Eastern Arunachal a biodiversity hotspot.... By Sivasish Thakur in the ASSAM TRIBUNE newspaper.

The eastern part of Arunachal Pradesh, comprising six districts, probably has the richest diversity in wildlife and landscape in the North-east, which, again, is a global mega biodiversity hotspot. “Eastern Arunachal, as a unit, may have the richest variety in terms of landscape variation ranging from high mountains, snow-capped peaks and alpine forests to riverine forests, grassland, wetland, tropical low-land rain forests and finally, broad-leaf hill forests. Correspondingly, the area has an astounding diversity in wildlife species, including birds,” says Asif Ahmed Hazarika, an environment activist currently working in the region with the US Fish and Wildlife Services.

According to Hazarika, who has been working in Arunachal for the past several years, the area represents the transition zone of the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Himalayan wildlife species, and harbours all major mammalian species particular to habitats like alpine forests, tropical wet evergreen forests or grassland. Arunachal Pradesh, it may be mentioned, has 51,540,00 hectares under forest cover, which is 61.5 per cent of the State’s total area. Hazarika has surveyed and studied the presence of a number of important and highly-endangered species like the clouded leopard, snow leopard, tiger, black barking deer, red goral, red panda, Himalayan black bear, musk deer, serow, Mishmi takin, and gaur, among others. “As part of a special survey, I have studied a very good population of the hollock gibbon, particularly in the south-western low-land rain forest areas,” he says.

Hazarika also claims to have come across a very small group of wild buffaloes in the East Namsai area. “Wild buffalo has not been recorded in the riverine areas of eastern Arunachal for the past few decades, though there had been some unconfirmed reports,” he says. Arunachal probably shelters the widest range of mammals in the country, with 96 species having been recorded in the Namdapha-Kamlang range alone. Hazarika, who had initially carried out a study on the avifauna in the Indo-Chinese-Myanmar tri-border, says that some of the important bird species include the eared pheasant in the extreme north temperate area, while the Lammergier or bearded vulture has also been recorded, as has been the beautiful nuthatch and the Impeyan monal.

The diversity of bird life in Arunachal can be gauged from the fact that of the 17 species of pheasants found in India, 11 occur in Arunachal. In total, over 700 bird species have been recorded here, with nearly 40 falling in the critically-endangered, endangered, vulnerable and nearly-threatened categories. “The whole eastern area can be categorized into four contiguous complexes from north to south — the Ditchu reserve forest (RF), Dallai proposed RF complex; the Kamlang sanctuary and Kamlang RF complex; the Namdapha National Park complex; and the Manabhum, Tengapani Turrung RF complex,” Hazarika says. In addition, there are contiguous forest areas with rich biodiversity to the west of these complexes.

As in most other forest areas, eastern Arunachal too suffers from serious problems like deforestation for different purposes like logging, encroachment, agriculture, road construction, etc. Annual floods are also another problem, as is hunting - which, however, varies in magnitude specific to the different districts and locations. Socio-economic problems like insurgency and political engagements and disengagements too are having an adverse impact on a few protected areas. Another irritant affecting the prospects of conservation is the lack of awareness on the issue of conservation. “I am concentrating on several phases of field studies and trying to create people’s awareness and a desire for wildlife conservation and protected area development - something which is not a easy task, given the lifestyle and psychology of the people,” Hazarika says. The greatest impediment in carrying out field study in the area is the very difficult terrain and total lack of infrastructure. “Most of the field surveys are conducted by establishing base camps and long foot marches running into weeks,” he says.

The whole area has three major rivers - Lohit, Noa Dehing and Debang. Other important rivers are Kamlang, Tengapani and Digaru - all tributaries of the Lohit. Hazarika says he has proposed to the Arunachal Forest department to develop the Ditchu-Dallai complex area into a protected area and is working with the department towards that end.