Md Ziaul Haque Howlader

Having enough biospheres in a country is considered to be enormous blessing for its human being and prosperity. To stave off the onslaught of climate change, the immense importance of biosphere is a widely-discussed issue. Generally, a biosphere is comprised of various elements and valuable resources. According to the Unacademy research, “A biosphere comprises all of the planets ecosystems, biomes, and creatures. Everything from bacteria to people is found in the biosphere, which is a relatively thin layer or ozone life.

The biosphere is a universal ecosystem consisting of living organisms (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components that help them with power and nutrients.” The biosphere is termed as the link between healthy lives of living species and their all interactions. With the increase of population and hedonism, our important biospheres are on the verge of extinct. Bangladesh possesses some important biospheres, of which Khadimnagar is note-worthy.

Khadimnagar Rainforest, earlier known as Khadimnagar Reserve Forest is one of the most important natural reserves or biosphere reserve in Bangladesh. This rainforest national park is located at Sadar upazila in Sylhet district, which is in the north-east of the country. It is about 10 km away from Sylhet district town, on the Sylhet-Jaflong highway. This rainforest was declared as a national park by the Bangladesh government on 13 April 2006 under the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) Amendment Act of 1947.

In fact, in the year of 1885 during the British colonial rule, this area was cleared for extensive tea plantation. Later in 1950, tree plantations of teak, Garjan, Bamboo, Champa, Agar, Akashmoni, Eucalyptus and Accacia Mangium etc. were started by the then Forest Department. In fact, tree plantations were made in phases at different patches in different years until 1994 by the Department of Forest. In 2008 and 2009, full areas of the present Park were planted by the Forest
Department.

The total area of this Rainforest park is approximately 679 hectare. The park is located mainly on the hills and is surrounded by some tea-states such as- Kalagool, Bhurjan and Goolni. It is extended upto 10 km from east-west and 0.50 km wide from south to north. It is divided into six forest working circles. The overall exterior view of the forest is various clusters of artificial plantations of different ages.

The rainforest area is much undulating and dissected by streams and hill spurs. The highest peak of the hill is about 50 meters from the sea level. The soil condition is loamy, clay and sandy loam at various places of the forest. The climate is generally found humid and warm.

A total of 352 plant species belonging to 81 families have been identified from the Khadimnagar National Park. Among families, 29 represented by one species, 13 represented two species, eight represented by three species and 31 represented by four to 39 species. Seven most common families are Poaceae, Moraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Cypereaceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Mimosaceae etc.  Scientists have made plant species into different habit groups or life forms. Among the species, 116 belong to trees, 52 shrubs, 116 herbs, eight epiphytes and 60 climbers.

The rainforest vegetation can be divided into three vertical layers including canopy, middle/bush and ground layers. The tall trees are dominated in the top layer of vegetation. The ground layer is ornamented by plants of a good number of families. Maximum families are dominated by shade lover plants. Khadimnagar National Park also possesses a good number of medicinal plants such as Menda, Udal, Sarpagandha, Bohera, Chailta, Horitaki, Arjun, Lazzabati etc.

A number of wildlife supporting plant species are found in the Park. Such plants play an important role in conservation of biodiversity. There is also found a good number of species of plants that have already been listed as endangered. Around the Park, there dwell some ethnic communities.

Khadimnagar Rainforest National Park is a famous eco-tourist destination. There are three different trekking trails in the park - walking, cycling and sight-seeing within the park and in the surroundings tea-estate. A small trekking one or two hours will bring the opportunities to tourists to see wild animals. The park possesses a very good feature for nature conservation. This Park is an important place for education and research. Here, tourism is an important source for the livelihood of the ethnic communities and local people. Tourists can easily visit this important national park. First, tourists need to go to Sylhet and then by local transports or rent-a-car. It requires only maximum 40 minutes to reach the national park. There is a small entrance fee.
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The writer is GM (Planning) of Bangladesh
Parjatan Corporation