Running Head :THE MANAS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary5

Running head :THE MANAS WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

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March 02, 2009

The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife reserve (Project tiger reserve),that lies among the foothills of the Bhutan Himalayas, in the far eastern state of Assam. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary lies on a gentle slope in the foothills of the Himalayas, and is home to a great variety of wildlife, including many endangered species. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary gets its name from River Manas that flows through the western portion of the park. Here it splits into three separate rivers, and joins the river Brahmaputra some 64km further south. Initially known by the name North Kamrup, Manas was given the status of a wildlife sanctuary way back in 1928 .In the year 1985,it was declared as a `World Heritage in Danger’ site. The major attractions found here are the tigers, elephants, rhinos and golden langur.

The park has a wide variety of species that includes 55 species of mammals, 380 species of birds, 50 of reptiles, and 3 species of amphibians. Of these vivid wildlife, 21 mammals are India’s schedule I mammals and 31 of them are reported to be threatened.

The fauna of this park includes the Asian Elephants, Indian Rhinoceros, Gaurs, Barasingha, Asian Water Buffaloes, Leopards, Tigers, Clouded Leopards and Asian golden cat, Capped Langurs, Golden Langurs, Assamese Macaques, Slow Loris, Hoolock Gibbons, Smooth-coated Otters, Sloth Bears, Barking Deer, Hog Deer, Sambar Deer and Chital.

The park is extremely popular for its rare and endangered wildlife which is not found anywhere else in the world .The endangered species include the Assam Roofed Turtle, Hispid Hare, Golden Langur and Pygmy Hog.

Manas houses about 380 different species of birds. Manas has also got the largest population of endangered Bengal Florican. The major other birds includes the Giant Hornbills, Bulbuls, Brahminy Ducks ,Jungle Fowls , Minivets, Bee-Eaters, Magpie Robins, Pied Hornbills ,Kalij Pheasants, Pelicans, Fishing Eagles , Hornbills, Mergansers, Harriers ,Egrets, Serpent Eagles, Falcons, Scarlet, Grey, Ospreys and Herons.

The Manas encloses the Burma Monsoon Forests .These forests lie between the Indo-Gangetic and Indo-Malayan biogeographical realms and are an integral part of the Brahmaputra Valley Biogeographical Province. The Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai formation combined with with riverine succession leading up to Sub-Himalayan mountain forest makes the area one of the richest biodiversity areas in the world.

The main vegetation types found here are :-

·  The sub-himalayan light alluvial semi-evergreen forests are the most common forests found in the northern parts.

·  The east himalayan mixed moist and dry deciduous forests.These are the most common type of forests found in the region.

·  The low alluvial savanna woodland, and

·  The Assam valley semi-evergreen alluvial grasslands. This covers almost 50% of the sanctuary.

The riverine dry deciduous forest found here is at an early successional stage .This forest

is replaced by the moist deciduous forest away from water courses .The moist deciduous forest is firther succeeded by semi-evergreen climax forest in the northern part of the park. A total of 543 plants species have been recorded in the core zone. Of these, 139 species are monocotyledons, 374 species are dicotyledons (this includes 89 trees), and 30 are Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms.

The park is a haven for rare plants such as Shorea robusta,Artocarpus Chaplasha,Bauhinia sps.,Bombax ceiba,Careya areborea,Chukrasia tabularis,Dillenia pentagyna,Lagestroemia parviflora,Leea arquata,Leea crispa,Melastoma malbathriucum,Oroxylum indicum,Toona ciliate,Trewia nudiflora,Sterculia villosa,Bischofia javanica,Callicarpa arborea,Dendrocalamus hamiltonii,,Duabanga grandiflora,Holarrhena antidysenterica,Mallotus phillippinensis,Mukuna bracteata,Pouzolzia zeylanica,Syzygium formosum,Terminalia belerica.

This sanctuary was included on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992 by the Wild Life Committee after it had been invaded by militants of the Bodo tribe seeking political redress, (McGinley, 2008). The sanctuary suffered great damages from 1988 to 1993, and the political instability between the years1990 and 1996 further led to the destruction of hundreds of trees and animals, including some 50% of the Park's rhinoceros and 30% of its tigers. This damage to the sanctuary, was estimated to be more than two million US dollars, and was confirmed by a joint monitoring mission of the Government of India with the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in January 1997.

The listing by the Committee had a major impact on the governments of India and the state of Assam .Combined with the ManasPark authorities, a $US2.35 million rehabilitation plan was drawn. Implementation of the plan began in 1997 and is progressing satisfactorily. Security in and around Manas has improved significantly, but the threat of insurgency still prevails in the state and militants often cross the sanctuary. Nevertheless, the relations with local villagers appears to be improving. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) mission/ Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC)/ visited the site in early 2002 with the additional aim of promoting the nomination of the adjacent Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan as a World Heritage site so as to improve the protection of the Manas ecosystem on both sides of the international border.

The Forest Department in the state of Assam is responsible for the administration of the National Park. Its management was a given a low priority until the 1960s, but its inaccessibility due to its remote location protected it except for some marginal encroachments and livestock grazing by villagers which were eliminated during that decade, due to local resentment. The Park still remains a wilderness, forming the core of the Tiger Reserve which is classified as reserve forest. The last legal forestry in the core area occurred in the year 1964. Hunting ceased officially when the area was established as a sanctuary, but before the Bodo invasion, traditional hunting did not have any noticeable effects on the wildlife. Much of soil and stones were extracted from the area during the construction of the nearby National Highway in the year 1963-1964 but no further exploitation of any kind is now allowed in the park. Plantations were created along the southern border that acted as a buffer against agricultural encroachment but this stopped in 1977. Restrictions are not applicable to the surrounding buffer zone of the Tiger Reserve, which is managed on a multiple-use basis. Here residents are given the limited freedom to cultivate land, collect firewood, remove timber, and graze their domestic livestock and to benefit from inoculation of their cattle, to prevent diseases being transmitted to the wildlife.

