Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

• Civil unrest (Forced evacuation of Park staff) (issue resolved)
• Illegal activities (Poaching and illegal logging)
• Crop production (Subsistence agriculture inside the property)
• Financial resources (Slow release of funds by central Government)
• Invasive/alien terrestrial species
• Impact of tourism/visitor/recreation (Uncontrolled infrastructure development by local tourism groups)
• Military training (Attempts by paramilitary group to set up base camps in the property) (issue resolved)
• Land conversion
• Water infrastructure (Impacts of upstream dam development)

In 2008, the property benefited from the UNF-funded programme for enhancing management effectiveness, building staff capacity and increasing the involvement of local communities.

On 12 November 2020, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/338/documents/ and provides the following updates:

• Increased efforts to address poaching, notably through the establishment of new anti-poaching camps and strengthened frontline patrolling, have resulted in increased detection of poaching and other wildlife crime. Several arrests for wildlife crimes have been made in the Panbari and Bansbari ranges, including tiger poaching and possession of tiger parts. No rhino poaching has been reported in the property since 2017. The rhino population now stands at 43 animals, after two further translocations from Kaziranga National Park (India);
• Seasonal agriculture has been historically practiced by indigenous communities within the property for subsistence and non-commercial purposes. The park authority has been engaging with the local communities to ensure the sustainability of such practices. A proposal to fund an eviction operation in the Betbari area, located within the Manas National Park, was submitted to the authority in December 2019 but not implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic;
• A workshop to finalise an Action Plan for sustainable habitat management of the grassland-woodland ecosystem, taking into account invasive species and fire regimes, was conducted with relevant stakeholders in January 2020. The selection of contractors to implement habitat management in three locations of the park is being finalised;
• Transboundary cooperation with the State Party of Bhutan in managing the connected landscape across the boundaries of the property and the Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) continues to be strengthened. An increased number of tigers has been reported in RMNP. A site-level transboundary meeting was held in July 2019, and the two States Parties agreed to meet quarterly, while continuing synchronized patrolling along the border and exchanging information on wildlife crimes;
• A number of projects related to conservation, the translocation of key species and livelihood development of local communities have been implemented.

Despite repeated requests by the Committee since 2012, the State Party of Bhutan did not provide information concerning the Mangdechhu hydroelectric project.

The State Party’s continued efforts to protect the property from poaching are welcomed, particularly the reporting of zero rhino poaching since 2017 and the continued rhino population growth, including through translocations. However, the persistent occurrence of wildlife crime, including tiger poaching and the confiscation of tiger parts, remains a concern. The continued implementation of anti-poaching measures and scaling up of such efforts where possible are necessary.

In spite of the State Party’s actions, agricultural encroachment remains a serious threat to the integrity of the property, and it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to strengthen its efforts to identify long-term solutions to address this issue in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, while improving livelihood security of local communities. It is important to ensure that solutions respect the social, economic and cultural rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, in line with the 2015 Policy Document on the Integration of a Sustainable Development Perspective into the Processes of the World Heritage Convention.

The progress made towards the finalization of the Action Plan for the sustainable management of the grassland-woodland ecosystem and the implementation of control measures on the ground is welcomed. Given the extent of the threat posed by invasive species and their potential impact on the property’s biodiversity, there is an urgent need to finalise and implement the Action Plan, as noted by the Committee in Decision 43 COM 7B.7.

Enhanced transboundary cooperation with the State Party of Bhutan to better protect flagship species moving across national boundaries is commendable and should be continued. The importance of conserving the larger transboundary landscape for the integrity and long-term viability of the property, notably to increase its adaptability to climate change, needs to be emphasized. In this respect, it is important to recall Decision 35 COM 7A.13, which encouraged the State Party to conduct a joint feasibility study with the State Party of Bhutan on a possible transboundary extension of the property, and Decision 41 COM 8B.36, which requested the State Party to submit a revised proposal for a boundary modification that does not include any established cropland or permanently encroached areas within the nominated property and to include full details on the relationships with stakeholders and/or rights-holders related to the cropland areas within Manas National Park.

It is deeply regrettable that the State Party of Bhutan has not yet provided information on the status of the Mangdechhu hydroelectric project nor submitted a copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), despite repeated requests by the Committee since 2012 in view of its potentially significant impact on the property’s OUV (Decision 36 COM 7B.10). According to an official press release by the State Party of India dated 18 August 2019, the power station has been already completed and was inaugurated by high government officials of both States Parties in August 2019. It is of utmost concern that neither State Party informed the Committee of the project prior to its implementation, despite the provisions of Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines. It is therefore recommended that the Committee urge the States Parties of India and Bhutan to (a) submit a copy of the EIA to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible for review by IUCN, including an assessment of the project’s impact on the property’s OUV, notably its integrity; and (b) provide details on the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), its implementation and the measures that have been taken to ensure that any impacts on the OUV are avoided.