Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), while wholeheartedly supporting the movement of conservation group ‘Nature’s Beckon’, urged the government to declare the entire Dehing Patkai tropical rainforest as a protected area.
The forum of nationalists endorsed the demand for expanding the area of Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary to cover the whole elephant reserve.
With the backdrop of massive social media uprising against any kind of mining in Dehing Patkai, Nature’s Beckon has requested the state chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to include the remaining and adjoining area of contiguous rainforest under the domain of Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary.
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Its founding director Soumyadeep Datta argued that the initiative would protect the rainforest and bring a new dawn for a greener Assam.
Dehing Patkai sanctuary covers 111.19 square kilometer rainforest on the south bank of mighty Brahmaputra river.
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It is surrounded by the proposed Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve (937 sq km) under Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts.
Named after Dehing/ Dihing (a river flows through it) and Patkai (the hill which supports the forest), the forest reserve was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2004 along with other 17 forest reserves in the State.
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“On the World Environment Day, we also urge the government to safeguard the wildlife and rainforests including the Dehing Patkai sanctuary that is home to a large number of Asiatic elephants along with over 290 species of birds, 50 species of butterflies, 45 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles, 70 species of fishes, thousands of species of insects, 60 varieties of orchid, etc,” said a statement issued by PPFA adding that it would be a worthy gift to people on the auspicious day.