GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK DETAILED REPORT ON ISSUES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR LONG TERM PROTECTION OF THE GREATER ONE HORNED RHINOCEROS IN KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK PURSUANT TO THE ORDER OF THE HON'BLE GAUHATI HIGH COURT By M. K. Yadava IFS Director Kaziranga National Park DT. 5th August, 2014 PREAMBLE This Detailed Report on Issues and Possible Solutions for Long Term Protection of the Greater One Horned Rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park has been prepared pursuant to the orders of the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court Dt. 4Th March, 2014 in the matter of PIL 66/2012 & 67/2012, where in the Hon'ble Court directed, “Today we have heard the views of Mr. M. K. Yadav, Director, Kaziranga National Park, who is present in person... Mr. Yadav, Director, Kaziranga National Park, submited that sincere steps are being taken to curb poaching at any cost. He also submits that Government be granted around two months time to prepare high quality methodical report to suggest various proposals for curbing poaching on a permanent basis and also on related issues dealing with the Park and to preserve the endangered species Rhino.... We grant two months time to the Director, Kaziranga National Park to submit the detail report on or before the next date of hearing suggesting therein the effective and remedial steps for implementation to curb poaching of rhinos in the Kaziranga National Park. He is at liberty to take help of all stakeholders, organizations, parks all over the world for preparation of report.” In view of the above orders of the Hon'ble Court, an earnest endeavor has been made by the Director, Kaziranga National Park to compile a detailed report on issues and possible solutions for long term protection of rhinos in Kaziranga. Though the Report cannot be termed exhaustive by any means, it is an attempt to bring together factors that may contribute to disappearance of Rhino from Kaziranga, and possible ways to prevent that from happening. However, it must be mentioned in the beginning that without prejudice to any other conservation site in the world, Kaziranga is a unique habitat supporting a large number of diverse species, flora and fauna. There is no other conservation site in the world which comes close to Kaziranga National Park in terms of uniqueness and diversity. Long term preservation of this unique site has become the biggest conservation challenge today. Poaching of the rhinoceros is only one of the issues plaguing the Park. The other serious concerns are shrinking of the habitat, erosion by the Brahmaputra, siltation of the water bodies, invasion of weeds and encroachment by tree forest over the grasslands, complete lack of protection of the watershed of Kaziranga, lack of corridors around the Park, confinement of the big mammals within the Park. Each of these issues have the potential of wiping out the resident rhinoceros population in silent ways. Almost after 110 years of start of the story of conservation of the rhinoceros in Kaziranga, the growth in wild animal population as well as swelling of human inhabitation have reached levels which call for exercising a very fine balance between conservation and development, making the work of conservation a lot more difficult than it was a century ago. The question still remains to be answered whether Kaziranga would see its bi-centenary in 2105 AD. It is from this last point that most of the Report draws its strength from. However, implementation of some of the suggested measures would need deeper understanding and a close cooperation among the stakeholders. The issue of requisite financial allocations and fund availability to implement these steps would also be a factor in deciding whether Kaziranga would exist till 2105 AD. Mahendra Kumar Yadava IFS Dt. 5th August, 2014 PIL 66/2012 Save Kaziranga Save Rhinos to Save Your Future Page No. 2 of 402 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Kaziranga, the home of the Greater One Horned Rhinoceros, faces certain threats which, if not adequately mitigated today, would become the cause of extinction of the rhinoceros in times to come. The Report dwells upon the causes and possible solutions in some details. The factors identified as threat to the survival of the rhinos, other than poaching, are loss and fragmentation of habitat, lack to technology and strategic advantage over poachers, certain lacuna in policy and law and their implementation, challenges of growth and development on the fringes of the Park and possible impacts of climate change and climate variations. The approach to mitigate the threats and ensure long term survival of Kaziranga is multi pronged and multi disciplinary with a series of immediate, short term, medium term and long term measures to be