Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar (18004)
India, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1e, B1, B2
Year of last assessment: 2023
National site name: Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar
Central coordinates: Latitude: 7.0655, Longitude: 93.7868
System: terrestrial, freshwater
Area of KBA (km2): 1070.879688
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The Nicobar Islands are one among 221 Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) in the world, and the 27 major EBAs in Asia, and thus extremely important for bird conservation. The Nicobar group comprises of 23 islands covering an area of 1,841 sq. km, but only 12 are inhabited. The Nicobar Group of islands comprise three subgroups: the Great Nicobar, the Nancowry and the Car Nicobar subgroups. The Great Nicobar subgroup is the southernmost and comprises 11 islands and smaller islets, of which four are inhabited (Sankaran 1998). About 80% area of the Nicobar islands is still covered with primary forest, and at least 60% is still relatively undisturbed (Sankaran 1995). About 50% of Great Nicobar is protected as national parks and about 85% comprises the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (88,500 ha), which was designated as a Tribal Reserve for the Shompens and Nicobarese under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956. The core area consists of two national parks, namely, Campbell Bay and Galathea, and one sanctuary, the Galathea Bay Sanctuary. Great Nicobar is the only island in the archipelago with a perennial river, while Megapode Island located off the southwest coast is uninhabited and is a wildlife sanctuary (Sankaran 1995). The forest type of the Nicobar Islands can be classified as tropical evergreen, with forested or grassland inland areas. All islands in the Great Nicobar subgroup are densely forested (Sankaran 1998). In Great Nicobar, 11% of the vascular flora are endemic to the island, 30 species are rare, endangered and confined to a few locations on the island, and about 30% of the flora are not found on the Indian mainland (Andrew and Sankaran 2002). Characteristic endemics such as the tree-fern Cyathea albo-setacea and an ornamental orchid Phalaenopsis speciosa are found only on Great Nicobar and adjacent islands (Pande et al. 1991 cited in Andrews and Sankaran 2002) MAIN THREATS: Construction and impact of free port; Immigration of mainlanders; Roadbuilding; Urbanisation/ industrialisation and ancillary activites; Introduced species like dog, cat pose threats to native fauna; Coastal habitat disturbed by coconut plantation; Hunting and predation. Great Nicobar was identified as a priority island for avian conservation, but the Government of India has several developmental plans for the Nicobar Islands, particularly the building of a dry dock and refueling base for international shipping in Galathea Bay, and making Great Nicobar a free port. If implemented, these projects will irrevocably damage the island ecosystem and expedite loss in the island biodiversity, as it is too fragile to sustain the impact of such activities. Alteration of the ecosystem would adversely affect and accelerate the extinction of endemic avifauna including the Nicobar Megapode. The Nicobar Megapode is also under severe pressure due to hunting by local inhabitants and predation on its eggs by the Monitor Lizard Varanus salvator. However, the primary threat to the Nicobar Megapode is habitat loss and demographic changes. A 35 km long strip of forest along the southeastern coast has been depleted in Great Nicobar due to settlement of mainland Indians (Sankaran 1995). Although over 50% of Great Nicobar has been protected as national parks and about 85% as a biosphere reserve, this is inadequate. The national parks protect only the central portions and less than 15% of the coastal area of Great Nicobar. On islands, the first habitat to be destroyed under biotic pressure is coastal forest. This habitat is crucial to the survival of the Nicobar Megapode. Between the national parks there is a broad strip of primary forest through which the east-west road passes. The southern tip of Great Nicobar, which is unprotected, has the largest uninhabited flat coastal forest in the Nicobar group and harbours large populations of endemic species such as the Nicobar Serpent-eagle, Nicobar Megapode, Nicobar Parakeet and the Nicobar Pigeon. About 40% of the Great Nicobar coast and most of the southern tip and central portion is uninhabited at present. Any change in policy can result in these areas being destroyed. These areas must be protected by creating a single national park merging the two existing ones and including the southern tip of the island (Sankaran 1995). The designation of Little Nicobar as a biosphere reserve was recommended even by Rodgers and Panwar (1988). Heavy ship and boat traffic passes south of Great Nicobar, causing threat to the Dugong Dugong dugon (Andrews and Sankaran 2002). The study of Andrews and Sankaran (2002) further reveals that the Reserve needs to be redesigned to include the southern tip of Great Nicobar, which has almost the only lowland coastal forest remaining on the east coast of this island, harbouring good populations of endemic fauna. Furthermore, the unique culture and lifestyle of the Shompens of this Reserve is now threatened by a rapid increase in the settlement of mainlanders, along with road building, quarrying and other development activities. References: Andrews, H. V. and Sankaran, V. (eds.) (2002) Sustainable management of Protected Areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team, Indian Institute of Public Administration, and Fauna and Flora International, New Delhi. Pp 25, 31, 98-99. Pande, P., Kothari, A. and Singh, S. (eds) (1991) Directory of National Parks and Sanctuaries in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Management Status and Profiles, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, India. Rodgers, W. A. and Panwar, H.S. (1988) Planning a wildlife protected area network in India. Vol.1.The Report. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. Sankaran, R. (1995) The Nicobar Megapode and other endemic Avifauna of the Nicobar Islands Status and Conservation. SACON- Technical Report 2, Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, India. Sankaran, R. (1998) An annotated checklist of the endemic avifauna of the Nicobar Islands. Forktail 13: 17-22.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site holds the entire known population of Crocidura nicobarica. Polypedates insularis meets KBA Criterion B1, four birds meet KBA Criterion B2, and three birds meet legacy KBA criteria and are in need of reassessment against the Global Standard.
Manageability of the site: This site was identified and delineated as an IBA/KBA in 2004, and access to the original manageability rationale is no longer available.
Delineation rationale: This site was identified as an IBA/KBA in 2004, and access to the original delineation rationale is no longer available.