Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History

About SACON
The Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) was established in 1990 with a mission to conserve India’s Bio-Diversity with special emphasis on the Western Ghats. SACON is based in Coimbatore and is aided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Govt. of India.

Profile of Activities

The thrusts of its activities are in the area of

1. Endangered Bird Conservation
2. Man and Biodiversity Conservation
3. Wetland Conservation
4. Environmental Contamination and Biodiversity
5. Environmental Impact Assessment

Profile of Projects

SACON has completed several projects in the Western Ghats. Some of these include Status survey of endangered bird species, Assessment of human impacts on plants and bird, Conservation planning of Western Ghats of Kerala, Ecology of medicinal plants of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

With its vast knowledge and experience in the WGs, SACON has also played an instrumental role in the implementation of the following

• Inclusion of endangered and endemic plants and birds in protected areas by modifying the existing Protected Areas (PAs) in the WGs.
• Recommendation of integrating biodiversity conservation into state perspective planning at different levels of organization and a people’s participatory programme in planning, executing and overseeing cooperative biodiversity management.
• Established a network of ornithologists from different parts of the country and information gathered on various threatened species for preparing a book on endangered birds which require priority for conservation. This has become part of the Red Data Book of Birds in Asia published by the Bird Life International.

The Organization

Director, SACON: Dr V S Vijayan

Research Divisions

1. Avian Ecology : Dr Lalitha Vijayan, Senior Principal Scientist
Dr Ravi Sankaran, Senior Scientist
2. Ecotoxicology : Dr S Muralidharan, Senior Scientist
3. Terrestrial Ecology : Dr S N Prasad, Senior Principal Scientist
Dr P Balasubramanian, Senior Scientist
4. Wetland Ecology :
5. Environmental Impact : Dr P A Azeez, Senior Principal Scientist
Assessment Dr S Bhupathy, Senior Scientist
6. Conservation Biology : Dr Ajith Kumar, Senior Principal Scientist
Dr N Sivaganesan, Scientist
7. Nature Education: Dr P Pramod, Nature Education Officer

Contact address

Director
Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History
Anaikatty Post
Coimbatore – 641 108
Tamil Nadu
Telephone: 091(422)2657101-105
Fax: 091(422)2657088
Email:salimali@vsnl.com
SACON Website: www.saconindia.org
Wetland Website: www.wetlandsofindia.org