Jim Corbett National Park | History | Geography | Climate

Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named Hailey National Park after William Malcolm Hailey, a governor of the United Provinces in which it was then located. In 1956, nearly a decade after India's independence, it was renamed Corbett National Park after the hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett, who had played a leading role in its establishment and had died the year before. The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.

Corbett National Park comprises 520.8 km2 (201.1 sq mi) area of hills, riverine belts, marshy depressions, grasslands and a large lake. The elevation ranges from 1,300 to 4,000 ft (400 to 1 ,220 m). Winter nights are cold but the days are bright and sunny. It rains from July to September. The park has sub-Himalayan belt geographical and ecological characteristics. Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of Shorea robusta (the sal tree), haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees. Forest covers almost 73 per cent of the park, while 10 per cent of the area consists of grasslands. It houses around 110 tree species, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species and 25 reptile species.

An ecotourism destination, the park contains 617 different species of plants and a diverse variety of fauna. The increase in tourist activities, among other problems, continues to present a serious challenge to the park's ecological balance.

History –

Some areas of the park were formerly part of the princely state of Tehri Garhwal. The forests were cleared by the Uttarakhand Forest Department to make the area less vulnerable to Rohilla invaders. The Raja of Tehri formally ceded a part of his princely state to the East India Company in return for their assistance in ousting the Gurkhas from his domain. The Buksas—a tribe from the Terai—settled on the land and began growing crops, but in the early 1860s they were evicted with the advent of British rule.

Efforts to save the forests of the region began in the 19th century under Major Ramsay, the British officer who was in-charge of the area during those times. The first step in the protection of the area began in 1868 when the British forest department established control over the land and prohibited cultivation and the operation of cattle stations. In 1879 these forests were constituted into a reserve forest where restricted felling was permitted.

In the early 1900s, several Britishers, including E. R. Stevans and E. A. Smythies, suggested the setting up of a national park on this soil. The British administration considered the possibility of creating a game reserve there in 1907. It was only in the 1930s that the process of demarcation for such an area got underway. A reserve area known as Hailey National Park covering 323.75 km2 (125.00 sq mi) was created in 1936, when Sir Malcolm Hailey was the Governor of United Provinces, and Asia's first national park came into existence. Hunting was not allowed in the reserve, only timber cutting for domestic purposes was permitted. Soon after the establishment of the reserve, rules prohibiting the killing and capture of mammals, reptiles and birds within its boundaries were passed.

The reserve was renamed Ramganga National Park in 1954—1955 and was again renamed in 1955—1956 to Corbett National Park after author and naturalist Jim Corbett. The park fared well during the 1930s under an elected administration. But during the Second World War, it suffered from excessive poaching and timber cutting. Over time, the area in the reserve was increased to 797.72 km2 (308.00 sq mi) were added in 1991 as a buffer zone to the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The 1991 addition included the entire Kalagarh forest division, assimilating the 301.18 km2 (116.29 sq mi) area of Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary as a part of the Kalagarh division. It was chosen in 1974 as the location for launching the Project Tiger wildlife conservation project. The reserve is administered from its headquarters in the Nainital district.

Corbett National Park is one of the thirteen protected areas covered by the World Wide Fund For Nature under their Terai Arc Landscape Program.The program aims to protect three of the five terrestrial flagship species, the tiger, the Asian elephant and the Indian rhinoceros by restoring wildlife corridors to link 13 protected areas of Nepal and India and to enable wildlife migration.

Geography –

Jim Corbett National Park is located partly along Doon Valley between the Lesser Himalaya in the north and the Siwalik Hills in the south; it has a sub-Himalayan belt structure. The upper tertiary rocks are exposed towards the base of the Shiwalik range and hard sandstone units form broad ridges. Characteristic longitudinal valleys, geographically termed Doons, or Duns can be seen formed along the narrow tectonic zones between lineaments. The elevation of the region ranges between 360 m (1 , 180 ft) and 1,040 m (3,410 ft ) It has numerous ravines, ridges, minor streams and small plateaus with varying aspects and degrees of slope. The park encompasses the Pat/i Dun valley formed by the river Ramganga. Its present area is 1,288.31 km2 (497.42 sq mi) including a 822 km2 (317 sq mi) core zone and 466.31 km2 (180.04 sq mi) of buffer area.

Climate –

The weather in the park is temperate compared to most other protected areas of India. The temperature may vary from 5 oc (41 OF) to 30 oc (86 OF) during the winter and some mornings are foggy. Summer temperatures normally do not rise above 40 oc (104 OF). Rainfall ranges from light during the winter to heavy during the monsoonal summer.