India's Nature - Monsoon Beauty 2022's Journal

India's Nature: Monsoon Beauty 2022

Bio-diversity observations during the Monsoon Months in India  (Sunday 3rd  July to Sunday 4th September 2022)

In 2021, from July to September , 107 observers  contributed 36,263 observations (4915  Species)  while 1,256 identifiers helped with identification and corroboration of the observations. Follow this link To know more about the first Monsoon Beauty event here more about India's Nature - Monsoon Beauty 2021  and see some of  the amazing observations here , while this journal documents some of the interesting happenings, some outputs and some of the awards and recognition.

Event Schedule for Monsoon Beauty 2022

• Start of Event Sunday 03/07/2022 (00:00 AM)
• End of Event Sunday 04/09/2022 (11:59 PM)
• Final Submissions by Friday 09/09/2022 (5 days for processing and submitting observation taken during the period)
• Final Totals and Tabulations  Sunday 11/09/2022
• Certificates Sunday 25/09/2022

Sub-Events & Weekend Madness

Inaugural Sunday

Sunday 03/07/2022

National Moth Week 23rd to 31st July

Last July Weekend  Saturday 30/07/2022 to Sunday 31/07/2022

Independence Day Weekend

(August) Saturday 13/08/2022 to Sunday 14/08/2022

Beetle Mania and Beetle Day 2022

Proposed / Subject to some changes based on Community Recommendations

• Beetle Mania Week Monday 22nd August to Sunday 28th August 2022
• Beetle Day Sunday 28th August 2022

Big Butterfly Month India (BBMI) September 2022

• BBMI Weekend / Conclusion Weekend - Saturday 03/09/2022 to Sunday 04/09/2022

Regional Groups / Support Groups

We hope that Monsoon Beauty is a trigger to help new and budding naturalists join Community Science Initiatives. We would like to encourage experienced Naturalists to organise weekend walks (and talks)  and provide support to budding naturalists.
 

Currently Organized Regional Groups

1. Uttarakhand (Mukteshwar and Munsiari) (@ram_k, @negi @rajkoranga),
2. Telangana (Hyderabad) - (@kashif_ali, @vijay_dixit, @odonut)
3. Karnataka (Bengaluru) - (@arvintrix)

To volunteer a walk or event kindly direct message @ram_K or send an email to indias.nature.01@gmail.com

Guidelines and Awards**

Categories**

(Individual Observers or Identifiers Only)

Category 1. Most Observations - Overall 1st.

(Award One Natural History Book , and a choice of one poster or two pamphlets )

Category 2. By Location  - Rural

(Award One Natural History Book)

Category 3. Most Observations -  in any States or Union Territories that have less than 3000 observations

(Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Tripura)
 (Award One Natural History Book)

Category 4. Most Observations by a Women Observer

(Award One Natural History Book)

Category 5. Most Observations by a New Observer

(Joined after 1st June 2022 and has less than 200 observations at the start of the programme) 
(Award One Natural History Book)

Category 6 . Most Identifications - Overall 1st.

(Award One book)

Category 7 Beetle Mania - Most Identifications, and Most Observations

(Award - One book each)

Second and Third Place (All categories including identifiers)

Award -  One poster on Birds or a choice of two pamphlets

Certificates of Participation to all qualifying observers (150 observations) and identifiers (300 identifications)

Guidelines / Norms

1. The event is powered by Inaturalist, To participate one has to join iNaturalist as a user and wthen join the project.

a) Participants must be an Individual (not an institution, club, joint account etc)

1. Rules for Adding Observations
   must be observed on or after 2022-07-03 (Starting at 00:00 AM)
   must be observed on or before 2022-09-04 (Ending 11:59 PM)

