The Intanki National Park (INP), Nagaland’s only national park and a significant biodiversity hotspot, is under increasing threat from poaching and land encroachment, jeopardizing ongoing conservation efforts. Declared a national park in 1993, INP has been witnessing growing incidents of unauthorized settlement and illegal activities.
Nagaland Post has consistently reported on systematic poaching, land encroachment, and illegal logging within INP and the Rangapahar Reserve Forest. These activities have not only severely disturbed the park’s environment but also undermined efforts to protect its rich flora and fauna.
Authorities and environmentalists have raised alarms about the lasting damage caused by these illegal actions, calling for stringent measures to safeguard the park’s biodiversity and restore its ecological balance. Speaking exclusively to Nagaland Post, INP director Aochuba disclosed that hunting and poaching of wildlife, both for local consumption and for sale in local markets, remained the biggest threat to the park. He said this was a persistent issue, with local demand driving the illegal hunting of birds and animals.
While park authorities have made several arrests under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, he mentioned that poachers often evaded justice due to the challenging terrain and lack of sufficient resources for consistent patrolling. He said poaching not only threatened the survival of key species, but also disrupted the ecological balance within the park.
Though, as per state government’s official record, the national park is spread over an area of 20,200 ha (202 sq km), the director revealed that 1,339.509 ha had been encroached.
He maintained that the unresolved land encroachment has been a long standing issue, with local communities and individuals illegally occupying significant portions of the park for agriculture and settlements.
He pointed out that this encroachment not only reduced available habitat for wildlife, but also led to conflicts between park authorities and encroachers, making it difficult to enforce conservation laws. Despite various attempts by the government to reclaim these areas, the problem remains unresolved, he added.
He cautioned that the twin threats of poaching and land encroachment pose a significant hurdle to the long-term survival of INP’s wildlife, underscoring the need for stronger enforcement of conservation laws and community collaboration to protect this critical conservation area.
Without sharing details on the exact number of arrests made, he disclosed that multiple arrests had been made under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, but emphasised that continuous efforts were needed to fully contain illegal hunting activities.
On conservation efforts and community involvement in wildlife conservation, Aochuba mentioned that the park had adopted various initiatives in this regard.
He outlined key measures taken up by the park authorities such as anti-poaching operations, habitat restoration, biodiversity monitoring, and promotion of eco-tourism. He noted that involving local communities was central to the park’s strategy.
“Local communities play a significant role in preventing poaching, conserving wildlife, and protecting habitats through their traditional knowledge and involvement in co-management efforts,” he underlined.
As part of a long term conservation strategy, he claimed that INP was actively promoting eco-tourism to raise awareness, while also providing alternative livelihoods to the local population.
He explained that eco-tourism was a new concept that entailed responsible and nature-based tourism, minimising environmental impact, respecting local culture and educating travelers about the ecological and cultural significance of the place.
He mentioned that efforts were on to promoting eco-tourism by enhancing human resources and improving infrastructure in the national park, adding that the basic idea of all these was to create employment opportunities and other possible alternate livelihood options for local residents so that they could become partners in conservation efforts.
Aochuba said INP was home to several endangered wildlife species, including the elephant, with the park being declared an Elephant Reserve in 2005.
He stated that some critically-endangered species such as hoolock gibbon, Indian gaur, clouded leopard, grey hornbill, great Indian hornbill, and rofous necked hornbill, besides endemic and restricted range species such as grey sebia were some of the species under protection in the park, which required continued attention for conservation.
Dwelling on the park’s notable achievements in recent years, he cited the soft release of 10 captive bred juvenile Asian giant tortoises (Manouria emys phayrei) into the wild in 2022. He disclosed that this re-wilding effort was part of a collaborative project with Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), marking a significant step in reviving the population of this critically-endangered species.
He mentioned that Wildlife Week was observed annually, which served as a major platform for raising public awareness on the importance of protecting biodiversity.
He said the week was marked by workshops, exhibitions, and nature walks, with the aim to educate people about endangered species and the critical role of conservation in sustaining the environment, while also emphasising the importance of fostering community participation in these activities to build a sense of responsibility toward wildlife conservation.