Kendrapara: Good news for lovers of Bhitarkanika National Park as the Paris-based UNESCO has given its first phase clearance for enlisting the bio-diversity park as a World Heritage site, Bimal Prasanna Acharya, DFO of Rajnagar, said.
The world body has directed IUCN’s Indian ambassador to submit a detailed technical evaluation report after visiting the Bhitarkanika National Park for a field evaluation before October 31. A letter in this regard has come from Centre to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF).
Sources said the IUCN official will visit the park October 16-17. The PCCF has been directed to form a committee and give names of the official who would accompany the IUCN official to the park. The PCCF has been named as the nodal officer of the committee. He would assist the IUCN official to the park, Acharya said.
After the technical evaluation is done, a report would be sent to UNESCO and the process will be completed by December. The technical evaluation report would decide if the park would get a pride of place in UNESCO’s heritage site list.
Notably, the forest department had sent a proposal to UNESCO to enlist Bhitarkanika National Park in the World Heritage site list.
The state forest department and the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had signed a memorandum of understanding to compile a comprehensive database of bio-diversity of the national park. A WII scientist team had visited it in 2015 to collect a wide array of information on its bio-diversity, eco-system, socio-economic status of locals and their dependence on forest produce.
Though its eco-system and mangrove cover continued to be destroyed by people at the periphery, the place still possesses a rich reservoir of natural vegetation and flora and fauna, experts said.The park was already designated as a Ramsar site in 2002.
It park covers a total area of 2154.26 sq km of which the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary
and National Park covers 672 sq km, the Gahirmatha (marine) Wildlife Sanctuary covers 1,435 sq km while the buffer zone in Mahanadi delta covers 47.26 sq km.
The mangrove forest performs an important ecosystem function by breaking tidal surges and cyclones thereby slowing down erosion of tidal banks. This also stabilizes silt deposits near the river mouth and protects lives of millions of coastal inhabitants.
Bhitarkanika is home to the country’s largest population of giant salt water crocodiles. The park, located in Kendrapara district, encompasses 145 km of Bhitarkanika mangroves, a mangrove swamp which lies in the river delta of the river Brahmani, Baitarani, and Dhamara rivers. PNN