Kanha Achanakmar
The Kanha-Achanakmar corridor connects the Kanha tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh with the Achanakmar wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgar
The length of the corridor is approx. 60 km with an average width of 10-km. The terrain is very hilly and undulating. Sal (Shorea robusta) is the most dominating tree species. Patches of miscellaneous forests with bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus) on slopes are also present.The major carnivores in the Kanha-Achanakmar corridor are tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus) and sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). The order herbivora is represented by gaur (Bos gaurus), sambar (Cervus unicolor), cheetal (Axis axis) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac). Other common faunal species are wild pig (Sus scrofa), jackal (Canis aureus) and common langur (Presbytis entellus). The area also supports rich avifauna.
Conservation Importance
The Kanha-Achanakmar corridor is a part of the dispersal bridge which connects the Eastern Himalayas with the Western Ghats (Hora, 1949). According to WWF-International’s classification of eco-regions, this area comes under the Eastern Highlands Moist Deciduous Forests with Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf forests as the major habitat. These are some of the most productive habitats for tiger and its prey species in the Indian subcontinent. Moreover, Kanha National Park is one of the pioneering sites in the field of Tiger Conservation. It was declared as tiger reserve in 1973.
Apart from tiger, Kanha National Park is also famous for the hard ground barasingha (Cervus duvacelli). However, like wild buffalo and gaur, this species also suffered against the increasing pressures such as clear felling and destruction of grasslands. Current distribution of this species is restricted to the grasslands of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
Similarly till mid 19th century, the wild buffalo had a continuous distribution all along the southern belt in the then Madhya Pradesh, starting from Nimar in the west to Bilaspur in the east. However, with the increasing pressures they are now restricted to only few PAs of Chhattisgadh. Moreover, in India, this is the last population of genetically pure wild buffaloes, as the Northeast population is severely affected by the interbreeding with domestic buffalo.
The conservation importance of the corridor further increases as central India holds around 40% of the conservation zone for gaur.
Thus improvement of the corridor habitat would not only benefit the tiger but would also benefit above mentioned herbivore species, which are wide ranging animals and requires large area due to their seasonal and local movements between foraging sites.
Major Threats:
- Encroachment by villagers on forest land
Large scale encroachments on the forest land for agricultural practices have taken place. This is visible in the villages such as Tarwartola, Gopalpur, Kharidih, Salgi and Aorapani.
- Poaching of prey and predator species
Poaching is one of the major threats, which is evident from the presence of low prey biomass in the corridor.
- Man-Animal Conflict
Crop damage by wild animals and cattle depredation by large carnivores is another issues giving rise to the conflict between the human beings and wild animals. Bear mauling cases are also quite regular in this area, which invokes hostility in people's mind towards wild animals.
- Forest fires
Like other Central Indian forests, the forests of Kanha-Achanakmar corridor also burn extensively during summer season due to forest fires. Most of these fire incidences are man made.
- Water scarcity
The corridor faces acute water shortage due to its terrain type. This directly reflects on the water regime of the area and therefore on the animal abundance. Moreover, there is stiff competition between the wild animals and human beings for the remaining water resources.
- Grazing (Dahiyan)
Dahiyans are the cattle camps, run illegally on the periphery of the forest areas towards the monsoon season. These camps hold large number of cattle that causes serious habitat degradation by means of overgrazing. They are also potential danger of spreading diseases among the wild ungulates.
- Illegal bamboo extraction
Large areas of the corridor (especially the hill slopes) are covered under bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus) patches. People from far off places come and extract Bamboo poles illegally from such areas. This not only creates disturbance for the wild animals but also sometimes leads to conflicts.
WWF India Interventions
Kanha-Achanakmar is the priority corridor in the Satpuda-Maikal Landscape. To protect the tiger and its habitat in the corridor WWF India has prepared a detailed project based on its field surveys and discussions with local NGOs.
The project therefore, intends to build support in favour of wildlife by generating stakes among local communities. The strategy also includes providing infrastructural support to PA management for strengthening anti-poaching efforts, giving support to the local communities in case of man-animal conflict and generating alternative sources of income to reduce dependency on the forests.
