end of the Eight Degree Channel.

 The atoll is 10 km in length, having a maximum breadth of about 3 km. The island is full of Coconut trees, Mangroves. There is a Coconut research station and a Navodaya School. There is a Krishna Temple. A few auto rickshas exist and they ply with the tourists. The entire island is populated by followers of Islam. A Minicoy male resident easily gets a job on any maritime vessel, as they are known to be good sailors from their birth. There are 11 villages, tuna canning factory, and  the light house. Fishing and canning, and processing of Coconut, are the industries.

 Tourist resorts are available.

Foreigners and Indians too require permits to visit. Please visit the sites available for more information.

Unfortunately, the  log of this activation is NOT YET uploaded to WWFF. Inconvenience caused is regretted.

VUFF-0101 DAROJI SLOTH BEAR SANCTUARY.

VUFF-0101  DAROJI SLOTH BEAR SANCTUARY:

Location: Daroji Bear Sanctuary (82.72 sq. km) , Kamalapura, Bellary District of Karnataka State.
This VUFF site was activated from 1st to 10th Oct 2010  with the special amateur radio call sign   
VU0WFF. Operators were VU2LX , VU2JHM and VU2UR.   Yes, we were  BARE/BEAR  footed with lots of power cuts without backup as it is a low budget setup with sole interest as Amateurs only.  Thanks to those who have come on different bands and worked us.   

The Hampi Kannada University was very  kind enough to accomodate our team in their Guest House - Kadambari . We thank the Vice-Chancellor and Register of K U  Campus, Kamalapura for this kind gesture.

Daroji Bear Sanctuary has Sloth Bear Species the one of the 8 types of Bears in the world and another most interesting is a unique bird - Yellow Throated  Bulbul which is very particular in this area. This Sanctuary  is the only place where one can spot these Sloth bears, who are the honey-lovers endemic to India. The sanctuary is located in Ballari District. The Sanctuary has a rough terrain and during the visit, tourist can spot animals like jackals, wild boars, mongoose, black-naped hares, leopards etc.  The sanctuary maintains a good number of sloth bears who are hidden in the caves in the green-covered hillocks.  There is a watch tower for sighting the bears. The mother bears carry their  young ones, piggy back, which is unique.  Estimated visiting period is about 2 to 3 hours.

The QSLs are available through eQSL.cc

Open from 0600 to 1800 Hrs IST.  Entry fee: INR 50 per pax Indian; INR 300 per pax Foreigner. Parking: INR 500 per car.

Please visit: http://www.bellary.nic.in/bearpark.htm,    and    http://picasaweb.google.com/lionajoy/VU0WFFDarojiSlothBearSanctuary?feat=directlink

VUFF-0099 MAITRI ANTARCTIC BASE STATION of India

VUFF-0099  MAITRI  ANTARCTIC  BASE  STATION  of  India

VU3BPZ /AT10BP   OM   Bhagwati Prasad Semwal, Communications Officer, Antarctica (WAP IND-03) activated  this VUFF-0099  from 20 November 2009  to  28 feb 2011 .

Maitri is India's second permanent research station in Antarctica as part of the Indian Antarctic Programme.  Maitri is situated in the rocky mountainous region called Schirmacher Oasis. It is only 5 km away from the Russian Novolazarevskaya Station.  Location of Maitri Station in  Antarctica. coordinates: 70°46′00″S 11°43′53″E

The station has modern facilities to research in various disciplines, such as biology, earth sciences, glaciology, atmospheric sciences, meteorology, cold region engineering, communication, human physiology, and medicine. It can accommodate 25 people for winter. Freshwater is provided through a freshwater lake named Lake Priyadarshini, in front of Maitri.  National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research,  plans the activities of  Maitri Base.

Unfortunately, the log  could not be uploaded   as  logs and  QSLs for this operation was managed by the great WAP enthusiast OM Gianni Varetto of Italy

All those who worked VU3BPZ, AT10BP  may claim the VUFF award, by sending data to VU2UR for the issue of Award, as WWFF log search, is not having the logs.

VUFF-0005 BANNERGHATTA BIOLOGICAL PARK.

VUFF-0005.    BANNERGHATTA BIOLOGICAL  PARK.

Activated using call sign  AT8WFF, the FIRST EVER VUFF operation  from 01 Oct to 07 October 2008  coinciding with the  Karnataka State Forest Department  celebrating the 54th Wildlife Week. Operators were VU2JHM and others of  BARC group. This being close to Bangalore city,  has been activated more than any othe VUFF site. 

