HINGOL NATIONAL PARK (BALUCHISTAN)

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Hingol National Park is located in Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is the largest National Park in Pakistan. It covers an area of 1,650 square kilometers (640 sq mi).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Hingol National Park was established in 1988.Dhrun, Hingol and the area in between Rodani-Kacho were declared as Hingol National Park

GEOGRAPHY

Hingol National Park is located along the Makran coast. It lies within sections of Lasbela District, Gwadar District, and Awaran District. The Gulf of Oman of the Arabian Sea are to the south. Karachi is approximately 190 kilometers (120 mi) to the southeast on the coast.

TOPOGRAPHY
Hingol National Park is one of the unique and most beautiful places to be found in Balochistan, It contains a variety of topographical features and habitats, varying from arid subtropical forest in the north to arid mountain in the west. Large areas of the park are covered with drift sand and can be classified as coastal semi desert.

The park has high aesthetic venues and highly diverse ecosystem  mixed landscape like beaches, sand dunes, rocks, mud volcanoes, clay mountain ranges, patches of agriculture, mountains, wetlands and the sea.

Approximately 5,000 households spread in more than 200 scattered villages in Hingol National Park. 

Communities living inside and around the park have direct or indirect dependency on it. The main sources of livelihood for local communities are livestock, fishing, cultivation, wood cutting and hunting.

BOUNDRIES OF HINGHOL NATIONAL PARK

NORTH BOUNDARY

North boundary starts from the junction of Pao River and Null River and moves eastwards following the Nal River, Nali Kohar Kaur, Kohar Kaur, and Arra Kaur. Then it follows the ridge line of Kund Mountain and ends on Babro Kaur which is the north-east corner on the boundary.

EAST BOUNDARY

Eastern side of the boundary starts from Babro Kaur and moves towards south on its tributary coming from Garri Mountain. In the east of HNP boundary it extends southwards following Awaran/ Lasbela district boundary, Garrai Kaur, Pachhri Kaur, Deokoh Wyaro Kaur, Rayen Kaur, and passing through Manjwani Pass, Manjwani Kaur and then a 5km buffer of Chander Gup volcano and enters in sea 

WEST BOUNDARY

In the west, boundary passes through Gaz Ab Kaur, Manneji Kaur, Koh Sarri Kaur, Parkin Kaur and junction of Solari Kaur and Hingol River. From this point it follows Hingol River up to the junction of Pao River and Nul River which is the northwestern corner of the Park.

MAKRAN COASTAL HIGHWAY

The Makran Coastal Highway (MCHW) passes though the southern side of this park and that provides the travelers a great view of the mountains at the southern side and sea view at the northern side Makran Coastal Highway passing through the HNP provides beautiful landscape, wildlife and sea breeze.

BUZI MONUMENT VALLEY

Buzi Monument Valley is in the region of Hingol National Park lies on the Southern Coast of Kech Makran.  It is characterized by a cluster of vast sand mud, sandstone foothill. Sand dunes, which are basically ridges of sand created by the wind; found in the deserts or near the oceans. The coast of Makran has muddy hills with very fast winds blowing throughout the year..These fast winds cut through the muddy hills and mountains and can result in a natural rock formation shaped like a standing lady (Princess of Hope) or sphinx.The Princess of Hope is a famous statue in Buzi pass and it looks like a princess stood wearing a royal robe and a hood.

Buzi pass is the gallery of beautiful artwork of the nature but the most popular ones are "Princess of Hope" and "Sphinx" "Lion " which looks like the Great Sphinx of Giza which was constructed on the order of the Pharaohs to depict the pharaoh located in Egypt.

Traveling towars Gwadar on Makran Coastal Highway and about 6 kms from Kund Malir, one would be struck with the sublime beauty of the natural rock formations and the smooth road that sneaks its way through the Buzi pass.

