Valmiki National Park
Valmiki National Park is a national park and tiger reserve in the West Champaran District of Bihar, India covering. It is the only national park in Bihar.
History
The extensive forest area of Valmikinagar was owned by the Bettiah Raj and Ramanagar Raj until the early 1950s. It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1978. Valmiki National Park was established in 1990. Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is the 18th Tiger Reserve of the country.Geography
Valmiki National Park is located in West Champaran district. In the north, it is bordered by Nepal's Chitwan National Park and in the west by Uttar Pradesh. Its total forest area comprises about, out of which the Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary is and spread of the National Park is about area.The landscape of Valmiki National Park encompasses foothills of the Sivalik Hills with a mosaic of the cliffs, ridges and gorges, hills, streams and valleys, dense forests, open woodlands, grasslands, swamps and riverine fringe. Situated in Gangetic plains bio-geographic zone of the country, the forest has combination of bhabar and terai tracts. Boulder and pebble deposits by the Himalayan rivers in foothills characterized the Bhabar tract while the finer sediments deposits feature Terai lands.
Older alluvium with sandy soil with variegated clay and loose boulder deposits and artesian flows; lateritic formations on higher contours and newer Alluvium on southern parts with reissuing springs akin to artesian flows.
Criss-crossing and meandering rivers, streams and rivulets, man-made canals; swamps and grasslands are featured on these lands. River Gandak forms the western boundary of Valmiki wildlife sanctuary. It enters in India at Valmikinagar, where two rivulets Sonha and Pachnad joins it, forming a holy confluence ‘Triveni’. Harha – Masan River system originates from the Valmiki Forests and forms Burhi Gandak River further south. River Pandai flows into Bihar from Nepal in the eastern end of the Sanctuary and meets Masan.
Flora
As per Champion and Seth classification, there are seven forest types:- Bhabar – Dun Sal Forest
- Dry Siwalik Sal Forest
- West Gangetic Moist Mixed Deciduous Forest
- Khair – Sissoo Forest
- Cane Brakes
- Eastern Wet Alluvial GrasslandBarringtonia Swamp Forest
- Moist mixed deciduous
- Open – land vegetation
- Sub-mountainous semi-evergreen formation
- Freshwater swamps
- Riparian fringes
- Alluvial grasslands and high hill savannah
- Wetlands
In hilly regions, piyar ', mandar ', banjan ', bhelwa ', harra ', bodera ' occur. There is a special attraction of cane brakes in Madanpur Forest block.
There is a small isolated patch of chir pine ' forest in Raghia Forest block at the elevation of.
Grasses are represented by munj, kans ', elephant grass ', narkat ', Vitiveria zizanioides, Imperata cylindrica, choranth ', sabai '. Common climbers are mahulan ', mahai ', panilat ', ramdatwan ' and arar '.
Medicinal plants include satawar ', safed Musli, dudhkoraiya, amla ' and piper .