Md. Ziaul Haque Howlader<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satchari National Park – a natural park in Bangladesh, was established in 2005 with an area of \u200b\u200b243 hectares under the Wildlife Conservation Amendment Act of 1974. Satchari means seven ridges. This park has seven hill ridges, hence its name Satchari. The previous name of Satchari was “Raghunandan Hill Reserve Forest”. The Park is located in the Raghunandan Hills of Chunaruaghat Upazila of Habiganj District. It is 130 kilometers by road from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. There are nine tea gardens near the park. Satchari Tea Garden is located on the west side of the park and Chaklapunji Tea Garden is located on the east side. As many as 24 families of a hill tribe live in Tipra Para, inside the park. This tropical and mixed evergreen mountain forest is located at the junction of the Indian subcontinent and the Indo-China region. This park works like a lung of whole Sylhet region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are more than 200 plants in Satchari National Park. Among them, among which abundantly are found – shal, teak, agar, garjan, chapalish, palm, mahogany, krishnachura, fig, jam, jamrul, sidhajarul, awal, malekas, eucalyptus, akasamoni, bamboo, rattan trees, etc. There are found 197 species of animals in this park. Of these, about 24 species of mammals, 18 species of reptiles, 6 species of amphibians. There are also about 150-200 species of birds. It is a protected forest area of \u200b\u200bBangladesh and a sanctuary for birds. The forest is home to the shy monkey, gibbon, langur, jackal, macaque, fishing cat, barking deer, etc.; among the reptiles, there are snakes; among the birds, there is a habitat for the crow, forest rooster, red-headed trogon, wood stork, myna, bhimraj, syama, jhutipanga, shalik, yellow bird, parrots etc. Besides, countless insects have taken shelter in the trees, one of them is the cricket. As per Schedule Satchari National Park has been declared a sanctuary for vultures. An NGO named “Nisarga” along with the Forest Department, takes care of this national park under their ‘Nisarga Sahayata Project’. Apart from forest conservation under the supervision of Nisarga, eco-tours are conducted in the forest. Apart from this, various hobby items are sold under the Nisarga Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many places to visit inside the park. Three trails have been created for tourists inside the forest, such as – Half-hour trail: This 1-kilometer-long trail takes you to the only tribal village called Tiprapara; One-hour trail: This trail is suitable for viewing the diversity of animals and plants in the park; Three-hour trail: This 6-kilometer-long trail is ideal for bird lovers. At its end is the Agar forest. Recently, an opportunity to do tree adventure has been introduced at Satchari Udyan. The cost is 100 taka per person. Tourists enjoy a lot the tree-adventure activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are entry fees to enter the park. For adults it is BDT 115; for minors and students BDT 57; and for foreign tourists -10 dollars. The picnickers have to pay BDT 23 per person. There are car-parking facilities. For small car parking the authority charges BDT 115 taka; and for large car parking- BDT 230. Tourists can reach the park from Dhaka by bus and train. By bus From Dhaka \u2013 tourist can get off at Teliapara or Shayestaganj in Madhabpur on any bus bound for Sylhet and reach Satchari by CNG. By train From Dhaka – you have to get off at Shayestaganj railway station from Kamalapur or Airport Station. From there you can go to the park by CNG or local transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overnight stay within the park is prohibited. There is no accommodation facility in the park. However, rest houses or camping can be arranged with permission from the forest department. You can also stay at Hotel Jamil, Hotel Sonartari and The Palace Luxury Resort in Habiganj town. Tourists are advised to be aware of mobile network limitations before entering the forest. Hence, tourists are strongly advised not to go deep into the forest without a guide. Disturbances of wildlife is prohibited. Tourists need to get out of the forest before dusk. There are leeches. Therefore, be careful of leeches during the rainy season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This park is invaluable to the context of present environmental crisis and rising of global warming. More native trees need to be planted in the forest. Encroachment on the forest and illegal cutting of trees need to be deterred with more vigilance. Some rare plants are still surviving but, with onslaught of climate change how long those will survive. Hence, we need to take initiative soon. Environmental experts and required manpower may be engaged by the Department of Forest (DoF) to make Satchari forest sustain for long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"