Dibang Reserve Forest and adjacent areas (18038)
India, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2004
National site name: Dibang Reserve Forest and adjacent areas
Central coordinates: Latitude: 28.1000, Longitude: 95.6250
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 100 to 400
Area of KBA (km2): 499.97486
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This IBA is often confused with Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, also an IBA because of the similarity in the first name. While the Sanctuary covers higher mountainous areas of the Mishmi Hills along the India-China international border, this IBA is in flat and gently sloping terrain, in the lower reaches of the Dibang river up to the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh interstate border. The present IBA includes parts of Dibang Reserve Forest (RF), Kerim RF and the whole of Sirkee proposed RF as mapped in Choudhury (1996). It also includes the entire riverbed of the Dibang, at places up to 8 km wide with sandy and grassy tracts. This IBA forms part of two Endemic Bird Areas (Stattersfield et al. 1998), which is noteworthy. Tall wet savannah grassland occurs on the islets of the Dibang river, while the forest away from the river is mostly Tropical Wet Evergreen. The main forested areas are between Dambuk-Bomjir and Bijari.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)
Additional biodiversity: AVIFAUNA: At least 150 bird species have been listed, but the total diversity may be more than 300 species (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003). This IBA is known for its rich assemblage of threatened birds including the Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus, Swamp Francolin Francolinus gularis, Black-breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis flavirostris, Jerdon's Babbler Chrysomma altirostre and Marsh Babbler Pellorneum palustre (A. U. Choudhury pers. comm. 2003), White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata (Choudhury 1996) and the Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (Choudhury 1998). The first record of the Spot-bill Pelican Pelecanus philippensis in Arunachal Pradesh was from the northern edge of this IBA (not far from Mehao IBA) (Choudhury 2000). This is also an important staging area for migratory birds and a new migration route of the Common Crane Grus grus was discovered here (Choudhury 1994). OTHER KEY FAUNA: Among the major mammals are the Tiger Panthera tigris, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (=bubalis) and Hog Deer Axis porcinus (Choudhury 2003).
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 33 | |
| Grassland | 33 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 33 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: MAIN THREATS: Encroachment; Poaching; Grazing; Collection of thatching material; Felling of trees. The major issue is encroachment and dereservation for human settlement. As more and more people are looking for flat land, there is tremendous pressure on the area. Charaching, grazing of cattle and buffalos, collection of thatching and felling of trees are other major issues. The site was recommended as a protected area to be named the Dibang River National Park (Choudhury, 1996).
Additional information
References: Choudhury, A. U. (1994) A new Crane- migration route discovered. Asian Wetland News 7(1):18. Choudhury, A. U. (1996) Survey of the White-winged Wood Duck and Bengal Florican in Tinsukia district and adjacent areas of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India. Guwahati. 82 pp. Choudhury, A. U. (1998) The Bengal florican Eupodotis bengalensis Gmelin 1789 in Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95(2): 342. Choudhury, A. U. (2000) The Birds of Assam. Gibbon Books and WWF-India, NE Regional Office, Guwahati. Choudhury, A. U. (2003) The mammals of Arunachal Pradesh. Regency Publications, New Delhi. Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.