Protected Areas:

There are eight Wildlife Sanctuaries, one Orchid Sanctuary and two National Parks in the state of Arunachal Pradesh covering an area of 9,488.48 sq km. There is no such threat to these protected areas by the dispersed population of the state that is 13 per sq km. Most of the Protected areas are away from any villages and the people of the state are in a habit of living in such areas without interfering the conservation projects. Almost all the Protected Areas are in ragged terrain and inaccessible, which has added more protection to all these Protected areas.

                                            Namdapha Tiger Reserve

Talle Wildlife Sanctuary (Protected area)	Mouling National Park	Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary
Dihang Dibang Biosphere Reserve	Sessa Orchid Sanctuary	Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary
Eagle Nest Wildlife Sanctuary	Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary	Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary

The protected areas like Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary, Namdapha National Park, Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary and Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary have fringe human population where activities have been initiated by involving the local communities in conservation of wildlife and its habitat. To have a species-specific conservation program the state has taken up activities under Project Tiger and Project Elephant with the central assistance from Government of India. There are two tiger project areas namely Namdapha Tiger Reserve and Pakke Tiger Reserve. Tiger being at the apex of the biological pyramid, the management of Tiger provides scope to the conservation and management of Tiger ecology in a holistic manner. The state has also submitted proposals to Government of India to include all the Elephant habitat areas into four Elephant Reserves that are under active consideration of the GOI. One of the Elephant Reserves has been notified as Kameng Elephant Reserve, covering the district of Papum-pare, East Kameng and West Kameng. Management of Elephant reserves is the landscape management, which covers more territorial jurisdiction of Elephant habitat and corridors and provides scope to address more areas irrespective of legal status of the land to bring under the conservation program.

Challanges for Forester: The Forester will have to provide himself with adequate professional ability to tackle the situation in the 21^st century. The Forester, considered as the duty bound professional for the custodian of the Forest Eco-system, will have to face excessive pressure from the society, to up keep and protect the forest Eco-system. Forest Eco-system being the base for other two Eco-systems needs  preservation and protection under such critical condition. It was a well-established practice and adaptation that the Forester had to manage the Forest only.  Conception of Normal Forest and Increment is the basis of Forest Management. But the present situation has increased the horizon for the forester and the demand from the society made the forester to change his attitude and approach. Now a forester will have to be equipped with managerial knowledge and skill not only to manage the forest but also to fulfill the needs and aspirations of the society.

©2005 Copyright Department of Forests & Environment, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.