wwf eye on manas

WWF to aid Manas plans 
ROOPAK GOSWAMI
Guwahati, Oct. 20: The World Wildlife Fund has evinced interest in the long-term management of Manas National Park.
This was conveyed by Carlos Drews, the director of species programme, WWF International, to A. Swargiari, the field director of Manas National Park, at Manas yesterday.
This is the first time Drews is visiting Assam.
The WWF International, headquartered in Gland, Switzerland, has been assisting the state forest department in a number of ways. It works with local communities and turns them into agents of change in Assam. One of the biggest programmes in which it is involved is India Rhino Vision 2020.
The second phase of the programme is yet to begin, because of some delays.
“Drews asked me if the WWF can be involved in future long-term management of Manas,” Swargiari told The Telegraph today.
Manas is a World Heritage Site in Danger at present.
Drews discussed a variety of issues with Swargiari and other officials. The topics included the role of WWF, its future interventions and on the trans-boundary initiatives with Manas Bhutan.
“Goodwill cannot be purchased by money, you have to show sincerity and devotion,” Swargiari quoted Drews.
WWF-India is aiming at securing the elephant and tiger population of the North Bank Landscape.
Some of its current activities are supporting protected areas, research, resolving human-elephant conflict, critical elephant corridors and study tiger habitats.
The North Bank Landscape is the area between the northern bank of the Brahmaputra in the south to the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in the north and the River Manas in the west to the Dibang river in the east.
The total size of the landscape is approximately 40,000 sqkm and includes parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The area comprises a major part of the Himalaya bio-diversity hotspot and is also one of WWF’s Global 200 eco-regions.
Drews visited the Sonai-Rupai wildlife sanctuary and Nameri today and will be in Kaziranga for two days. He came to Assam on October 18 and was in Manas for two days.

EOM