(IN): New Unesco title for Kaziranga & Manas

[Guest guest]

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070728/asp/northeast/story_8115109.asp

 

New Unesco title for Kaziranga & Manas

A STAFF REPORTER

 

*Guwahati, July 27:* So what if rhinos continue to be poached in Kaziranga

and Manas has yet to fully recover from the onslaught by militants in the

nineties?

 

Unesco has just included both national parks in its list of World Heritage

Biodiversity Sites, projecting them as role models for biodiversity hotspots

across the globe.

 

Kaziranga, home to the world's largest population of the critically

endangered one-horned rhino, and Manas, a spectacular combination of

wildlife habitat and picture-perfect landscape, are among only four sites in

India to be chosen for the Unesco project. The other two sites are Keoladeo

in Rajasthan and Nanda Devi in Uttaranchal.

 

The World Heritage Biodiversity Project had a formal launch in New Delhi on

Tuesday. Budgeted at $1.8 million, Unesco will implement it in partnership

with Delhi. The United Nations Foundation, Ford Foundation and the Sehgal

Foundation will support the project.

 

" Management of these sites will combine law enforcement, community support

and participation, engagement with civil society and the private sector,

education, communication and advocacy and social and political profile of

protected area management in India and the benefits it provides to local

communities and the broader public, " the project document states.

 

The timeframe for the first phase of the project is four years.

 

All World Heritage Biodiversity Sites seek to conserve the earth's most

spectacular examples of natural and biological heritage. " Kaziranga National

Park, for instance, is a prime example of unusual beauty and unique habitats

for some of the last examples of the world's rare animals and plants,

including the Asian rhino. Manas National Park includes some of the most

diverse patches of evergreen forests and several species of rare mammals, "

the document states.

 

Unesco attributes the periodic conservation hiccups — Kaziranga, for

instance, is witnessing the resurgence of poachers — to lack of expertise in

dealing with new thre-ats. Forest staff are not adequ-ately trained in the

enforcement of laws protecting wild-life and in building mutually respectful

and supportive relations with local communities.

 

" In some cases, such as Manas in the Northeast, field staff have been

demoralised by repeated episodes of insurgencies in the area since the early

1990s. Moreover, field staff in many places have neither access to reliable

modes of communication nor healthcare facilities for themselves and their

families or educational facilities for their children, " the project document

states.

 

The just-concluded Christ-church conclave of the World Heritage Committee

retained Manas in the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

 

One of the issues that Unesco will address is the forest department's

failure to garner the full support of local communities for conservation

initiatives.

 

" Local communities, in many cases, remain hostile to the idea that parks are

not site for grazing cattle, fishing and collecting fuel and other forest

produce. Wild animals also pose a danger to their livestock, crops and

houses; and crop raiding elephants at times trample and kill humans,

exacerbating the conflict and forcing difficult choices to be made in favour

of humans and killing of troublesome animals, " the document states.

 

 

--

Fight captive Jumbo abuse, end Elephant Polo

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com