UNESCO- IUCN Enhancing Our Heritage Project: Monitoring and Managing for Success in Natural World Heritage Sites Final Management Effectiveness Evaluation Report Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India November 2007 Table of Content Project Background 1 How the Evaluation was carried out 2 The Project Workbook and Tool Kits 3 Section 1: Introduction 4-7 Section 2: Context and Planning Assessment 8-36 Tool 1: Identifying Site Values and Management Objectives 11 Tool 2: Identifying Threats 14 Tool 3: Engagement of Stakeholder/Partners 28 Tool 4: Review of National Context 35 Section 3: Planning 37-48 Tool 5: Assessment of Management Planning 37 Tool 6: Design Assessment 44 Section 4: Inputs and Process Assessment 49-51 Tool 7: Assessment of Management Needs and Inputs 49 Section 5: Assessment of Management Process 52-64 Tool 8: Assessment of Management Processes 52 Section 6: Outputs 65-69 Tool 9: Assessment of Management Plan Implementation 66 Tool 10: Assessment of Work/Site Output Indicators 67 Section 7: Outcomes 70-78 Tool 11: Assessing the Outcomes of Management – Ecological Integrity 70 Tool 12: Assessing the Outcomes of Management – Achievement of Principal Objectives 75 List of Boxes Box 1: Kaziranga National Park ~ 100 Years of Success Story 5 Box 2: IUCN-WCPA framework for Management Effectiveness Evaluation 7 Box 3: Protection Strategy 17 Box 4: Conservation of Beels for Waterbirds in Kaziranga National Park, Assam 20 Box 5: Management of Invasive Species in Kaziranga National Park, Assam 24 Box 6: Declaration of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve in 2007 46 Box 7 Raptor community of Kaziranga National Park, Assam 72 Box 8: Kaziranga Centenary Celebrations (1905-2005) 77 References 79 List of Annexures Annexure-I: List of water birds recorded during 2005-2006 from Kaziranga National Park. 80-82 Annexure-II: List of raptor species recorded from the Kaziranga National Park during 2005-2006. 83-84 List of Figure Figure 1: Location Map of Kaziranga National Park, Assam 8 Figure 2: Number of Rhinos Lost Due to Poaching Since 1965 17 Figure 3: Patrolling camps in Kaziranga National Park 18 Figure 4: Beels of Kaziranga National Park (1970-2001) 20 Figure 5: GIS Locations of Mimosa patch in Kaziranga National Park, Assam 24 Project Background Enhancing Our Heritage: Managing and Monitoring for Success in Natural World Heritage Sites is an UNESCO – IUCN project funded by the United Nations Foundation (UNF). The six year project (2002-2007) is being implemented in nine world heritage sites located in Africa, South Asia and Latin America. The three project sites in South Asia are Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Kaziranga National Park, Assam and Chitwan National Park, Nepal. The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun has been selected as a Regional Partner Institution to provide technical backstopping for project implementation in South Asia. The principal objectives of the project are to promote the development of monitoring and evaluation systems and to facilitate adaptive management. Based on the lessons learnt, the project aims to enhance the periodic reporting process for the World Heritage Sites. An initial management effectiveness evaluation as per the project methodology was carried out in Kaziranga National Park in the year 2002-03 and the findings and recommendations were presented in the World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa in September, 2003. Based on the recommendations made in this report, capacity building and monitoring initiatives were taken up in the sites between 2003 and 2007. The final management effectiveness evaluation was carried out from February, 2007 to November, 2007 and the results are presented in this report. 1 How the Evaluation was carried out A number of stakeholder consultations and smaller meetings were held during the course of evaluation between February ’07 to November ’07. The core team comprised of the following: Site Officers : Mr. Buragohain, Director Mr. Utpal Bora, Divisional Forest Officer Mr. Rajendra Garawad, Assistant Conservator of Forest Mr. R. Sharma , Wild Life Research Officer Mr. Boro, Range Officer Assam Forest Department : Mr. M. C. Malakar Mr. B. S. Bonal WII Scientist and Coordinators : Dr. V.B. Mathur Mr. B.C. Choudhary Mr. N. K. Vasu Civil Society Representative : Mr. Anwaruddin Choudhari Mr. Gautam Narayan WII UNESCO Project Leaders : Mr. P.R. Sinha Notes on the layout of the Report For each of the six elements of the IUCN-WCPA framework viz. Context, Planning, Inputs, Process, Outputs and Outcomes the results of the final management effectiveness evaluation are presented in separate sub-sections. Key management issues and monitoring interventions are presented in 8 Boxes. 