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Observation/Survey based Project on – The Impact of Picnics & Littering on
WildLife and Community at Pabitora WildLife Sanctuary, Assam
'Thermocol Polystyrene Plates left behind in the Water Bodies where the Rhinos bath, the Migratory Birds feed....Blaring Speakers as merry picnickers do everything that drives away the Birds and other Wild Animals....Bottles floating everywhere, some broken to pieces.....Irresponsible Acts of the Humans that pose a threat to the Wild Life Sanctuaries and the Forests all over India'- How can we possibly solve this problem? Can PICNICs be avoided in these locations at all? What are the EXPERTS saying about this?
– Sanjib Talukdar, Secretery, WildRoots had been to the Pabitora WildLife Sanctuary to observe and document.
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A Brief Report (Date of Visit: 30th & 31st Dec, 2015)
The Pobitora Wildlife sanctuary is about 2 hours’ drive from the main city of Guwahati. The place was declared a sanctuary in 1971 in order to protect the great ‘Indian One Horned Rhinoceros’. Now it is known for the highest density of the one horned rhinoceros in the world. It also has a unique eco-system based on wetlands. These wetlands are the nesting grounds for migratory and indigenous water birds. Particularly during the month of January the Pabitora landscape is dominated by Cleome blooms in a bright shade of pink. The sanctuary is only 38.8 square km, but it is a heaven for birds and other flora and fauna too. Some of the Wildlife that are spotted near the core region of the WLS, where the survey was conducted were, the Asiatic Elephant, Rhino, Little Egrets, Common Myna, Water Hen etc. in good number.
The impacts of Picnic & Littering observed were many:
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Heavy noise caused the wild life to get restricted to a distant region
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Major disturbance in the herbaceous and the wetland ecosystem due to the entry of plastics used by the tourists and picnickers. They were everywhere, also near Schedule 1 species like the Black–necked Stork.
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Communication with the local shopkeepers revealed that no forest guards are easily seen in the area where they should be. This was pretty alarming.
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Section 144 is being applied to mitigate the noise but no such checkpoints were installed to examine the noise intensity.
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Commonly the numbers of birds are dwindling in number due to the noise.
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Positively some holes were made to bury the litter, but less people were seen to be in the act of actually using them. Garbage Bins were not at all used.
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Despite the awareness drives launched continuously to refrain picnickers from harming the environment, there has been no improvement in the scenario with the winter season emerging every year as the worst time for the inhabitants of the wild. Wildlife sanctuaries and the other lush green bellts have always been picnickers’ favourite destinations. But unmindful to the ambience, these people create panic for the wildlife species with blaring music besides leaving behind a trail of litter. With no change in the attitude of the picnickers, several organisations working for conservation of Nature and Wildlife have appealed to the authorities to ban picnics near the wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks. Wave Ecotourism, which has been promoting the concept of ecotourism in the rural areas of the state, has even submitted a memorandum to the PCCF, Assam, insisting that picnics be banned near the wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks, including the Dibru Saikhowa National Park.
“We are not against people enjoying some peaceful moments in the lap of Nature. But in the name of picnic a section of citizens have been causing immense harm to the environment and to the inhabitants of the wild, many of which are included in the Schedule 1 species," said Niranta Gohain, director of Wave Ecotourism.
It needs to be mentioned here that WildRoots, a non-government organization based in Guwahati, has also been calling upon the citizens not to spoil the environment in the name of picnic. The organization, too, has appealed for a ban on picnics near all eco-sensitive zones.
“It is very unfortunate that people don’t hesitate to pollute the environment for a few hours of fun. The natural resources are normally spoilt by the picnickers. The water of ponds and lakes are glistened with leftover kerosene oil and burnt cooking oil for the fishes and snails to savour. The wildlife sanctuaries turn into a noisy arena with picnic parties competing to beat each other in playing loud music. Schedule-1 species are greeted by blaring numbers that can be heard from miles away and are forced to leave their own sweet foraging grounds", said WildRoots.
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“Kindly refrain from having Picnics in or near the Wild Life Sanctuaries & Reserved Forests. Littering is a serious offence. Blaring speakers harm the WildLife and also the Environment at large.”