Galathea National Park
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Galathea National Park is a national park located in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. It is located on the island of Great Nicobar in the Nicobar Islands, which lie in the eastern Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal).
The total area of this park is approximately 110 square kilometres, and was gazetted as a National Park of India in 1992.[1] Galathea forms part of what has been designated as the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, which also includes the larger Campbell Bay National Park, separated from Galathea by a 12-km forest buffer zone.
The Great Nicobar Island Biosphere Reserve was declared by the government in 1989, and was recognised as UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in 2013.[1][2]
Many unique and rare species of plants and animals are found in the park, a number of which (owing to their relative geographical isolation) are endemic to the islands.
Flora
The vegetation consists largely of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests.
Fauna
Notable animal species found in the park include the giant robber crab, megapode and Nicobar pigeon. [3]
From February to December, the largest turtle in the world, the leather back turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), nests here.[4]
Climate
There is an acute tropical climate here, only with the summer season and monsoons, the inhabitants of the park here have never encountered winter conditions.
During the rainy season, an average of 3000–3800 mm of rain per square meter falls here.[5]
Galathea National Park, due to geographical surroundings and physical location is considered to be having world's best preserved tropical rain forests and large quantity of endemism.[6]
Risk of development
The Great Nicobar Island is at risk of being developed into a Military and trading hub by the Indian government as part of the Great Nicobar Development Plan.[7] The 9 billion dollar project will include the construction of an international container terminal; a dual-use airport for military and civilian purposes; a gas, diesel, and solar-based power plant; and a greenfield township on the 1,000-square-kilometer island. These developments would also boost the island's population into the hundreds of thousands.
Getting to Galathea National Park
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have just one airport, Port Blair. There are daily flights to and from Port Blair to Chennai and Kolkata. The flight time is 2 hours.[8]
Gallery
See also
References
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