2 The Project Workbook and Tool Kits The project workbook and worksheets were appropriately modified by the EoH Project Team, based on the lessons learnt during the project implementation across nine sites. The final Management Effectiveness Evaluation is based on these documents, which are available at project website http://www.enhancingheritage.net/docs_public.asp. 3 Section 1: Introduction Kaziranga National Park (KNP) got inscription on the World Heritage list in the 9th Session of the World Heritage Committee on 6/12/1985. Kaziranga National Park, known worldwide for its success in the conservation of one horned Indian Rhinoceros, also provides habitat for a number of threatened species and migratory birds. A symbol of dedication for the conservation of wildlife and their habitat, Kaziranga, with a National Park status represents single largest established protected area within the North-east Brahamputra Valley (9A) Biogeographical Province (Rodgers et al 2002) that supports the wide range of flora from microscopic aquatic plants to lofty moist deciduous trees and fauna ranging from the soil invertebrates to mega fauna such as the Rhino and the elephant. Examples of riverine and fluvial processes representing the ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of the riverine flood plain ecosystems results from the annual flooding of mighty Brahmaputra River. In this regard, Kaziranga in the Brahmaputra valley floodplains offers an important refuge to a rich biological heritage. The landscape formed by complex of sprawling grasslands, numerous water bodies and woodlands provide an ideal mix of habitats for a variety of flora and fauna. With adequate protection and in-situ conservation efforts that date back to almost a century, the grasslands and the mega fauna have been able to sustain in such a manner that one of the largest assemblages of these can be seen today in the wild. Prominent among them are the charismatic ‘BIG FIVE’-The Great Indian One horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) The Asiatic Wild Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) The Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus), The Swamp deer, (Cervus duvauvceli ranjitsinghi),The Tiger (Panthera tigris). The area also falls at the junction of the Australasia and Indo-Asian flyway thus providing an important migrating, breeding and nesting site for over 480 species of avifauna and has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Significant diversity in herpetofauna and other lesser- known life forms thus provide considerable Conservation, Research, Education and Recreation values. LOCATION: Kaziranga National Park located is situated in the civil districts of Golaghat and Nagaon in Assam State of India. Geographic Coordinates to the nearest second are : Centre point: N 260 40.246’ ; E 930 21.605’ North-west corner: N 260 35.026’ ; E 930 08.784’ South-east corner: N 260 41.518’ ; E 930 35.251’ 4 Box 1: Kaziranga National Park ~ 100 Years of Success Story • 1904 : Visit of Lady Curzon, wife of the then British Viceroy, • June 01, 1905 : Proposal for Kaziranga Reserve Forest ( 57,273.6 acre). • January 03, 1908 : Declared Kaziranga Reserve Forest (56,544 acres). • January 28, 1913 : An area of 13,509 acres of R.F. added. • November 10, 1916 : Declared as a Game Sanctuary. • 1937 : Opened for Visitors • 1950 : Renamed as Kaziranga Game Sanctuary. • 1966 : First census of large mammals. • February 11, 1974 : Renamed as Kaziranga National Park • December 06, 1985 : Inscribed on the World Heritage Site. • 2005 : Centenary Celebrations 5 Figure 1. Location Map of Kaziranga National Park, Assam 6 Management Effectiveness Assessment Management effectiveness evaluation aims to help managers improve conservation and management practices. As part of the global UNESCO-IUCN Enhancing Our Heritage (EoH) project ‘Monitoring and Managing for Success in World and Managing for Success in World Natural Heritage Sites’, the Kaziranga National Park was included as one of three pilot sites in South Asia. The other two sites are Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan and Chitwan National Park, Nepal. An Initial Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) as per the IUCN MEE Framework (see Box 2) was carried out in 2002-2003 and the findings were presented in the World Park Congress in Durban in 2003. During the project implementation phase, the Project Workbook and Toolkit was revised and the Final Management Effectiveness is based on the revised version. The Assessment Process The final Management Effectiveness Evaluation in Kaziranga National Park has been conducted through a series of stakeholders’ consultations organized between February Box 2. IUCN-WCPA framework for 2007 and November 2007. The results of the evaluation are presented in the subsequent Management Effectiveness Evaluation sections. 7 Section 2: Context and Planning Assessment