It was declared a National Park on 5 June 2021 by the announcement of Assam'sChief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma on the occasion of World Environment Day at Gandhi Mandap, Guwahati. On 9 June 2021; it became as National Park through an Assam Gazette Notification no.FRW.02/2021/27 dtd. 8 June 2021. It is a part of a contiguous forest patch with an area of 422 km2 (163 sq mi) covering the northern part of the notified Ripu Reserve Forest (508.62 km2 (196.38 sq mi)), which forms the westernmost buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve in the foothills of Eastern Himalaya Biodiversity Hotspot.[2] The present Raimona National Park was originally recommended as Ripu-Chirang Wildlife Sanctuary being part of Ripu reserved forest and Chirang reserved forest being adjacent a part of it was also mooted to be within. Those were made owing to its significance for conservation of Asian elephants, gaur or Indian "bison" and golden langur, all of which have large populations in the area.[3][4][5] It is also part of Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve.
Description
The boundary of Raimona National Park is marked by the Sankosh River on the west, along the inter-state boundary of West Bengal and Assam from Indo-Bhutan border up to fire line Ride-6 southwards (BP30) and Saralbhanga River on the east, runs northwards till it touches the Indo-Bhutan international boundary on the north and remaining part of Ripu Reserve Forest on the south. The southern boundary runs eastwards along the fire line Ride-6 up to Pekua River where it runs at 90 degrees southwards till it meets the fire line Ride-3.[6]
The area is located along the Himalayan foothills and together with Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary of Bhutan and Buxa Tiger Reserve of West Bengal forms a fairly large trans-boundary conservation landscape of more than 2,400 km2 (930 sq mi).[7]
Biodiversity
Raimona National Park is famous for golden langur, an endemic species (with Bhutan) which has been named as the mascot of Bodoland region. It also has Asian elephant, Bengal tiger, clouded leopard, gaur, chital, four to five species of hornbills, more than 150 species of butterflies, 190 species of birds,[8] 380 varieties of plants and orchids.[9] It is already on the global map for being an important bird and biodiversity area.[10]