MUD VALCANOES

There are many active mud volcanoes located in Hingol  Approximately 20 locations are having clusters of mud volcanoes. Mostly these  mud volcanoes are in the  region which are  situated in out-of-reach areas and is having very difficult terrain.  These mud volcanoes are about a kilometer off the main Coastal Highway leading from Lasbela to Gwadar.

The largest clusters are in the south of Gorangatti, on the east and west of Hingol River basin. In Gwadar District, the mud volcanoes are very small and mostly sit in the south of Jabal-e-Mehdi toward Sur Bandar. Many more exist in the north-east of Ormara. The remainder are in Lasbela and Awaran Districts and are scattered between south of Gorangatti on Koh Hinglaj to Koh Kuk in the North of Miani Hor in the Hangol Valley. In this region, the heights of mud volcanoes range between 80 to 2,550 feet (25 to 786 m).

Chandragup mud volcano is the largest and highest volcano in the world located in Jhao tehsil a part of hinghol national park. It is located in the southeastern part of the park. It is only 73 meter (273 feet) high and is 450 feet (137.16 m) in diameter. Khandewari another largest mud volcano is in the Haro range in the eastside of a parkt.

HINDUS  SCARED  PLACES

There are three sacred places of Hindus in Highol national Park. Many Hindus visit these areas each year. There names are a follow.    

1.    Hinglaj Mata Mandar

2.    Chandragup Mud valcano

3.     Khandewari volcano

HINGLAJ

Hinglaj is a town on the Makran coast in the Lasbela district of Balochistan. Hinglaj is an important Hindu pilgrimage site also called 'Nani ki Haj' located in in the center of Hingol National Park. It is situated near the peak of one of the mountains of the Makran Coastal Range. It is approximately 120 km from the Indus River Delta and 20 km from the Arabian Sea. The area is extremely.

NANI MANDIR

The Hinglaj area has the Nani Mandar, a sacred place for the Hindus. 109 km of the Coastal Highway runs through the National park

Nani Mandir, also known as Hinglaj Mata, Hinglaj Devi, or Hingula Devi is a Hindu temple in Hinglaj, It is a form of Durga or Devi located in a mountain cavern on the banks of the Hingol River. The cave temple of Hinglaj Mata is located in a small natural cave in a narrow gorge in the remote, hilly area. 

Throughout the year, thousands of Hindus visit the Hinglaj Mata Mandir out of which more than 5,000 come in the month of April at their religious gathering known as “Hinglaj Mata Teerath Yatra and Shri Hinlaj Seva Mandli”.

NATURAL WATER 

Natural water bodies include river, water channels, oceanic water, small lakes and streams. In the area, secondary water channels are of non-perennial nature i.e. remains dry throughout the years except the rainy season. 

HINGOL RIVER

The Hingol River at the Hingol national park is stretched at 350 miles and is the longest river in Balochistan.  The water is crystal–clear, reflecting the incredible blue of the sky. It forms the connection between mountains, coastal sand dune areas, estuary and the Arabian Sea.

STREAMS

Hingol National Park includes many streams and the estuary of the Hingol River. There are plenty of streams flowingin the park. Five streams flows from the North, others merge in Hinghol River from East and West. Ara Kaur, Duraski, Mashkay Kaur, Naal Kaur (main) flow from NorthBabro, Hodar, Kuli Kaur & Pacherri streams join Hingol from the East Aryan and Karpasi Kaur streams  join from West  Maar Kaur (also called Babro) is a tributary of Hungol RiverDid a jeep-cum-trekking trip from North (Tirranch, Awaran) to South in the Hungol National Park area. 

