Assam is part of the transitional zone between the Indians. The state forms an important component of the Indo- Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. Favourable climate, topographic and edaphic factors support luxuriant growth of diverse plant communities and create varied habitats for both plants and animals.
The Protected area Network, comprising of the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries comprise of 3925 sq. km. constituting about 5% of the total geographical area of Assam. It includes 5 National Parks and 18 Wildlife sanctuaries, 3 Tiger Reserves, 5 Elephant Reserves, 2 Biosphere Reserves and 2 World Heritage Sites. They are the primary tools for in in-situ biodiversity conservation in Assam. The world famous Kaziranga National Park is home to the Big Five Mammals – Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Elephant, Asi- atic Wild Water Buffalo, Eastern Swamp Deer and the Royal Bengal Tiger apart from many important species such as the hog deer, sambar, leopard, reptiles, amphibians etc. The Kaziranga National Park has the world’s highest population of the critically endangered Indian One Horned Rhinoceros
and the Asiatic Wild Wate Buffalo besides having the world’s highest density of km. Kaziranga has 35 spe- Royal Bengal Tigers per sq. cies of mammals, 42 spe- cies of fishes, and 254 spe- cies of birds including the
• Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Bengal Florican. It is also
(28 July, 1991)
Project Tiger
Manas National Park (1973) .Nameri National Park (2001) Kaziranga National Park (2007)
Elephant Reserve
Sonitpur Elephant Reserve (1420 sq km) .Dihing-Patkai Elephant Reserve (937 sq km) .Kaziranga – Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve (3270 sq km) .Dhansiri-Lungding Elephant Reserve (2740 sq km)
Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve (2600 sq km)
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Kaziranga Na- tional Park including the Burhachapori Wildlife Laokhowa and Sanctuaries was declared as Tiger Reserve in 2007. Manas National Park is also a Biosphere Reserve and forms a contiguous linear Himalayas. The floral diver- belt along the foot of sity includes 543 plant spe- cies. The faunal diversity is represented by 60 mam- malian species, 42 species of reptiles, 7 species of amphibians, 5 fish species, 103 invertebrate species and 327 species of birds. The great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros is presently being reintro- duced in Manas through the ‘Indian Rhino Vision – 2020’ programme. Manas and Nameri National Parks were noti- fied as Tiger Reserves in 1973 and 1985 respectively. The Manas National Park has the distinction of having the high- est number of endangered species.
VA total of 4273 species of vascular plants have been re- corded in Assam. This constitutes about 25% of total floristic wealth of India. Angiosperms form the largest category of plants in Assam with a total of 3895 species including 154 species of primitive Angiosperms. These are the most eco- nomically important plants of Assam and meet the demand for timber, plywood, pulpwood, furniture and agriculture in- cluding for rearing of silkworm. As many as 293 species of Orchids are found in Assam which account for almost 25% of the orchid species found in India. Altogether 38 species of naturally-growing bamboo are found in Assam along with 14 species of cane. Assam is home to a good number of me- dicinal plants. A vast number of these plant species are used by traditional village practitioners called Bej and people re- spond favourably to these traditional practitioners particularly in rural areas. These medicinal plants are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and Unani medicines. A total of 952 such medicinal plants species have been re- corded so far. Some of the common medicinal plants are Tulsi, Titaphul, Pipoli, Asoka, Mahabhringraj, Ada, Satmul, Loha-jam, Thekera, Dudhkuri, Chalmugra, Ban-haldi, Bel, Hilikha, Bahera, Mejankuri, etc.
The diverse and luxuriant forests and grasslands of Assam provide ideal conditions and suitable habitat for a wide variety of fauna. Assam provides the gateway for spread of both oriental and palaearctic fauna to other parts of the country. The mammalian diversity of Assam is recorded to be 193 species so far. However, many of these species, such as the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo, Pigmy Hog, Swamp Deer, Golden Langur, Hoolock Gibbon, Royal Bengal Tiger etc. have their distribution limited to isolated pockets and protected areas due to habitat fragmentation. Other important mammals include Asiatic Elephant, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Clouded leopard, Marbled Cat, Golden Cat, Large Indian Civet, Binturong, Hog Badger, and Himalayan Bear etc. Assam is home to a number of primate species.
Altogether 9 out of the 15 Indian primate species are found in Assam. The Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape found in India.
The other primate species include Rhesus Macaque, Pigtail Macaque, Stump Tailed Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Slow Loris, Golden Langur, Capped Monkey and Golden Langur. Assam is rich in bird diversity and has many Important Bird Area (IBA) sites. Approximately more than 600 bird species have been recorded till now in the State which comprise of 53% of the bird species of the Indian subcontinent. Of this, 17 bird species are endemic to Assam. On the other hand, 45 bird species from Assam are enlisted as en- dangered to highly endangered in the Indian Red Data Book. These include the Greater Adjutant, Lesser Adjutant, Bengal Florican, White Winged Wood Duck, Blyth’s Tragopan, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Marbled Teal, White Rumped Vulture, Longbilled Vulture, Beer’s Pochard, Palla’s Sea Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Green Peafowl, etc.
Assam is home to a rich variety of reptilian population. Further, 19 species of tortoises and 77 species of snakes and lizards are found in the tate. Assam also has 70 spe- cies of Amphibians. The Brahmaputra and Barak river sys- tem along with their tributaries and flood plain wetlands are ideal habitat for a diversity of fish species. The state is con- sidered to be a hot spot of fresh water fish biodiversity. 185 food, sports and ornamental fish species are reported from the State. The important ornamental fish species are Danio, Botia, Colisa, Chaca and Nemacheilus. Commercially im- portant fish species include Pabha, Pabda Chital, Rohu, Katla, Magur, Singi, Sol etc. The river systems and exten- sive flood plains also harbour fresh water molluscs. So far 39 species of freshwater snails have been reported from Assam of which 10 species are used as food. Nearly 50% of the total 1500 reported species of butterflies have been documented in Assam and about 387 species of moths have been documented so far.