Abstract:
Dachigam National Park is one of the most important natural assets of Jammu and Kashmir. It is
one of the most beautiful natural habitats of the world. It is famous for its varied kinds of flora
and fauna and is one of the richest biodiversity parks in the temperate world. Dachigam was
declared a Sanctuary by Government in 1951 and was upgraded a status of National Park on 4th
February 1981. Between 1910 and 1934 all the habitations (10-villages) were removed from the
catchment area and the people were resettled/relocated outside the boundaries of the reserves by
the maharaja of J & K and hence got its name "Dachi-gam" which means "Ten Villages". It is
located 22 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital city of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dachigam National Park is situated at 34D5'- 34D10' North-latitude and 74D50'-75D.10' Eastlongitude.
It covers an area of 141 km2
consisting of some of the most scenic natural beauty
present on the Earth. .The Park is roughly rectangular in shape being approximately 22 km long
and 8km wide. It is divided into two parts Lower Dachigam in the west which comprises onethird
of the area of the park and Upper Dachigam in the east comprising rest of the park. Its
altitude varies from 1600m to 4250m above mean sea level. It represents home to the only
surviving sisters of the red deer species native to Europe - The Hangul (Cervus elaphus hanglu).
The habitat of Hangul was once spread over vast region of this Himalayan state, however due to
destruction of its habitat, hunting, poaching and other human interferences, its home range
squeezed to Dachigam and some patches of Overa, Kishtwar, etc. This paper focuses on the
anthropogenic threats viz. clear felling for human setlements and agriculture, over harvesting of
NTFPs (non timber forest products), hunting and poaching of rare and endangered fauna,
erosion, grazing, stone quarrying, deforestation, leopard and bear enclosures and departmental
interferences etc. to biological diversity in the park. In the present study, an effort has been made
to study the overall scenario of "Biotic Interferences In and Around Dachigam National Park.
The database generated is expected to be used in conjunction with other field data for modeling
the degraded parameters of Dachigam National Park in future. |
