Conservation Crisis in Marat Longri Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, India

Urmika Phangchopi, Robindra Teron, Ajit K. Tamuli

Abstract

People-forest interactions in protected area have been debated around the world. The present study evaluates land-use pattern, diversity and utilization of forest resources in Marat Longri Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) using semi-structured interview, remote sensing, and Global Information System (GIS) techniques. Such study can have many implications on people-forest interactions in the sanctuary and promote symbiotic approach in dealing with biodiversity conservation in protected area. Marat Longri WLS is indispensable to forest dwellers for subsistence and livelihoods. The result of pair-wise ranking revealed jhum (3160) is the major threat to forest cover followed by illegal felling (2850), agricultural expansion (2346), encroachment (2211) and collection pressure (2080). To reduce dependence on Marat Longri WLS, domestication of wild plants and other agroforestry systems can augment food production and realize other needs of forest dwellers.

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DOI:10.21276/ambi.2017.04.1.ra03

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Published by: National Cave Research and Protection Organization, India

<Environmental Science+Zoology+Geology+Cave Science>AMBIENT SCIENCE