Assam elephant habitat recovery hope rides on biochar from invasive plants

GUWAHATI

A mission in Assam to enhance the standard of an elephant habitat might flip a botanical legal responsibility right into a carbon-rich asset.

For many years, Assam Forest Division officers have struggled to cope with no less than half a dozen invasive alien crops (IAPs) which were constricting native vegetation and lowering the meals choices for herbivores.

They’re upbeat concerning the focused IAP administration in Khalingduar Reserve Forest underneath the Dhansiri Forest Division of Udalguri district, bordering Bhutan. A two-hectare space has been chosen on this reserve forest within the Bodoland Territorial Area (BTR) for the mission centered on managing dense stands of three IAP species.

These species are Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata, and Mikania micrantha. Though these species have been identified to contribute as nectar assets or structural cowl, their proliferation into dense stands is altering native plant communities and constraining regeneration.

Assam-based biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak has undertaken a mission to transform invasive alien plant species into biochar to enhance an elephant habitat in Assam’s Udalguri district.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Aaranyak, a Guwahati-based biodiversity conservation organisation, is enterprise the Worldwide Elephant Basis-supported mission. The programme targets native vegetation restoration by focused IAP administration, seed-ball-assisted regeneration, and conversion of cleared biomass into biochar.

Biochar is a fine-grained, porous, charcoal-like substance made by heating natural waste in a managed surroundings with little to no oxygen. As an alternative of burning to ash, this thermal course of transforms the biomass right into a secure, stable type of carbon that resists decay and may stay within the floor for hundreds of years.

Biochar properties differ significantly with feedstock and manufacturing circumstances. Its porous construction can affect soil water retention, nutrient retention, aggregation, and microbial habitat.

Hope for herbivores

In response to Aaranyak’s Rabiya Daimari, Bistirna Burhagohain, Bikash Tossa, Manav Nayak, and Pradip Barman, a quintet conducting the sphere operations for the mission, the three species chosen compete with native vegetation for mild, area, moisture, and vitamins.

These IAPs steadily stifle the expansion and restoration of native grasses, herbs, shrubs, and naturally regenerating timber. “Elephants and different herbivores want a diverse forage base comprising native grasses and crops,” a group member stated.

The quintet stated the prevailing vegetation within the mission space was catalogued to establish patches with substantial IAP dominance. Based mostly on the survey findings, the IAPs had been manually uprooted within the goal space to minimise regrowth and scale back aggressive stress on regenerating vegetation.

“The Khalingduar mission generally is a game-changer for the administration of IAPs,” Sonali Ghosh, the Further Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and BTR’s Council Head of Division, instructed The Hindu on Saturday (August 22, 2026).

The Aaranyak group stated the mission space could be monitored periodically for IAP re-emergence and regeneration, with subsequent elimination undertaken the place vital to forestall renewed dominance and maintain the area created for native vegetation restoration.