Context: Villagers in Assam’s Bongaigaon district have opposed a move by the State government to upgrade Kakoijana Reserve Forest to a wildlife sanctuary.

• Note: Golden langur is found only in Assam and Bhutan. It is listed in the world’s 25 most endangered primates.

Kakoijana Reserve Forest

• Kakoijana Reserve Forest is located in Bongaigaon district of Assam. It was constituted in the year 1966 as a reserve forest. The reserve is one of the better-known homes of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei).

Key Reason behind this opposition

• Once the Kakoijana Reserve Forest is converted to a wildlife sanctuary, stricter rules will be applied and this will impact the customary and traditional practices and consequently result in villagers losing the rights over the forest. 

Instead, the villagers have demanded that the reserve forest should be converted into a community forest reserve using Forest Rights Act, 2006. 

• This is because some of the areas inside the forest are sacred, and its sanctity should be maintained.

Moreover, the villagers have also said that they can conserve the forest better. 

• They pointed out that the conservation efforts by them had helped the authorities concerned to restore the forest canopy from less than 5% to more than 70%. 
• This in turn helped increase the golden langur population from less than 100 to more than 600 over almost three decades. 

About Golden langur

• It is an Old World monkey found in western Assam, India and in Bhutan.
• Vegetation: Moist evergreen and tropical deciduous forests as well as some riverine areas and savannas.
• IUCN Red list: Endangered
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule I
• Threats: Habitat loss and fragmentation, Poaching among others.
• Chakrashila sanctuary: It is a wildlife sanctuary located in Assam.It is famous for having golden langur as it’s primary species.

By: Shubham Tiwari