Namdapha National Park

Description

Namdapha National Park, Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary and Jairampur Forest Division are located within India’s northeastern frontier state–Arunachal Pradesh. Among the last great remote wilderness areas of Asia, Namdapha and its adjoining areas, is flanked by the Patkai hills to the south and south-east and by the Himalaya in the north. The area lies close to the Indo-Myanmar-China trijunction. Forests are contiguous across the international boundary with Myanmar, with several adjoining protected areas, including the huge recently declared Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve (Rabinowitz 2001, 2004). The entire area is mountainous and comprises the catchment of the Noa-Dihing River, a tributary of the great Brahmaputra river which flows westwards through the middle of Namdapha. Numerous streams drain into the Noa-Dihing and forest pools and natural salt licks are abundant in the area. The park spans a wide altitudinal range from 200 m to 4,571 m at Dapha Bum, the highest point in the park. The terrain is steep and inaccessible. Interior and higher areas have not been explored, except by hunters from local communities. It is bordered on the north by the Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary (550m to 4200 m), Lohit district. To the east and south-east lie the Patkai hill ranges and the international border with Myanmar. To the south-east are unclassified state forest (USF) areas (c. 700 km²) of the Vijaynagar circle. To the west, are Reserved Forests and USF areas of the Jairampur Forest Division. Kamlang WLS is bounded on the north, it is bounded by the Lang river and later by the Lati, to the south lies the Changlang-Lohit district boundary and on its western side, the Tawai Brai up to its confluence with the Kamlang river. The area is mostly steep mountainous terrain, with few gentle slopes crisscrossed by numerous rivers (Lai, Lati, Lang and Kamlang), rivulets and perennial streams.