Habitat Degradation and Biodiversity Recovery
Owing to prolonged dry spells and climatic variation, high densities of elephants that impacted on the wood cover eroding some areas of the sanctuary of its dense vegetation and highly modifying the locality. In an effort to reverse the loss, an electric enclosure was set up in 2009 for the exclusion of the mega herbivores and to allow for plant recruitment within the exclusion plot.
The natural regeneration was supplemented through tree planting of the indigenous species by visitors and inclusivity of the local community in creating an awareness and sensitization on threats to the environment and wildlife survival.
Riparian forest ecosystems are important for their high productivity of biomass, their biodiversity, and ecological services. The disruption of river flow owing to prolonged siltation andd subsequent loss of steam chanelling along the Bura river within the sanctuary has lead to severe erosion of the tree cover and undergrowth that chracterizes the riparian habitat. This has had a major impact on downstream forest productivity and ecological services, suppression of tree growth, and early tree mortality thus having an inteb=nsive impact on the physiology of the habitat and hydrology of the river.
Followling the successful restoration of the habitat at the Bura enclosre, two separate electric enclosures, one adjacent to Salt Lick Lodge alongside the river and another at Bura dam measuring 2.2 sq km and 3,2 sq km respectively were commisioned in 2020 to recover riparian forest profile which had also impact the contigous character of the forestb and extensively affected the canopy cover.
It is expected vegetation reclamation that will emsue will recover the contigous chatracter of the forest and restore the buffer zone plants that are vital for the mitigation and control of nonpoint source pollution, enhanced infiltration of surface runoffs and in the provision of habitat and food for riparian plant and animal species.