Lawachara National Park (Bengali: লাউয়াছড়া) is a major national park and nature reserve in Bangladesh. The park is located at Kamalganj Upazila, Maulvi Bazar District in the northeastern region of the country. It is located within the 2,740 ha (27.4 km2) West Bhanugach Reserved Forest.
Lawachara National Park covers approximately 1,250 ha (12.5 km2) of semi-evergreen forests Biome and mixed deciduous forests Biome. The land was declared a national park by the Bangladesh government on 7 July 1996 under the Wildlife Act of 1974.
Location:
Lawachara is about 160 km (99 mi) northeast of Dhaka and 60 km (37 mi) from Sylhet. It is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the town of Srimongal.
The terrain of Lawachara is undulating with scattered 10 to 50 m (33 to 164 ft) hillocks. Locally known as tila, the hillocks are primarily composed of Upper Tertiary soft sandstone. The park is crossed by numerous sandy-bedded streams (locally known as Nallah), one of which is the Lawachara tributary, from which the park derived its name.[3] The soil of Lawachara is alluvial brown sandy clay loam to clay loam dating from the Pliocene epoch. Shallow depressions filled with water (haor wetlands) are also a feature of the region as the low-lying areas are often subject to flooding.
The climate of Lawachara is generally pleasant to warm, averaging at 26.8 °C (80.2 °F) in February to 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) in June. The humidity is high throughout the year, and Lawachara experiences frequent rains with occasional cyclonic storms.
Human Settlement::
There are about eighteen villages near Lawachara. Two of them (Magurchara punji[10] and Lawachara punji) are located within the boundaries of the park. Indigenous peoples in the area include the Christian Khasia people, the Hindu Tripuri people, the Tipra people, and the Monipuri people. The rest of the population are mostly Muslim migrants from Noakhali, Comilla, and Assam.There is a mosque located off Srimangal-Bhanugach Road called Lawachara Jame Mosque.
Registered forest villagers have certain rights within the reserve. This includes wood collection for fuel and building materials, hunting, betel leaf production, grazing of livestock, harvesting of other forest products, and limited agriculture in allocated land.
