The Manas National Park

Guwahati, Feb. 21: The World Heritage Committee will be unable to assess the state of affairs at Manas National Park, as the authorities have failed to submit a conservation report on time.

The 33rd meeting of the World Heritage Committee, held in Seville last year, had requested the authorities to submit a report on the implementation of its recommendations for conservation measures by February 1.

The committee was to examine the report at its 34th session, to be held in Brasilia in Brazil this year.

“The work has not been completed and it will require some more time,” a senior park official said today.

The official said the job requires thorough work, else it would be rejected.

The Manas authorities had provided data on the population of 27 species of mammals, including elephant, wild water buffalo, swamp deer and pygmy hog last year.

However, there was no proper information on the techniques used to collect data or on the statistical accuracy of the data, making it difficult to interpret the report properly.

There was also no analysis of the data.

A forest department source said there was still no chance for the Heritage Site in Danger tag to be removed immediately, but the report could have informed the committee on the kind of progress being made in the park.

“We will do our best to consider the report when it arrives. The sooner the better. It depends upon the time we have to analyse the report,” said Guy Debonnet, the chief of the special projects unit, programme specialist natural heritage, at the Unesco World Heritage Centre, Paris.

The committee said last year that a clear upward trend of wildlife population needs to be demonstrated to remove the park from the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

It had requested the park authorities to improve the monitoring of wildlife trends.

The committee also asked the government to develop a draft statement of outstanding universal value and a proposal for the desired state of conservation, in consultation with the world heritage centre and advisory bodies.

Manas National Park has had the heritage site in danger tag for 17 years now. It was inscribed on the list of heritage sites in danger in 1992, during a prolonged period of political unrest and insecurity, which resulted in poaching and a dramatic decline in wildlife, as well as deforestation and habitat degradation.

Five missions have visited the national park since 1992.