Karimpuzha National Park

Karimpuzha National Park (கரிம்புழா தேசியப் பூங்கா , കരിമ്പുഴ നാഷണൽ പാർക്ക്‌ ,) is a 230 km² proposed National Park located at 11°16′30″N 76°25′25″E / 11.27500°N 76.42361°E in the Nilgiri Hills, Palakkad district and Nilgiris district, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in South India,^[1] IUCN category: PRO^[2]

History

Madras Forest Act came into force in 1882. The forests of Mannarkkad, New Amarambalam, Silent Valley, Walayar and Chennath Nair Reserve were declared as Reserved Forests during 1883 - 1887.^[3]

In 1988 the Wildlife Institute of India recommended that Mannarkkadu Valley 225.00 km² be established as a protected area. Given that this valley is inhabited by forest-dependent tribes, sanctuary rather than national park status is more appropriate in the short-term.^[4] Such proposals were submitted to the Kerala Government.

In 1991 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee strongly encouraged the Indian authorities to re-formulate the boundaries of Silent Valley National Park to take in a larger area, particularly the adjacent Mannarkkadu Valley National Park and the Nilgiri Thar Wildlife Sanctuary and complete the legal processes to establish the proposed Mannarkkadu Valley National Park and upgrade the status of the Nilgiri Thar Wildlife Sanctuary.^[5]

Silent Valley National Park was nominated as a World Heritage site in 1990 but the decision regarding its inclusion in the World Heritage List was deferred by the committee pending the Indian Government's revision of the nominated area's boundary to include the adjacent Karimpuzha Valley National Park and the Nilgiri Tahr Wildlife Sanctuary, and the completion of legal measures to establish the Mannarkkadu Valley National Park and upgrade the legal status of the Nilgiri Tahr wildlife Sanctuary.^[6]

In 1997 United Nations Environment Programme's World Conservation Monitoring Centre listed Karimpuza as a Protected area that overlaps with the South Western Ghats montane rain forests Ecoregion. IUCNcategory PRO (proposed)^[7]

In 1998 Karimpuzha was listed by the first World Heritage Forest meeting in Berastagi, Indonesia, as being of potential interest as a World Heritage Forest.^[8]

In 2006 Karimpuza was listed as a proposed Wildlife Sanctuary by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (India). KARIMPUZHA Biounit 05B, 225.00 km²^[9]

References

1. UNEP, World Commission on Protected Areas (04/07/2007) World Database on Protected Areas, retrieved 7/4/2007
2. "South Western Ghats montane rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved Mar 25, 2007.
3. Kerala Forests & Wildlife Department(2004) "History" , retrieved Feb 7, 2007 History
4. (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988)
5. UNESCO, CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE, BUREAU OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE, Fifteenth session, Paris, 17–21 June 1991, retrieved 3/25/2007
6. N. Ishwaran, (September 21–23, 1994) "Application of the World Heritage Convention and the Biosphere Reserve Concept in South Asia", CNPPA 42ND WORKING SESSION 65,Proceedings of the Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas 42nd Working Session, Islamabad, Pakistan
7. Eric D. Wikramanayake, Eric Dinerstein, Colby J. Loucks (1997) "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: A Conservation Assessment", Island Press, retrieved 3/28/2007 Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific
8. Forest Protected Areas Warranting Further Consideration as Potential WH Forest Sites: Summaries from Various and Thematic Regional Analyses (Compendium produced by Marc Patry, for the proceedings of the 2nd World Heritage Forest meeting, held at Nancy, France, March 11–13, 2005)2nd World Heritage Forest meeting
9. National Wildlife Data Center (2006) List of Proposed Wildlife Sanctuaries in India, Wildlife Institute of India, retrieved 3/26/2007 List of Proposed Wildlife Sanctuaries in India