This  Park was founded in 1970 and declared as a national park in 1974. In 2002 a portion of the park, became a biological reserve, the Bannerghatta Biological Park. The Bannerghatta Park has various units such as Zoo, Safari and Butterfly park spread over 731.88 Ha.

Created an opportunity to the citizens, specially to children of Bangalore Metropolitan City to have a Biological Recreation Center very close to the city in the midst of the forests in the valley of the famous Champakadhama hills inside the Bannerghatta National Park.A  mini zoo was created in 1972  which gradually grew  into the present Biological Park by 2002. With the creation of Bannerghatta Biological Park, the vision  to  educate  younger generations;  to create awareness on the importance of conservation of flora and fauna - the biodiversity of the nature for the benefit of the future generation .

The Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) with Department of Biotechnology (DoBT), Government of India, initiated the project of a Butterfly Park, during the year 2003. The construction work was completed during 2007 and opened to the public . It is the unique project in the entire country and is serving as a role model in the nation, and most of the Zoos and parks interested to establish Butterfly Park are using this as knowledge hub.

Buses from the KBS(Majestic) City bus stand, ply to the Park. Will be a  day's programme with children. 

Lion and Tiger safaris are available to the visitors.

Revised Tariff (Entry Fee Rate w.e.f. 01-01-2020)
Zoo	Monday to Friday	Saturday, Sunday & Govt Holidays
Adults	100/-	100/-
Children	50/-	50/-
Sr. Citizen	60/-	60/-
Butterfly Park	Monday to Friday	Saturday, Sunday & Govt Holidays
Adults	50/-	50/-
Children	30/-	30/-
Sr. Citizen	30/-	30/-

( please refer to:    http://bannerghattabiologicalpark.org/    for more details )

The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and Biosphere Reserve. VUFF-0030

VUFF-0030 The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and Biosphere Reserve.

The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park ,established in 1986,(later as First Biosphere Reserve of India in 1989) is a protected area of India consisting of 21 small islands and adjacent coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar in the Indian Ocean. It lies 1 to 10 km away from the east coast of Tamil Nadu, South India for 160 km between Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) and Dhanushkodi. It is the core area of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve which includes a 10 km buffer zone around the park, including the populated coastal area. The park has a high diversity of plants and animals in its marine, intertidal and near shore habitats. Public access inside the Park is limited to glass bottom boat rides, when the breeding season of several fish, is over.

Mangroves dominate the intertidal zones of the park islands. They consist of species belonging to the  Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera,Ceriops and Lummitzera genus.  Mangroves:  Introduced  Prosopis   genus of tree species are dominant on land in all the islands. Pemphis acidula  ( Lythracease  family of flowering herb) is the only endemic plant species. 12 species of sea grass and 147 species of seaweeds were recorded. This vegetation provides important feeding grounds for the vulnerable marine mammal, the Dugong, endangered Greenturtles and vulnerable Olive Ridley turtles , sea grasses.     

Dugong, is the flagship mammal of the park. Indo-Pacific bottle nose dolphin,  finless porpoise,  spinner dolphin, common dolphin, Risso's dolphin  melon headed whale, and dwarf sperm whale  are often sighted.

Four species each of  shrimp and lobster, 106 species of  crab, 17 species of sea cucumber r, and 466 species of mollusc   including 271  gastropods , 174  bivalves, 5 polyplacophorans,  16 cephalopods   and 5  scaphopods ,  108 species of sponge  and 100 species of echinoderm  occur in this Gulf.

Glass-bottomed boats available at Mandapam cater to tourists visiting the area. Access to the islands is prohibited. The nearest railway stations is at Mandapam .

Please refer to the “Information Booklet on Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve” of Environmental Information System of Government of Tamil Nadu, for more information.

The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (VUFF-0030)(also IOTA AS-173)         Activations:

AT0RI ,from 23^rd to 31st August 2004. Other Calls operated: VU2VIT, KGN, LR, GUR, NDR, UR ,RMJ ,FBI, SWS, VU3RRU, WIA, YFD(digi modes)

AT5RP, from 14 - 17 August 2014, operators were VU2LU, GGM , UR, LX and JHM. during the Rameshwaram & Pamban Island Light House Dxpedition, 14 to 17 August 2014 Simultaneously, 1.Pamban Island IOTA AS-173; 2.Pamban Channel LH  ARLHS IND-048  GL: MJ99og; 3.Rameswaram LH      ARLHS IND-058  GL: MJ99ph were also activated.

AT5P, from 06 – 09^, May 2016, other calls operated: VU2WH, CPL. VU3KPL

AT4DK, from 02 - 04 November 2018, other calls operated: VU3NPI. 345 QSOs in ClubLog