GUWAHATI: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has flagged significant concerns for Manas National Park in Assam in terms of conservation while providing a relatively better assessment of Kaziranga National Park.
The IUCN World Heritage Outlook, which provides conservation outlook assessments for all natural World Heritage Sites, has reported that while management actions (in Manas NP) have gradually improved through the sustained efforts of the government backed by significant international support, serious threats of significant concern remain.
According to the report which was brought out last week, Manas NP faces threats such as encroachment (for farm activity), impact from upstream hydroelectric projects in Bhutan, improper protection and management of grasslands, invasive plants as well as “some amount of poaching.”
Assessments by IUCN World Heritage Outlook indicate whether a natural World Heritage Site is likely to conserve its values over time, based on a desk-based assessment of the current state and trend of values; threats affecting those values and the effectiveness of protection and management.
“The site (Manas) was only removed from the Danger List in 2011. Continued and enhanced management effort will be required to avoid a return to the situation that led to the site’s inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger” the report said.
It further pointed out that farm encroachments by settlers inside the World Heritage Site (in Bhuyanpara Range) pose the most significant threat to the property. “If left unchecked the area may be lost in the manner large areas in Panbari Range of Manas National Park (outside the WH Site) were lost,” it warned.
“The eviction exercise by the authorities from about 16 sq km area in Bhuyanpara in 2017 did not succeed and the agricultural settlers now occupy about 22 sq km land in the range,” it said.
The report further said that the capacity of forest guards to effectively respond to any new threat (because of their inability to evict the encroachers) and insufficient law enforcement remain a cause for concern.
“Although killing of rhinos for their horn has stopped since 2016, illegal killing of other animals has continued,” it added.
On Kaziranga National Park, the report said it is a well managed and preserved protected area, owing largely to its enabling framework and demonstrable conservation success.
“There has been no significant deterioration in its values over the years and the natural attributes are likely to continue their healthy trend at least in the short term” the report said.
“However, pressure from unplanned tourism infrastructure, highway traffic, land encroachment, invasive species, as well as impacts from monsoon floods, which are growing in intensity and frequency due to climate change, are increasing. The changing dynamics of the surrounding landscape, particularly with regard to anthropogenic elements, will place increasing pressure on the ecological integrity of the World Heritage Site. Both of these are areas of concern,” it said.
The changing demographic and economic profile of the local population, tension with local communities, human-wildlife conflict, illegal fishing, tourist pressures, river bank erosion and impacts from climate change are potential threats to conservation of the site, the report said.