In news– The Union ministry of forest, environment and climate change (MoFECC) has recently given its nod to the Terai Elephant Reserve (TER) in Uttar Pradesh.
About the reserve-
- It is spread in a 3,049 sq km area, including Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR).
- It will be the second elephant reserve in UP and India’s 33rd.
- The Centre approved three elephant reserves in the country in 2022, including TER, on the occasion of 30th foundation year of the elephant project, initiated in 1992.
- The other two reserves are Lemru ER in Chhattisgarh and Agasthyamalai ER in Tamil Nadu.
The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve-
- It is a protected area in Uttar Pradesh that stretches mainly across the Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts and comprises the Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
- It covers an area of 1,284.3 km (495.9 sq mi) and includes three large forest fragments amidst the matrix dominated by agriculture.
- It shares the north-eastern boundary with Nepal, which is defined to a large extent by the Mohana River.
- The area is a vast alluvial floodplain traversed by numerous rivers and streams flowing in south-easterly direction.
Pilibhit Tiger Reserve-
- It is located in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh and was notified as a tiger reserve in 2014. It forms part of the Terai Arc Landscape in the upper Gangetic Plain along the India-Nepal border.
- Some rivers originate from the reserve, which is also the catchment of several others like Sharda, Chuka and Mala, Khannot.
- The habitat is characterized by Sal Forests, tall grasslands and swamp maintained by periodic flooding from rivers.
- The Sharda Sagar Dam extending up to a length of 22 km (14 mi) is on the boundary of the reserve.
- It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains of the Terai in Uttar Pradesh.
Source: Times of India
