Sitabani Wildlife Reserve falls in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand and has geographical and ecological characeristics of the Sub-Himalayan belt. It comprises an entire hill of the Kumaon Himalayas and is flanked on three sides with dense Sal forest connecting it to the famous Jim Corbett National Park. To the north, it is connected to the Oak and Rhododendron Himalayan mountain forests of Nainital forest division and the western boundary is etched by a sub-tributary of the Kosi river. Broadleaved deciduous forest, riverine vegetation, scrubland, grassland along with gorges and ravines form a varied topography inhabited by rare wildlife. The reserve gets above 600 species of resident and migrating birds throughout the year. Being a part of the trans-Himalayan birding corridor, the reserve gets both plain and mountain birds during latitudinal and altitudinal migration patterns. Some Himalayan animal species like Himalayan Black Bear, Himalayan weasel, Yellow-throated Pine Marten, Himalayan Goral and Serow also visit the reserve especially during the winter months. Indian leopards in this reserve inhabit the craggy cliffs and gorges to avoid interaction with the dominant predator, the Royal-Bengal Tiger which prefers the thickly forested valleys and lowlands. Herds of Asiatic Elephants often pass through the bamboo plantations of this nature reserve when migrating between the core and buffer areas of Jim Corbett National Park. Altitudinal and geographical variations and diverse flora combined with direct connectivity with Jim Corbett National Park on one side and the Nainital Forest Division on the other makes this reserve a natural tiger-leopard and birding corridor of strategic conservation value.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
History
The hill at Sitabani was subjected to years of slash and burn agriculture by the villagers. As a result, the land got degraded and the moisture profile of the soil dropped majorly. Originally this land was a natural man-animal conflict zone. The surrounding forests had so much of deer, nilgai and wild-boar presence that the crops would regularly be destroyed by the ungulates. Also a lot of domestic animals like cows, buffaloes, goats and dogs would be often picked up by tigers and leopards. Also, since a natural stream was flowing on one side of the hill, wildlife had no choice but to cross the hill to drink water, thereby coming in direct confrontation with farmers and cattle-grazers. This agricultural hill was gradually bought over from the villagers who owned it and then methodically converted it into prime habitat over the next few years. The first step was rain-water harvesting to improve the moisture content of the soil followed by the intricate process of removing weeds like lantana, spraying the soil with seven species of indigenous grass seeds and planting much indigenous bamboo. Some higher barren parts of the estate were gradually made green by planting many fruiting trees like many species of Indian figs, Jamun, Wild Mango, Bhimal, Rohini, Jackfruit etc. These started attracting birds and wild herbivores. Waterbodies were dug out to store excess rainwater and with time these became like natural ponds in the forest harbouring fish, amphibians, insects and turtles.There was very little natural water left in the surrounding hills and most water sources were monopolised by humans.So in drier months, all the wild animals from the neighbouring hills started coming to these perennial waterbodies to quench their thirst and soon Sitabani became a magnet for free-ranging wildlife. Many endemic bamboo species were planted after eradicating weeds which became a favourite amongst deer and passing elephants. Soon tigers and leopards started frequenting the reserve following the wild ungulates and automatically the man-animal conflict in the surrounding forest villages diminished. Also, many local villagers were inducted and employed at the reserve by the founder Abhishek Ray thereby generating revenue through eco-tourism and creating a sustainable economic model thriving essentially on conservation.[17][18][19][20]
