Biodiversity
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| Dehing Patkai Rainforest |
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Dehing Patkai Landscape, located in the Upper Assam, stretches for over roughly 600 square kilometres and comprises three large blocks of forests (Jeypore, Upper Dehing West Block and Upper Dehing East Block) and several forest fragments. The forest is classified as a lowland Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest (Dipterocarpus-Mesua). [1] It falls under Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. Due to its biodiversity and significance for elephant habitat, parts of the landscape are recognised as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve and 111 km2 is protected as the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary since 2004. [2]
The name Dehing Patkai comes from the Dehing river and Patkai hills. It is popularly referred to as “The Amazon of East”. [3]
Dehing Patkai landscape has tropical monsoon rainforest climate with heavy monsoon downpour. [4] The temperature reaches a Peak in June and falls with the arrival of monsoons. July is the month of heaviest rainfall and monsoons end in September. The dry period ranges from October to February. The average temperature ranges from 6 °C to 38 °C. There are 119 to 164 rainy days per year.
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The Dehing Patkai Landscape is one of the richest spots for biodiversity in India. It has hundreds of plant species which range from Shorea assamica and Dipterocarpus retusus , occupying the top canopy of the forest at heights of 50 m, to Mesua ferrea and Vatica lanceifolia , which dominate the middle canopy, and a number of woody shrubs such as Saprosma ternatum , Livistona jenkinsiana and Calamus erectus , which constitute the undergrowth. [1]
Dipterocarpus retusus , or hollong, the state tree of Assam dominates the forest while the forest floor is home to charismatic ground orchids. Some of the important tree species found in the forest area are: hollong, mekai (Shorea assamica), dhuna ( Shorea robusta ), nahar (Mesua ferrea, gurjan ( Dipterocarpus turbinatus ), outenga ( Dillenia indica ), different species of Ficus etc. [5]
Dehing Patkai is also an important biodiversity spot for its range of orchid species. [6] There are around 100 species of orchid in this region, including Bulbophyllum ebulbum , Chrysoglossum erraticum , Chrysoglossum robinsonii , Eria connate , Eria pudica , Zeuxine clandestina , Hetaeria affinis , Thelasis pygmaea and Taeniophyllum crepidiforme .
Dehing Patkai landscape is a critical refuge for biodiversity as it provides habitat for species of most conservation concern at the sub-national level in India and species that are identified under the IUCN Red List. There is a wide variety of wildlife found in the landscape with as many as 47 species of mammals, 50 species of snakes, 13 species of lizards, few rare and threatened turtle species, more than 350 species of butterflies etc. [7] It was the first place in the world to have presence of seven different species of wild cats in the world -tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat and marbled cat.
There are also seven species of primates found in the forest - Western hoolock gibbon, rhesus macaque, Assamese macaque, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, slow loris, and capped langur. It is also home to mammals like Asian elephant, gaur, Chinese pangolin, Himalayan black bear, black giant squirrel, Porcupine, Crab-eating mongoose, sambar, sun bear, barking deer, wild water buffalo etc.
The rich rainforest is well known for its avian diversity with nearly 400 species reported so far. A majority of these bird species are resident species. Some of the important bird species found in the area includes Slender-billed vulture, White-winged Duck (State bird of Assam), Greater Adjutant Stork, Lesser Adjutant Stork, Greater Spotted Eagle, Gray Peacock-Pheasant, Rufous-necked hornbill, Pale-capped Pigeon, brown hornbill, etc. [8] [9]
The Dehing Patkai Landscape lies within a mosaic of tea plantations, farmlands and oil and coalfields. There are also more than a dozen ethnic groups which have lived in this region. Some of the indigenous tribes from this region are Tai Phake, Khamyang, Khampti, Singpho, Nocte, Sonowal Kachari, Ahom, Kaibarta, and Moran. [10]
Dehing-Patkai landscape has been a site for legal and illegal coal mining. In April 2020, a coal mining project in the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve was approved by the National Board for Wildlife of India. [11] [12] Nearly a hundred hectares of land from reserve forest land was approved for a coal mining project by North-Easter Coal Field (NECF), a unit of Coal India Limited. This decision was challenged by environmental groups from Assam and other parts of the country, which highlighted the rich biodiversity harboured in the Dehing Patkai landscape. [13] [14] As a result of these awareness campaigns and protests, the North Eastern Coalfields (NEC), temporarily halted all of its operations in the region from June 3, 2020. [15]
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is a national park located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, Assam, India. It was designated a Biosphere Reserve in July 1997 with an area of 765 km2 (295 sq mi), including a core area of 340 km2 (130 sq mi) and a buffer zone of 425 km2 (164 sq mi).
