Lal Suhanra National Park لال سہانرا نیشنل پارک | |
---|---|
Location | Punjab, Pakistan |
Nearest city | Bahawalpur, Pakistan |
Coordinates | 29°19′N71°55′E / 29.317°N 71.917°E |
Area | 65,791 ha |
Established | 1972 |
Lal Suhanra is a national park in Pakistan that is situated in the Bahawalpur district of Punjab province. It is one of South Asia's largest nationals parks, and is a UNESCO declared Biosphere Reserve. [1] Lal Sohanra is notable for the diversity of its landscape, which includes desert, forest and wetland ecosystems. [2]
There are archaeological remains of the ancient Indus valley civilization which once flourished along the Ghaggar-Hakra River (paleo Saraswati River).
Lal Suhanra National Park is situated some 35 kilometres east of Bahawalpur and presents a synthesis of forest and desert life. [2] It occupies land on both sides of Desert Branch canal, and is spread over 127,480 acres (51,590 hectares) of which 20,974 acres (8,488 hectares) are green land (irrigated plantations), 101,726 acres (41,167 hectares) are dry land (desert), and 4,780 acres (1,930 hectares) are wet land (ponds and lakes). The park's terrain is generally flat, interspersed with sand dunes measuring between 1 and 6 meters in height and occupying as many as thousands of acres apiece. [2]
The biosphere reserve is crossed by the dried-up bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra River and comprises Patisar Lake and irrigated land. Officials said that indigenous trees like Indian rosewood and Acacia karroo will be planted over 1,212 acres of barren land in the wildlife reserve. [3]
Many species live throughout the park, including Asiatic wildcat, rabbit, bustard and deer. Reptiles in the park include the monitor lizard, Russell's viper, Indian cobra, saw-scaled viper, wolf snake, John's sand boa, and spiny-tailed lizard. [4]
The Punjab government has plans to convert Lal Sohanra National Park into a wildlife safari park of international standard. One of its most prominent attractions is the lion safari, which allows guests to see lions in their natural habitat at close range. [5]
The Cholistan Desert, also locally known as Rohi, is a desert in the southern part of Punjab, Pakistan that forms part of the Greater Thar Desert, which extends to Sindh province and the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is one of two large deserts in Punjab, the other being the Thal Desert. The name is derived from the Turkic word chol, meaning "sands," and istan, a Persian suffix meaning "land of."
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.
Bahawalpur is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is one of the ten largest cities of Pakistan and 6th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division.
The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as Satadru. It is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Bahawalpur District is a district of Punjab, Pakistan, with capital the city of Bahawalpur. According to the 1998 Census it had a population of 2,433,091, of which 27.01% were urban. Bahawalpur district covers 24,830 km2. Approximately two-thirds of the district (16,000 km2) is covered by the Cholistan Desert, which extends into the Thar Desert of India. The district is a major producer of cotton.
The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at 29.4875°N 74.8925°E, and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pre-Harappan times the Ghaggar was a tributary of the Sutlej. It is still connected to this paleochannel of the Sutlej, and possibly the Yamuna, which ended in the Nara River, presently a delta channel of the Indus River joining the sea via Sir Creek.
The wildlife of Libya is spread over the Mediterranean coastline and encompasses large areas of the Saharan desert. The protection of wildlife is provided through appropriate legislation in seven national parks, five reserves, 24 protected areas, two wetlands under Ramsar Convention, and also in other areas. Apart from these, there are also five UNESCO World Heritage Sites related to culture. The most important national parks are the El-Kouf National Park and Karabolli National Park. The well known nature reserves are the Benghazi Reserve and the Zellaf Reserve. The wildlife species recorded in the country are 87 mammals and 338 species of birds.
The wildlife of Niger is composed of its flora and fauna. The protected areas in the country total about 8.5 million hectares, which is 6.6 percent of the land area of the country, a figure which is expected to eventually reach the 11‑percent target fixed by the IUCN with the addition of more areas under the reserve category. Conservation of wildlife is ensured by laws and regulations enacted by the government of Niger, which has enforced a permanent ban on hunting so that animals such as lions, hippos and giraffes are safe in the wild.
Yazman, is a city and capital of Yazman Tehsil of Bahawalpur District, in southern Punjab, Pakistan. It is located at an altitude of 115 metres.
The Nara Canal is a deepened delta channel of the Indus River in Sindh province, Pakistan. It was built as an excavated channel stemming off the left bank of the Indus River to join the course of the old Nara River, a tributary c.q. paleochannel of the Indus which received water from the Ghaggar-Hakra until the Hakra dried-up, early 2nd millennium BCE.
Biosphere reserves are established according to the UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) to promote sustainable development for conservation of biological and cultural diversity. As of 2016, the Lal Suhanra Biosphere Reserve and Ziarat Juniper Forest are the only two biosphere reserve in Pakistan, which were approved by UNESCO in 1977 and 2013 respectively. A number of initiatives and projects have been undertaken to promote and develop other biosphere reserves in Pakistan but due to weak implementation this has not yet been materialized. In July 2012, Pakistan Museum of Natural History and Beijing Museum of Natural History signed a MoU to work on trans-boundary biodiversity and to improve MAB related activities in the Karakoram, Himalaya, and Hindukush regions.
The wildlife of Mongolia consists of flora, fauna and funga found in the harsh habitats dictated by the diverse climatic conditions found throughout the country. In the north, there are salty marshes and fresh-water sources. The centre has desert steppes. In the south, there are semi deserts as well as the hot Gobi desert in the south, the fifth-largest desert in the world.
The Kaushalya Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Kaushalya river, which is a tributary of Ghaggar-Hakra River, in Pinjore of Haryana state, India. It was constructed between 2008 and 2012 with the primary purpose of water supply.
The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan, named in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan. It is a 400 MW solar facility spanning an area of 8 km2 and hosting 1.6 million solar modules. The initial phase of the project was constructed by the Government of Punjab through a 100% owned subsidiary QA Solar in May 2015 at a cost of $131 million. On 5 May 2015, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the first 100 MW project and dedicated it to the nation. Subsequent expansion was done in public-private partnership with Appolo Solar Development Pakistan Limited, Best Green Energy Pakistan Limited and Crest Energy Pakistan Limited each installing a 100 MW unit. The next phase of 100 MW will be installed by Zorlu Solar Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, making it a 500 MW facility. Total planned capacity of the solar park is 1,000 MW.
Forests Department, Haryana is a department of the Government of Haryana, a state in India, that runs and maintains many protected nature areas in the state of Haryana. It has two administrative divisions: Forest and Wildlife. The department is responsible for maintaining National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Conservation Reserves in Haryana. It also provides a special emphasis on Soil and Moisture Conservation works in the hills to conserve water and deliver it to adjacent farmlands. Two National Parks, eight Wildlife Sanctuaries, two Conservation Reserves, four Animal & Bird Breeding Centres, one Deer park, and 49 herbal parks. Kanwar Pal Gujjar has been the cabinet minister responsible for this department since October 2019. constitute the Protected Area network of the department, covering 0.75% of the state. It also maintains a list of Protected Areas in Haryana.
The Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve, also known as Bryansky Les, is a nature reserve in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, along the Nerussa River near the Russian border with Ukraine.