Assam’s threat factor! Kaziranga facing danger from invasive plant species

It’s not just Maharashtra’s MVA dispensation that is endangered by the ‘poaching’ game being played out in an Assam hotel.
Crateva Nurvala is among the ‘invasive’ plant species posing a threat to animals
Crateva Nurvala is among the ‘invasive’ plant species posing a threat to animals

GUWAHATI: It’s not just Maharashtra’s MVA dispensation that is endangered by the ‘poaching’ game being played out in an Assam hotel. Nor are lives in the eastern state under threat only from the devastating floods. The rhinos of the famed Kaziranga are also facing a fresh threat — not from the poachers but from ‘alien’ invaders.

The new enemies of the rhino population that have caught the attention of officials in Kaziranga National Park are some invasive plant species which are threatening to destroy the habitats of the herbivores.
The park has sought permission from authorities for experimental culling, cutting, slashing, uprooting and girdling of the species that are affecting its flora and fauna. These plants were discovered by the park’s field director Jatindra Sarma, a botanist specialising in medicinal plants and mushrooms. “While venturing out in different areas and pockets of the park, I’ve come across certain species of plants of invasive nature, posing grave threat to the habitats of herbivores,” Sarma said.

The park has planned a pilot project on a two-hectare area. A team of researchers has selected patches in different ranges of the reserve based on the intensity of invasion. The project is aimed at examining the extent of wet grassland areas affected by the invasive plant species and developing strategies to eradicate them. Invasive species such as Bombax Ceiba, Crateva Magna, Trevia Nudiflora and Leea Macrophylla have been shortlisted for the necessary treatment.

Sarma also noticed that some were highly economic species. A poisonous plant, Cestrum Siurnum, belonging to the Solanaceae family, growing luxuriantly in some areas, can provide an opportunity for economic uplift of residents living around the park, Sarma said. “Although a weed, it is of high medicinal value, being a source of Vitamin D-3. I have taken up the matter with a Delhi-based manufacturing company for its commercial cultivation through eco-development committees,” he added.

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