More intensive management practices began in the 1960’s. The most important practice to maintain the different habitats, especially the grassland is by controlled burning. It is both a traditional practice and modern practice and is done to prevent the devastation caused by wildfires. Management here has always given a high priority towards the larger mammals, especially the tiger. The Project Tiger scheme has marked boundaries, developed roads, provided staff accommodation and built a wireless network to improve anti-poaching operations. Under the biodiversity alliance coordinated by the M.S.Swaminathan research foundation and WWF-India a rhino action plan has been prepared. The State Forest Department of Assam,The Ministry for Environment and Forests, and the Directorate of Manas prepared a management plan to include measures of social welfare such as the provision of water, medical and veterinary care and farming advice was drawn up and a three year rehabilitation program. This plan aimed to restore the infrastructure, and set up eco-development schemes for surrounding villages and habitat improvement programs. Relations with local villagers also appear to be improving. Different volunteer groups from the local Green Manas and Manas Bandhu slowly began to persuade local militants to help conserve the park and not to destroy it. By the year 2002, the latest of the management plans were devised, finalized and approved by the state government. Guard posts and camps were rebuilt, allowing better management and the government also included the reserve in Project Elephant and started facilitating committees on participatory planning and economic development projects.. A IUCN/WCN mission visited the Manas national park in early 2002 .It had been assigned the role of promoting the nomination of the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan as a future World Heritage Site and additional role of improving the protection of the whole Manas ecosystem on both sides of the border.

Some 57 villages with about 28,800 inhabitants live on the fringe of the National park, predominantly Bodo tribal people. The surrounding forests which were originally tribal lands and were used for grazing and tree products, have been logged by the timber and paper industries for a pittance, and the cleared land have been illegally purchased by immigrant farmers. This enraged the tribals so much that they now prefer to see the jungle razed than let outsiders take it. This has forced the villagers to use the protected forests. Denial of access to the sanctuary has caused serious conflict and antagonism towards this national park. Political pressure from this growing population, driven by feelings of deprivation and neglect, may become the greatest threat to the future of the Park.

Several additional measures should be undertaken to ensure the preservation of the park.This should include:-

(a) A baseline survey for the recovery of wildlife populations. Setting a monitoring system that will allow monitoring and documenting the recovery of the flagship species.

(b)Resolving the problem of funds.

(c) Finalizing the works started for the reconstruction and improvement of the park infrastructures.

(d) Employing the best volunteers into permanent staff positions in the vacant positions in the park.

In addition to the above recommendations I would also recommend to take the following additional corrective measures:-

(e) Improve, consolidate and strengthen park management operations, particularly the efforts for reducing illegal logging and wildlife poaching in the Panbari Range;

(f) Seriously continue the efforts taken for the reintroduction of species such as the one-horned rhino and assess the need and feasibility for a restoration programme of the swamp deer.

I find it is feasible for the corrective measures I mentioned to be implemented in a timeframe of two to three years.

As an individual, we can follow these steps to preserve wildlife diversity,

·  Gather knowledge as much as you can about these issues.

·  Become a part of the online community that works on these issues to improve our collective knowledge.

·  Raise our voice and make it heard.

·  Take steps to reduce our consumption of material goods.

If the intrusion goes on at this rate and goes unchecked, then slowly but surely, a biodiversity as beautiful as the Manas Wildlife sanctuary will be lost forever. We should make an effort to protect the rich flora and fauna, otherwise the plundering of the park will result in barren land in place of the lush green forests for the next generation.

References:-

1> Ali, S., Daniel, J. & Rahmani, A. (1985). Study of Ecology of certain endangered species of wildlife and their habitats. The floricans. Annual Report 1, 1984-1985. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. Pp. 79-83.

2>Anon. (1995). Manas Tiger Project. Manas News 1 (1).

3>Anon. (1974). A Management Plan for Manas Tiger Reserve 1973-74 to 1978-79. Government of Assam, Gauhati.

4>Burnett, J. (1958). The Manas - Assam's unknown wildlife sanctuary. Oryx 4: 322-325.

5>Choudhury, A. (1988). Conservation in Manas Tiger Reserve. Tigerpaper 15(2):23-27.

6>Deb Roy, S. (1982). Elephant Census, as Carried out in Manas Tiger Reserve, Methodology and Figures. Unpublished report. 23 pp.

7>Deb Roy, S. (1990). Manas - A Monograph. A report prepared for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation. 31 pp. Deb Roy, S. (1991). Manas - A monograph. Tigerpaper 18(1). 10 pp.

8>Deb Roy, S. (1992). Manas - A World Heritage Site. A report to the 4th World Congress on Protected Areas, Caracas, Venezuela.

9>Gavron, J. (1989). Marauders slaughter Assam tigers. The Sunday Telegraph. 10/10/89. p.16.

10>Giles, R. & Jhala, Y. (2002). Management Concepts for Human Populations at the Edges of Wildlands.

11> Hussain, W. (1989). Bodo militants on shooting spree inside Manas Tiger Reserve. The Telegraph, Calcutta. 5/4/89.