India to seek removal of danger tag from Manas at UNESCO meet

UNESCO-MANAS
New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) India will make all-out
efforts to shrug off the danger tag from the famous Manas
National Park at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Paris
by highlighting the success story of the sanctuary, which was
plagued by rampant poaching and activities of rebel groups.
The 35th session of the World Heritage Committee began
at the UNESCO headquarters Sunday and will continue till June
29. The Manas Park, situated in northeastern Indian state
Assam and a part of which extends to Bhutan, is the only world
heritage site in India that has been put in the "danger" list
of UNESCO.
The Indian delegation will be led by Additional
Director General (Wildlife) Jagdish Kishwan and include Suresh
Chand, chief wildlife warden of Assam, and Vivek Menon,
executive director of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), sources
said.
The team will be advocating with the 22 voting nations
to remove Manas from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee decided to include this site in the
danger list in 1992, when the park became a safe haven for
militants. The damage to the sanctuary was estimated at more
than USD two million.
According to it, the site's infrastructure suffered
considerable damage during 1992-93.
"Political instability seems to have led to poaching
of 33 rhinos during 1989-1992. A monitoring mission jointly
undertaken by the government of India and the UNESCO World
Heritage Centre in January 1997 confirmed the extensive damage
to the park's infrastructure and decrease in the population of
some species, particularly the one-horn rhino," the committee
said.
The Committee said that the Centre, the Assam
government and the Park authorities implemented a USD 2,35
million rehabilitation plan in 1997 and is progressing
satisfactorily.
"And while security conditions in and around Manas
have improved, the threat of insurgency still prevails in
Assam and militants often traverse the sanctuary.
Nevertheless, conditions for site-protection and the
relationship with local villagers appear to be improving," it
said at its previous session.
According to Menon, removal of Manas from the List of
World Heritage in Danger will be a "matter of pride for all
Indians and will serve as valuable encouragement" to the local
people to continue working to keep this unique natural
heritage secure.
"There have been a lot of positive developments in
Manas since 1980s and 90s when the civil unrest caused a
lot of damage. Now there is improvement in the status of
several key species and health of the habitat. Moreover, there
is active participation of the local people and government in
conservation of Manas," Menon told PTI.
Park officials say things have changed now. They say
there is stability and Bodo leaders like Kampa Borgoyari are
taking personal interest in Manas' cause. There is also strong
involvement of local communities.
"Rhinos have been reintroduced, elephant and buffalo
population have increased. Apart from large mammals, presence
of lesser known rare species like the white-winged duck and
Manipur bush quail has also been established here, in addition
to the population of hispid hare," an official said. PTI ZMN
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