Expressing serious concern over poaching of rhinos in Assam’s Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has warned India of including the wildlife reserve in ‘the List of World Heritage in Danger’ if it failed to check poaching and encroachment in the forest.

The committee at its 38th Session held in Doha last month expressed “serious concern” over the reported recent poaching of nearly one third of the recovering rhino population in the biodiversity hotspot, which was designated a World Heritage site in 1985.

The UN panel noted with “utmost concern” the reported deterioration of the security situation in the sanctuary, and said that further deterioration, “associated with the reported surge in poaching and concerns regarding encroachment, could create the conditions to re–inscribe the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger”.

‘The List of World Heritage in Danger’ is designed to inform the international community of conditions that threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.

Training

The UNESCO asked India to ensure that forest guards were adequately equipped and trained to protect property against poachers and maintain effective patrolling, to secure the recovering population of rhino and other wildlife.

The anticipated translocation of Eastern swamp deer should be carried out effectively, it said.

The UN panel also asked India to take urgent measures to address the “reported new encroachment” at Bhuyanpara Range, and rehabilitate degraded areas. It directed India to submit to the World Heritage Centre by 1 February 2015, a detailed report on the state of conservation of the sanctuary before its 39th session.

The sanctuary provides critical and viable habitats for several rare and endangered species including tiger, greater one—horned rhino, swamp deer, pygmy hog and Bengal florican.