Steps to restore Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

Guwahati, Aug 12: The Assam government is in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, to assess the preliminary ground work required to restore the Manas Wildlife sanctuary and regain its status as a UNESCO`s World Heritage Site.

By February next year, the government will submit an action plan report to restore the sanctuary to its original status. According to Pradyut Bordoloi, the forest minister of Assam, all possible steps has been taken in accordance with the recommendations of the UNESCO team who visited the park recently. He said that the team was glad when they found out that things had changed considerably after the nineties. Things have started to look up and there were signs of improvement.
The UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee had recommended four steps to be taken by the government to get rid of the `site in danger` tag. They were: rebuilding of the sanctuary’s infrastructure, filling up of vacant posts, timely release of funds in compliance with the recent ruling of the Supreme Court in India, and undertaking a comprehensive survey of wildlife in the sanctuary.

The UNESCO’s committee has asked the government to submit the report by February 1, 2006, which would enable them to examine the progress at its 30th session.
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985, but after the Bodo militants invaded it in 1992, it was declared a `site in danger`.
The committee was pleased that the conflict in Manas had ceased and the government had taken conservation and eco-tourism initiatives like the community-based eco-tourism of the Bodos at Kokilabari which had won many accolades.
`It is a positive and creative initiative that involves villagers of the area in park management to control poaching. However, it requires proper co-ordination and supervision by the park authorities` – this was what the committee`s report stated.
The committee also suggested the Assam government to work with the Royal Government of Bhutan to have the adjoining Manas Sanctuary area to be included in the World Heritage list as transboundary property.

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