Poba Reserved Forest

The Poba Reserved Forest (RF) has taken long years of research to understand its rich biodiversity. The present work extends the following paper: “A Preliminary Study on the Flora and Fauna of Poba Reserved Forest, Dhemaji District, Assam.” The study is based on 2005-06 under a research project entitled ‘Conservation Planning for Wildlife Corridors’ sponsored by Kaziranga International Foundation, NAFST/NATP/DAI, and LEMOS.

The article starts with an introduction to where is Poba Reserve Forest located and informs you what Poba Reserve Forest covers, who it protects, and the threats to the area, including fires and deforestation.

Where is Poba Reserve Forest located?

The Poba Reserved Forest is located in the Jonai subdivision, Dhemaji district of Assam. This is an important area for wildlife there. The Assam Forest Department has exclusively managed the Poba Reserved Forest since 1972.

All About the Poba Reserved Forest

Poba Reserved Forest is a very important forest, covering almost 60% of the state’s forest area. It has a special poonch belt that is home to many wildlife species, like rhinoceros and elephants, apart from the tiger. It has also been identified as one of India’s most desired tiger reserves by the WWF in 1980. The size of this forest is almost 100,000 acres (400 km), with a density of 25 to 30 persons per square kilometre. This forest has some of the highest biodiversity, but it is also an important source of income for the Assam government.

The Reserved Forest area within the division covers around 580 km with a density ranging from 15 to 20 persons per km. It is home to 16 species of mammals, including the elephant, sambar, hog deer, wild dog, and leopard.

The National park area also houses a variety of birds like the hornbill, peacock pheasant, junglefowl, and Indian peafowl. The park is one of its kind in Assam and covers almost 650 km, with a density ranging from 20 to 25 persons per km. It also has a variety of other animals like the elephant, sambar, hog deer, wild boar, bison, and hoolock gibbon. It is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in the extreme north-eastern part of Assam. It is spread over the districts of Sibsagar, Golaghat, and Dibrugarh. This forest is mainly bamboo, eucalyptus and grassy area. The main wildlife is the elephant and sambar deer.

The Department of Environment and Forests is executing the Dibrugarh chapter of the GAPY (Guwahati-Assam) program, Government of Assam, under the initiative taken by the State Forest Development Corporation (SFDC) as part of its group of projects. The main objective of this program is to maintain and improve socio-economic ecology in the buffer zone areas surrounding Poba Reserved Forest.

The buffer zone areas around the Poba Reserved Forest are mainly home to the tribal people of this region, who have been living there for centuries as hunter-gatherers, albeit with a few settled agriculturalists and pastoralists. Most of the people in this region, except a few traders, earn their livelihood by hunting and gathering. The socio-economic ecology in these areas is highly fragile. The forest provides shelter to various wildlife, including tigers, elephants, and rhinos, and is an important source of livelihood for the tribal people. It also acts as one of the largest sources of pasture for livestock, especially cattle.

Threats to the Poba Reserved Forest

• Timber smuggling is the biggest problem. Over 300 trucks enter the park every day, which causes a lot of damage to the forest. Woodworkers and loggers have been known to wait for a truck to arrive so that they can escape the police and cut down trees.
• Logging is another major threat. There are a lot of trees that are being cut and sold illegally.
• Agriculture is another issue this park has to face daily. With the construction of the Dhemaji Barrage, many people have used the land for farming. Although the government tried to stop people from doing so, it was not easy, and many continue to do so.
• There have been a lot of issues with illegal migration because of the construction of the Dibru-Sadiya bridge. The construction was completed in 2003, and migrants started to enter Assam through the bridge, which is located on the Manas River. It is an international waterway, which causes a lot of migration from Bangladesh.
• Hunting has always been prohibited in this protected park. However, there are still people that get into the forest to hunt and kill animals for their gain.
• Another threat is the poaching of rhinos, elephants, tigers, and leopards.
• They occur more in deep jungles with more cover for them, making them hard to spot.
• Anyone caught with chemicals to catch any animals faces punishment.

Conclusion

The article concludes all about the Poba Reserved Forest, including details of where Poba Reserve Forest is located. Preserving our national park, forest, and wildlife habitat is very important to maintaining the proper ecosystem, helping animals survive, and protecting our environment. The Assam Forest Department has been working hard to do so. However, they still have a long way to go before they can fully protect the area from poachers and illegal traders and stop people from taking over land for farming.

The major threats to this area are timber smuggling and logging, which harm the forest more than help.