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| A Lonely
Battle for the Rainforests of Assam |
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A tiny
environmental activist group is waging a lonely
battle to save the last, surviving patches
of a rainforest in the northeastern Indian
state of Assam. |
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few patches of the rainforest in the state's
Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts are the only
ones left in this region of the Himalayan
foothills. This rainforest area is spread
over 500 square kilometers spanning the three
contiguous reserved forests of Jaipur, Upper
Dihing and Dirak. These forests are home to
a large number of rare and endangered species.
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| Unbridled
industrialization on the fringes of the three forests
and pressure of a burgeoning population are fast taking
their toll. If adequate steps are not taken immediately,
the only rainforest of the region will soon vanish. |
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| Crude
oil was discovered in India in the Assam Oil Fields, and
India's first refinery was built in 1883 at Margherita.
It was shifted to its present site at Digboi in 1901.
Until the mid-1950s, this was the only refinery in the
country. Large-scale urbanization has taken place in the
region and vast stretches of forestland have been converted
to farmlands and used for agriculture or tea plantations.
Millions of tones of timber, cane and other forest products
are being extracted and the ground is being cleared for
more tea plantations. |
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| Econet,
a non-governmental organization based in Pune in Maharashtra
state has also helped by establishing communications links
with national and international institutions involved
in similar activities. |
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| Biodiversity
in the proposed Joidihing sanctuary has been vanishing
rapidly. The Holoock gibbon the only species of ape found
in India lives in these forests. Not more than 5,000 Holoock
gibbons survive today. A 1972 Zoological Survey of India
report put the population of Holoock gibbons between 78,000
and 80,000. |
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| Among
the rare and endangered species of animals found in the
rainforests of Assam are clouded leopards, sloth bears,
leopards, tigers, elephants, Indian bison, sambars, slow
loris, capped langurs, hoolock gibbons and flying squirrels.
Among the birds are drongoes, pheasants, oriales, jacanas,
wood ducks, eagles, owls, hornbills and minivests. No
other wildlife sanctuary or national park in the country
gives shelter to such a diverse species of monkeys and
apes. Because of this unique diversity, it is all the
more necessary to give complete protection to this forest
zone by upgrading it to the status of a wildlife sanctuary.
Nature's Beckon has launched a movement in the state for
conserving this rainforest by developing educational materials,
posters and brochures to educate the people about the
importance of the forest. |
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| This
rainforest is an important source of rare plants whose
destruction may upset the ecological balance of the region.
As there have been few studies on plants and animals living
in these rainforests, further research could provide clues
for manufacturing chemical substitutes for gasoline or
medicines to cancer cure. Their destruction would result
in the loss of rare species forever. |
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