Assam gets its 6th National Park after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared Raimona as National Park on World Environment Day on Saturday.
Assam now has six national parks. The Chief Minister said that the preliminary work has started for the recognition of Dihing Patkai Sanctuary as a national park.
Forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya had on last year unveiled the map of the new park at Manas National Park.
"Another feather of success will be added to the biodiversity cap of Assam soon as we have initiated the process for approving the proposal for the 6th National Park of Assam, the Raimona National Park. Today we unveiled the map of this upcoming park," Suklabaidya tweeted.
According to the forest department, the proposal has been submitted to the governor of Assam for upgrading an area of 422 sq km of notified Ripu reserve forest under Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve as the proposed Raimona National Park.
The existing national parks in Assam are Kaziranga, Manas, Dibru-Saikhowa, Manas and Orang.
Ripu reserve forest is part of the buffer zone of Manas national park bordering Bhutan. The forest along with Chirang reserve forest has the largest known population of endangered Golden Langur.
Since 1989, nearly 30% of the reserve forest has been felled and encroached upon due to the insurgency related issues.
On the occasion of World Environment Day, Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma planted eleven saplings at Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati on Saturday.
Planting eleven saplings of Rudrakash plant in the premises of the prominent landmark, the Chief Minister said that, "Planting of saplings is a firm step towards ecosystem restoration".
Dr. Sarma also urged the youth to plant more trees and should volunteer to work towards protecting the environment by carrying out sustainable practices following the ideals of the father of the nation.