Ripu- Chirang awaits to get Sanctuary status

Ripu-Chirang reserve forest of Assam is getting ready to acquire the wildlife sanctuary status. It is the second largest protected area of Assam, that falls under the Bodoland Territorial Administrative District.

Ripu-Chirang spanning over an area of 590 sq km, is a forest reserve of historical significance. In the year 1927, it was declared as a forest reserve. During the British era, this reserve was popular for its best quality of Sal wood(shorea robusta), that were supplied to the British empire from here. There was a tramline which used to carry water and timber from the forest. Ripu-Chirang is also famous for the large number of Golden Langurs, Elephants and various other species of flora and fauna.

According to the memorandum of settlement of the year 2003 between the Assam government and the then Bodo Liberation Tiger, the management of this forest reserve comes under the Boroland Territorial Council.

G.C Basumatary, council head of the department (Forest and Tourism) BTC has said that the BTC had issued a notification on June 18 to declare the area as a wildlife sanctuary and forwarded it to the State Government for its approval.

At first, in the year 1988, Wildlife Institute Of India, has created a proposal to declare it as a wildlife sanctuary. But no further action was taken . Even Wildlife Trust OF India and Aaranyak, a city-based non-governmental along with other local NGO's has conducted several research on the area and due to its historic value, they had demanded for the wildlife sanctuary status.

Currently a research on butterflies is going on here. It shows that a place named Ultapani in this reserve forest has the highest densities of butterflies in northeast India. Over 300 species of butterflies have already been identified with most of them belonging to the endangered category.

It is believed that if Ripu-Chirang forest reserve become a sanctuary than the important conservation link between Buxa Tiger Reserve, Phipsu Wildlife Sanctuary, Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan and Manas National Park of Assam will be restored and preserved. It is also believed that it will stop further encroachment and will ensure the environmental stability of the fertile agricultural lands of Kokrajhar. It would also strengthen the existing conservation initiatives in the area.