Tinsukia district is one of the 34 administrative districts in the state of Assam, India. The district headquarters is located at Tinsukia city. The district occupies an area of 3790 km2.
The Brahmaputra Valley semi-evergreen forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of Northeastern India, southern Bhutan and adjacent Bangladesh.
Manas National Park is a national park, Project Tiger reserve, and an elephant reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it borders the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. The park is known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog. Manas is also famous for its population of the wild water buffalo. Because of its exceptional biodiversity, scenery, and variety of habitats, Manas National Park is a biosphere reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Eaglenest or Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area of India in the Himalayan foothills of West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh. It conjoins Sessa Orchid Sanctuary to the northeast and Pakhui Tiger Reserve across the Kameng river to the east. Altitude ranges are extreme: from 500 metres (1,640 ft) to 3,250 metres (10,663 ft). It is a part of the Kameng Elephant Reserve.
The state of Karnataka in South India has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. It has a recorded forest area of 38,720 km2 which constitutes 55 of the geographical area of the state. These forests support 25% of the elephant population and 20% of the tiger population of India. Many regions of Karnataka are still unexplored and new species of flora and fauna are still found. The mountains of the Western Ghats in the western region of Karnataka are a biodiversity hotspot. Two sub-clusters of the Western Ghats, Talacauvery and Kudremukh, are on a tentative list of sites that could be designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. The Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks which fall outside these subclusters were included in the Nilgiri biosphere reserve in 1986, a UNESCO designation. In the Biligiriranga Hills the Eastern Ghats meet the Western Ghats. The state bird and state animal of Karnataka are Indian roller and the Indian elephant. The state tree and state flower are sandalwood and lotus. Karnataka is home to 524 tigers.
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, formerly known as the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary or Hollongapar Reserved Forest, is an isolated protected area of evergreen forest located in Assam, India. The sanctuary was officially constituted and renamed in 1997. Set aside initially in 1881, its forests used to extend to the foothills of the Patkai mountain range.
Pakke Tiger Reserve, is a Project Tiger reserve in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. The 862 km2 (333 sq mi) reserve is protected by the Department of Environment and Forest of Arunachal Pradesh. It was known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, but renamed in April 2001 by the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. It has won India Biodiversity Award 2016 in the category of 'Conservation of threatened species' for its Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme.
The Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion which occupies the lower hillsides of the mountainous border region joining Bangladesh, China's Yunnan Province, India, and Myanmar. The ecoregion covers an area of 135,600 square kilometres (52,400 sq mi). Located where the biotas of the Indian Subcontinent and the Indochinese Peninsula meet, and in the transition between subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests are home to great biodiversity. The WWF rates the ecoregion as "Globally Outstanding" in biological distinctiveness.
The Sri Lanka lowland rain forests represents Sri Lanka's Tropical rainforests below 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in elevation in the southwestern part of the island. The year-around warm, wet climate together with thousands years of isolation from mainland India have resulted in the evolution of numerous plants and animal species that can only be found in rain forests in Sri Lanka. The thick forest canopy is made up of over 150 species of trees, some of the emergent layer reaching as high as 45 m (148 ft). The lowland rain forests accounts for 2.14 percent of Sri Lanka's land area. This ecoregion is the home of the jungle shrew, a small endemic mammal of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has the highest density of amphibian species worldwide. Many of these, including 250 species of tree frogs, live in these rain forests.
Dehing Patkai National Park is a national park in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam covering an area of 231.65 km2 (89.44 sq mi) of rainforest. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 13 June 2004. On 13 December 2020, the Government of Assam upgraded it into a national park. On 9 June 2021, the Forest Department of Assam officially notified it as a national park. It is located in the Dehing Patkai Landscape which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest. The rainforest stretches for more than 575 km2 (222 sq mi) in the districts of Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Charaideo. The forest further spreads over in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. Dehing Patkai National Park harbours the largest stretch of lowland rainforests in India. Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. Dehing-Patkai as a potential wildlife sanctuary was identified in late 1980s during a primate survey as "Upper Dehing Wildlife Sanctuary". Subsequently during a study on white-winged wood duck in early 1990s, it was discovered as a globally important site for this duck and recommended to be upgraded to "Upper Dehing National Park".
Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area located in Karbi Anglong district of Assam in India. This wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 37 km2. The area was declared as a sanctuary on 27 July 2000. It is located 25 km from Golaghat district and 65 km from the Kaziranga National Park. Together with Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary of Karbi Anglong and Nambor-Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary of Golaghat district it forms a larger complex of wilderness. The proposal for this sanctuary was made in 1993.
