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| Keibul Lamjao National Park | |
|---|---|
| Name | Keibul Lamjao National Park |
| Location | Manipur, Northeast India |
| Nearest city | Imphal |
| Area | 40.05 km² |
| Established | 1977 |
| Governing body | Government of India; Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change |
Keibul Lamjao National Park Keibul Lamjao National Park is a protected area in Manipur renowned as the only floating national park in the world. Located on the southern portion of Loktak Lake near Imphal, it is internationally significant for its unique phumdi floating biomass, endemic wildlife, and cultural associations with local communities. The park is managed under Indian wildlife legislation and has been the focus of national and international conservation initiatives.
Keibul Lamjao National Park lies within the Bishnupur district and Thoubal district regions near Imphal International Airport, and it forms part of the broader Loktak Lake complex, which is associated with the Manipur River basin and the Barak River watershed. The area is linked to rings of protected sites such as Keibul Lamjao, adjacent wetlands recognized under the Ramsar Convention, and state-level schemes administered by the Government of Manipur and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Conservation priorities in the park intersect with initiatives by Wildlife Institute of India, World Wide Fund for Nature, and other NGOs active in Northeast India biodiversity.
The park occupies floating mats called phumdis on Loktak Lake, a large freshwater lake fed by tributaries including the Manipur River and drained via the Ithai Barrage complex linked to hydrological engineering projects associated with Bishnupur district infrastructure. Keibul Lamjao is characterized by fluctuating water levels influenced by seasonal monsoon regimes associated with the Brahmaputra River catchment dynamics and by anthropogenic regulation tied to the Loktak Hydroelectric Project. The geomorphology of the park contrasts with terrestrial parks such as Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park while sharing wetland hydrology comparable to Sundarbans mangrove systems and Ashtamudi Lake wetlands.
Keibul Lamjao supports a matrix of vegetation on phumdis including sedges, Phragmites australis-like species, and aquatic macrophytes observed in studies by Zoological Survey of India and Botanical Survey of India. The park is famed as the last refuge of the endemic sangai or Manipur brow-antlered deer, a cervid often highlighted by UNESCO-linked conservation literature and species recovery programs run in collaboration with Zoological Society of London experts. Avifauna includes migratory and resident species monitored by ornithologists from Bombay Natural History Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology partnerships, with waterfowl and raptors comparable to assemblages in Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park. Aquatic fauna comprises native fishes recorded by ichthyologists affiliated with Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute and amphibians catalogued by herpetologists from North Eastern Hill University and Manipur University.
Management of Keibul Lamjao involves statutory frameworks such as the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and initiatives under the Project Tiger-era conservation ethos, though the park itself focuses on species recovery plans similar to programs in Nagarjuna Sagar and Gir National Park. Collaborative management has engaged agencies including the Forest Department, Government of Manipur, international donors like UNDP, and conservation NGOs such as WWF-India and IUCN. Threats addressed in management plans include habitat degradation from hydroelectric power regulation at the Ithai Barrage, invasive species issues paralleling challenges at Vembanad-Kol Wetland, and human-wildlife interface concerns noted in regional studies by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
Surrounding villages such as those in Moirang subdivision and traditional communities of the Meitei people maintain livelihoods based on fishing, floating agriculture on phumdis, and reed harvesting, practices documented in ethnographic work by scholars from Jawaharlal Nehru University and North Eastern Hill University. Cultural ties include ritual landscapes linked to Ebudhou Thangjing Temple and local festivals similar in social role to Holi and Sangai Festival celebrations that promote Manipur’s heritage. Resource-use conflicts have involved stakeholders represented by local panchayats and state authorities, echoing governance debates found in other South Asian wetland contexts like Sundarbans and Chilka Lake.
Historical records of the area appear in colonial-era surveys conducted by the Survey of India and in botanical and zoological reports archived by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Formal protection for the site began with designation measures in the 1970s influenced by conservation movements of the period that also shaped policies for Kaziranga National Park and Hemis National Park. Designation processes involved the Ministry of Environment and Forests and later technical assessments by the Wildlife Institute of India and international advisors from organizations such as IUCN.
Tourism to Keibul Lamjao is managed via ecotourism initiatives coordinated by the Tourism Department, Government of Manipur and local operators based in Imphal. Access routes include waterways from Moirang and road links connected to the Imphal–Kohima road network, with seasonal restrictions akin to those applied in Hemisphere lake-adjacent parks during monsoon periods. Visitor facilities and interpretation programs are informed by models used at Govindgarh and Manipur State Museum, and researchers typically coordinate permits through the Forest Department, Government of Manipur and academic institutions such as Manipur University.
Category:National parks in Manipur Category:Protected areas established in 1977