Special Article :Chhattisgarh's Barnawapara Sanctuary gets a facelift to attract more visitors

Barnawapara, a popular and attractive wildlife sanctuary of Chhattisgarh, has been given a facelift to attract more visitors. This has been ...

Barnawapara, a popular and attractive wildlife sanctuary of Chhattisgarh, has been given a facelift to attract more visitors. This has been done with the amount approved in the annual action plan 2021-22 of CAMPA (Chhattisgarh Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) under wildlife habitat upgradation work. Under this, intensive lantana and eupatorium eradication work has been done in an area of 5,920 hectares. This includes work of eradication of lantana in a total 950-hectare area and eupatorium eradication work in a total area of ​​4, 970 hectares.

Grass has started growing wildly due to the moisture in the soil in Barnawapara Sanctuary located under Balodabazar Forest Division, located about 100 km away from Raipur. In addition, the grazing facility has also been improved in the sanctuary. The wild animals have started roaming freely after the eradication work of Lantana and Eupatorium here. This has also enhanced the visitor experience here as they can now get a better wildlife-watching experience.

Sprawled over an area of 244.86 sq km, the well-stocked forests of the sanctuary are classified as teak, sal, and mixed forests. In addition, the area is dominated by other herbaceous species like Eupatorium, Lantana, and Charotha. Due to this, there is a shortage of fodder for the herbivore animals found in the Sanctuary area. Besides, it also affects the movement of animals.

Keeping this in view, the intensive work of eradication of lantana and eupatorium has been done under wildlife habitat upgradation work in the sanctuary to improve the pastures for grazing besides ensuring the availability of green fodder to the wildlife round the year. It is worth mentioning that in Baranwapara Sanctuary, leopard, Indian bison (gaur), bear, sambar deer, spotted deer (chital), nilgai, wild boar, wild dog, striped hyena, fox, wolf, and mouse deer are commonly seen here.