Nambor - Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary is a Morangi located in Golaghat district of Assam in India. This wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 97.15 km2. It is located 25 km from Golaghat town and about 318 km from Guwahati LGBI Airport. The forest type is tropical semi-evergreen with pockets of pure evergreen, interspersed with small forest marshes. The area was declared as a Wildlife sanctuary in 2003. The sanctuary along with Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary and Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary (37 km2) are a part of the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve, which was declared on 17 April 2003, with an estimated area of 3,270 km2.
BARAIL Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the southern part of Assam, India, in the Cachar district, and lies between 24°55΄53΄΄-25°05΄52΄΄ N latitude and 92°27΄40΄΄-93°04΄30΄΄ E longitude. The Dima Hasao part of Barail is not part of this sanctuary. The altitude ranges between 55–1500 m above mean sea level. It spreads over 326.24 km2. The annual average rainfall and temperature range from 2500–4000 mm and 9.2 °C to 36.2 °C respectively; the humidity varies from 62% to 83%. Fieldworks in the Barail area were proposed as a national park or sanctuary in the 1980s.
The Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary, established in 1989, is the 50th Tiger reserve in India. The Sanctuary is rich with floral and faunal diversity. It is situated in the Lohit District of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The park is named after the Kamlang River which flows through it. The Mishmi, Digaro Mishmi, and Miju Mishmi people tribal people who reside around the periphery of the sanctuary claim their descent from the King Rukmo of the epic Mahabharata. They believe in a myth of an invisible god known as Suto Phenkhenynon jamalu. An important body of water in the sanctuary is the Glow Lake. Located in tropical and sub-tropical climatic zones, the sanctuary is the habitat of the four big cat species of India: tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard.
The East Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Assam state of India. It is situated 35 km from the city of Diphu, Karbi Anglong district. It covers an area of 221.81 km2, and its elevation varies between 80 and 500 meter above sea level.
Kashmira Kakati is a wildlife biologist and environmental activist working the North Eastern forests of India. In 2010, she announced the discovery of the presence of seven species of wild cats in the Jeypore-Dehing forests in Assam. Her work using camera traps to find wild cats was featured in the first episode of the BBC documentary Lost Land of the Tiger (2010).
The Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary located on the eastern fringe of Guwahati, Assam, India. The name Amchang is originated from the name of Arleng village named Amcheng located in the heart of the wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary is known for hosting rare and endangered birds and animals. Amchang's habitat is dominated by tropical moist deciduous forest with semi-evergreen forest in depressions and river-valleys. It is known for its elephants which have become isolated with no movement with other elephant-populations. The first published information of these elephants was found in 1985 There were depredations in the fringe areas, which are part of Guwahati city, the capital of Assam. It was acute as the pachyderms were confined to an isolated forest not very large. Hence, a protected area was mooted. The wild elephants from Amchang often enter parts of Guwahati City but on a few occasions they travelled to the heart of the city. The sanctuary has other mammals such as Chinese pangolin, slow loris, Assamese macaque, rhesus monkey, hoolock gibbon, leopard, leopard cat, jungle cat, sambar, barking deer, red serow, Malayan giant squirrel, crestless Himalayan porcupine. However, it is the presence of an isolated population of gaur or Indian "bison" that has added significance to Amchang. This bovid is also confined to this sanctuary with no links to other areas. Amchang is an Important Bird & Biodiversity Area. The sanctuary has a diverse birdlife. Some noteworthy species found includes White-backed vulture, Slender-billed vulture, White-cheeked hill partridges, Grey peacock pheasant, Kaleej pheasant, Greater adjutant stork mostly in flight, Great pied hornbill, Oriental pied hornbill and Green imperial pigeon among many others. Prior to 2004, the area was made up of three individual reserved forests, the Amchang reserved forest, South Amchang reserved forest and Khanapara reserved forest. These three forests were combined in 2004 by the Assam government to form the sanctuary as it exists today. It is spread over in an area of 78.64 square kilometre
Mahamyaing Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in Myanmar's Sagaing Region, covering an area of 1,181 km2 (456 sq mi). It ranges in elevation from 145 to 590 m and was established in 2002 in Kalay and Mawlaik Townships.
Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary is a Wildlife sanctuary at the Ramgarh- Sitakunda forests, 45 km north of the Chittagong port in south-East of Bangladesh. The IUCN protected area category is II.