2. Contribute a minimum 150 observations (or 300 identifications) to qualify for any of the award / honour categories. Honour and Participation Certificates to all qualifying observers / identifiers.
3. |Suggested Ethical Guidelines](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17qxw3HJad_ND_w1osmK3IGXwZ38xABNw/view?usp=sharing) for nature observation to be followed
4. Number of days in which observations are made, and number of Research Grade observations would be used in case of ties.
5. Awards – in case a person is eligible for an award in more than one category they would receive an award for only one, and in the highest category they are eligible for.
6. Coupons / Cash Transfers would not be provided in lieu of the awards.
7. If there are no qualifying participants in any of the categories then that award would be reallocated or scrapped.
8. Identifiers are expected to follow the suggested iNaturalist guidelines. Award for identifications would be based on Research Grade identifications as a strong conditionality. Spam identifications would be strongly discouraged.
9. Adherence to precautionary local and national pandemic guidelines is highly recommended
10. The event is not a competition  but is intended to promote an appreciation for nature, and engender mutual respect among the  diversity of observers, identifiers, and supporters of the programme.

List of Natural History Books, Posters, and Pamphlets that would be given as awards

(Suggestions for regionally applicable books / pamphlets or photo brochures / posters are welcome and would be considered based on availability and pricing. )

Books

1. Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses
2. Plants of Ladakh- A Photographic Guide
3. Fungus Among Us: An Exploration of Fungi in the Anamalai Hills
4. Explore Spiders of India: A Pocket Guide by Karthikeyan S.
5. Handbook for Nature Guides
6. Bharat ke Pakshi (Salim Ali) translated by Gayatri Ugra (Hindi) (BNHS)BNHS
7. Birds of Northern India, Author(s) Richard Grimmett and Tim Inskipp
8. Birds Of Southern India, Author(s) Richard Grimmett and Tim Inskipp
9. Butterflies and Moths of Pakke Tiger Reserve, Author(s) Sanjay Sondhi, Krishnamegh Kunte
10. Butterflies of the Garo Hills, Author(s) Sanjay Sondhi, Krishnamegh Kunte, et al
11. Butterflies of Uttarakhand, Author(s) Sanjay Sondhi, Krishnamegh Kunte
12. Indian Mammals, Author(s) Vivek Menon (2014)
13. Plants of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya, Author(s) Ishwari Datt Rai, Gajendra Singh, Gopal Singh Rawat
14. The Book of Indian Birds, Author(s) Salim Ali (BNHS)
15. Uttarakhand Nature Handbook - A guide for Naturalists, Eco-tourists and students. Ed. Sanjay Sondhi (Hindi and English Versions)
16. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians, JC Daniel (BNHS)

Photo Pamphlets / Checklists  / Other Creative Resources

1.  Butterflies of Gori Valley; Moths of Gori Valley. Uttarakhand. (Himal Prakriti) (Bilingual Hindi and English)
2.  Butterflies of Devalsari; Moths of Devalsari. Uttarakhand. (Titli Trust) (English)
3. Birds of the Gori Valley, Munsiari (Partly illustrated Checklist and Information Guide), (Himal Prakriti) Uttarakhand. (Bilingual Hindi & English)
4. Early Bird Flash Cards
5. Early Bird Pocket guides (Available for  - Peninsular India, Northeastern India, Spiti/Ladakh, Andaman&Nicobar Islands and Western Ghats) as well as bilingual pocket guides in Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Konkani or Hindi as appropriate (Birds of Karnataka, Birds of Kerala, Birds of Odisha, Birds of Tamil Nadu, Birds of Andhra Pradesh, Birds of Maharashtra, Birds of Goa, Birds of Madhya Pradesh, Birds of Uttarakhand and Birds of Rajasthan).
6. Snakes of Kumaon – Educational Playing Cards, Jignasu Dolia
7. SeasonWatch - Common trees pocket guide (NCF)

Posters

1. CEDAR – Poster on Himalayan Oak Forests (English or Hindi)

2. Birds of Munsiari, Uttarakhand, (Himal Prakriti) (Poster)
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For More Information about the programme

• For more information about the programme;
• or to volunteer;

• or to support the initiative
  write via email to - indiasnature.01@gmail.com or use the inaturalist messaging platform and send a message to @ram_k