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| BTC chief Kampha Borgoyary hands over keys of motorbikes to G.C. Basumatary, council head of the forest department, on Tuesday. Picture courtesy WWF |
Guwahati, Dec. 6: The biggest support to Manas tiger reserve in many years has come just at the right time.
The assistance, comprising logistical support to field staff, apart from anti-poaching camps has been provided by World Wildlife Fund for Nature, India, under its Stop the Bleeding programme.
The assistance was provided at a function yesterday at Bansbari range of Manas.
Officials from the BTC, Manas National Park and WWF attended the programme.
“This is possibly one of the best supports, which the reserve has received in a long time and has come at the right time when initiatives are under way to restore its former glory,” a senior park official said today. There will be four anti-poaching camps, of which one will be at Panbari. The camps will be constructed before the monsoon arrives.
WWF officials had been holding meetings with Manas forest officials to discuss the kind of support that is required for the park, especially after six volunteers were abducted from Manas.
“This is just an initiation of our work in Manas to strengthen wildlife conservation and will be doing it in the future too,” a WWF official said.
BTC deputy chief Kampha Borgoyary spoke on their plans for Manas National Park and the trans-boundary issue.
Sources said the road upto Bansbari has been repaired now and several interconnecting roads are now being renovated. A number of cottages is being constructed to accommodate tourists.
“We need to utilise the support, which we have got now,” a park official said.
The Centre has called for bringing the buffer areas of Manas tiger reserve, currently under the jurisdiction of the Bodoland Territorial Council forest chief, under the unified command of the field director for better management.
This was suggested in the management effectiveness evaluation report brought out by the Wildlife Institute of India and National Tiger Conservation Authority recently.
In 2008, an area of 2,837 square km was notified as Manas tiger reserve, which included 500 square km core area as a national park and 2,337.10 square km as buffer area. The buffer area is spread over Kachugaon, Haltugaon and Chirang forest divisions in the west of Baksa district and Dhansiri forest division in the east. The management plan of the Manas tiger reserve has listed the threats.
It says the wide expanse of land, open to the population on the southern front, is the major threat.
“The threats include the possibility of poaching and biotic pressure in the form of grazing and illegal collection of forest produce. Presence of encroachers and forest dwellers in the southern part pose a grim threat,” it said.
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