undertaken. Some of the suggested measures include erosion control, habitat improvement, extension of habitat, corridors retrofitting, upscaling of anti poaching infrastructure, security and surveillance in and around the Park, adopting a landscape based approach and constitution of a landscape authority for conservation and development of the areas, adopting a green growth approach for development in the landscape, adopting better management strategies such as organizational restructuring, increased staff strength, staff welfare and creating some key and necessary infrastructure, adopting better policies and strengthening further the legal provisions, and above all creating several secure habitats outside Kaziranga for the rhinos. The Report also identifies the actionables and classifies them into immediate, short term, medium term and long term time frames. A tentative budgetary estimate of the measures suggested is also provided at the end along with possible sources of funding. The Report projects financial estimates for a period of 10 years. The Report is divided into three parts. Part I of the Report examines the key issues and challenges being faced in rhino protection. It also contains a brief description of the existing set up and provides the background information required for further analysis. Part I is divided into 9 chapters dealing with habitat issues, human interface issues, policy and law, rhino population dynamics, rhino poaching, stakeholders' analysis and in brief about Kaziranga. Part II of the Report contains the proposed solution framework and consists of 9 chapters. The solution framework is divided into habitat strategies, upscaling anti poaching infrastructure, Kaziranga Landscape Conservation and Development Authority, Management strategies, Kaziranga Landscape PIL 66/2012 Save Kaziranga Save Rhinos to Save Your Future Page No. 3 of 402 Green Growth Framework, Policy, law, protocols and programme strategies, Time budget, and lastly Budget and finances. It also contains the references, some website links and bibliography along with citations for further reading. Part III of the Report contains the Annexures such as tables, photo-plates, soft version minutes of various meetings held and comments and suggestions received from various experts and stakeholders, and other annexures. The Report finds that other than the poaching, there are other threats to the survival of rhino such as lack of adequate and secure habitat which is very badly in need of extension, retrofitting of the existing corridors, introducing SMART GUARD and SMART Communication and a series of technology interventions in short and medium term, green growth and green development opportunities for the fringe villages. On the policy side, it recommends amendments in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, changes in the ways wildlife crime investigation is handled, organizational modifications, constitution of a Kaziranga Landscape Conservation and Development Authority to manage the entire landscape as a single unit consisting of the core, buffer and all the corridors and watersheds. The Report recommends initiation of the Rhino Range Expansion Project, setting up of key infrastructure and welfare of staff. The actual implementation of the recommendations would require a series of ground surveys, in depth study, execution of Proof of Concepts, preparation of DPRs and Technical Feasibility Reports. The implementation would largely depend upon how strong is the institutional framework, availability of funds, support of the stakeholders, especially the local stakeholders, and the monitoring and feedback mechanisms put in place. PIL 66/2012 Save Kaziranga Save Rhinos to Save Your Future Page No. 4 of 402 Abbreviations and Acronyms AAU Assam Agricultural University AB Armed Branch AC Air Conditioning ACF Assistant Conservator of Forests ACS Assam Civil Service Addl. Additional AEDA Assam Energy Development Agency AER All Electric Range AFPF Assam Forest Protection Force AH&V Animal Husbandry and Veterinary ASIF Activity-Structure-Intensity-Fuels (Model in Transportation Sector) AK Automatic Kalashnikov ANM Auxiliary Nurse Midwife AO Annual Ongoing ANPR Automatic Number Plate Reader APC Anti Poaching Camp APCB Assam Pollution Control Board APPL Amalgamated Plantations Private Limited APTA American Public Transportation Association ARPTF Anti Rhino Poaching Task Force ARREP Assam Rhino Range Expansion Project AR&T Administrative Reforms & Training AsRSG Asian Rhino Specialist Group ASI Assistant Sub Inspector ATM Automated Teller Machine ATPPF Assam Tea Plantations Provident Fund ATREE Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment ATV All-terrain Vehicle/Advanced Tether Vehicle AWS Automatic Weather Station BEL Bharat Electronics Limited BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited BP Burapahar