Rajaji National Park - A Biodiversity-rich Landscape in the Lap of River Ganga

Rajaji National Park is a magnificent ecosystem nestled in the Shivalik range and the beginning of the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains, representing rich floral and faunal diversity. The Park constitutes an important repository of the wild fauna and the last refuge of a number of threatened animal species in the lesser Himalayan zone and upper Gangetic plains. Considering the abundance of nature’s bounties heaped in and around the Park, the area attracts a large number of wildlife conservationists, nature lovers, and eco-tourists. On the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22), Dr Ritesh Joshi and Kanchan Puri have expressed their views about the wilderness and biodiversity of the Rajaji’s landscape, which is also a haven for Asian elephants.

- Dr Ritesh Joshi and Kanchan Puri

The world famous Rajaji National Park was established in the year 1983 with the aim of maintaining a viable population of the Asian elephants. The Rajaji National Park is one of the crucial wildlife habitats in the state of Uttarakhand, forming the northwestern limit of the range of Asian elephants and tigers in India. The Park has been designated as a reserved area for ‘Project Elephant’ by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, to strengthen the management and conservation activities. The Park was notified as Rajaji Tiger Reserve in the year 2015, making it the 48th Tiger Reserve in the country and second in Uttarakhand. Declaring Rajaji National Park as the Tiger Reserve is noteworthy because it sustains a wide range of endangered animals in upper Gangetic plains, especially the Asian elephants and tigers. Besides, the reserve has a great conservation value, as it is an important part of Terai-arc landscape between Yamuna and Sharda rivers, which is known as Rajaji–Corbett Tiger Conservation Unit, having an area of about 7500 km2.

Even though the park was established in 1983, final notification for the park was issued in the year 2013 because of non-settlement of rights of the local people and several other legal problems. Further, in the year 2002, this elephant range was also designated as the 11th Elephant Reserve in the country, and was named as the Shivalik Elephant Reserve, with an area 5405 km2. In addition to the existing core area of 820.42 km2 of the Rajaji National Park, few portions of Laldhang and Kotdwar forest ranges of the Lansdowne Forest Division and Shyampur forest range of the Haridwar Forest Division, which is 255.63 km2, have been merged under the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, making it 1076 km2 area.