Few streams and river names are mentioned below:

·      Arra Kaur

·      Babro Kaur

·      Chigarrdi Kaur

·      Deokoh Wyaro Kaur

·      Drabi Kaur

·      Durraski Kaur

·      Gaddagar Kaur

·      Garri Kaur

·      Gaz Ab Kaur

·      Gorhad Kaur

·      Gorangatti Kaur

·      Gurab Kaur

·      Guzzyun Kaur

·      Haaryan Kaur

·      Highol River

·      Karpasi Kaur

·      Koh Sarri Kaur

·      Kohar Kaur

·      Machi Kaur

·      Mar Kaur

·      Manneji Kaur

·      Manjwani Kaur

·      Mashkay Kaur

·      Nal River

·      Nali Kohar Kaur

·      Nul River

·      Pachhri Kaur

·      Parkin Kaur

·      Pao River

·      Rayen Kaur

·      Shanndi Kaur

·      Sharan Wali Kaur

·      Solangi Kaur

·      Solari Kaur

·      Wadi Kour

 COASTAL PLAINS

A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior. Desert valleys with steep slope A large area of HNP consists of sandy mountains. 

KUND MALIR BEACH

Kund Malir is a desert beach , about 145 km from Zero-Point on Makran Coastal Highway. The area is part of Hingol National Park. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in this world.

ORMARA BEACH

The Ormara beach; is an old coastal city .Tt comes going towards Gwadar all the way through Makran Coastal Highway

FLORA

More than 250 plant species are found in Hingol national park

FAUNA

Several species are found in the Hingol National Park At least 35 species of mammals, 65 species of amphibians and reptiles and 185 species of birds are known to be found in park. The park has been an excellent habitat to wild animals including ibexes, Urials and Chinkara, besides number of resident and migratory birds.

MAMMALS

1.                          Sind leopard

2.                          Indian fox

3.                          Jungle cat

4.                          Pakistan sand cat

5.                          Striped hyena

6.                          Golden jackal

7.                          Sindh ibex

8.                          Urial

9.                          Chinkara

10.                        Honey badger

11.                        Indian pangolin

12.                        long-eared hedgehog

13.                        Indian crested porcupine

14.                        Indian gray mongoose

15.                        Cairo spiny mouse

16.                        Carrot-tail viper gecko

BIRDS

1.               Houbara bustard

2.               Spot-billed pelican

3.               Dalmatian pelican

4.               Bonelli's eagle

5.               Imperial eagle

6.               Golden eagle

7.               Tawny eagle

8.               Griffon vulture

9.                Egyptian vulture

10.              Cinereous vulture

11.              Laggar falcon

12.              Red-necked falcon

13.              Kestrel

14.              Brown-necked raven

15.              Lichtenstein's sandgrouse

16.              Grey partridge

17.              See-see partridge

18.              Stone-curlew

19.              Indian sandgrouse

20.              Crowned sandgrouse

21.              Painted sandgrouse

22.              Eurasian stone-curlew

23.              Eagle owl

24.              Sind pied woodpecker

25.              Hume's chat

26.              Long-billed pipit

27.              Striped buning

28.              Finch-larks

29.              Hoopoe

30.              Shrike

31.              Black bittern

32.              Goliath heron

33.              Black ibis

34.              Wheatear

REPTILES

1.    Marsh crocodile

2.    Olive ridley

3.    Green sea turtle

4.    Desert monitor

5.    Yellow monitor

6.    Indian fringe-fingered lizard

7.    Indian sand-swimmer

 AMPHIBIANS

1.        Skittering frog

2.        Indus Valley toad

  FISH

1.        Golden mahasheer

2.        Botchee

 IMPORTANT SPECIES

There are 14 species of birds of special conservation interest on account of being threatened (as per IUCN Red List 2005), very rare or key species of the park.

1.                          Sociable lapwing (critically endangered)

2.                          Saker falcon (endangered))

3.                          White-backed vulture (vulnerable)

4.                          Spot-billed pelican (vulnerable)

5.                          Dalmatian pelican (vulnerable)

6.                          Eastern imperial eagle (vulnerable)

7.                          Pallas's fish eagle (vulnerable)

8.                          Houbara bustard (vulnerable)

9.                          Black ibis (near-threatened)

10.                     Black-tailed godwit(near-threatened)

11.                     Sooty falcon (rare)

12.                     Goliath heron (vagrant)

13.                     Desert owl (confined to Makran Coast only)

14.                     Brown fish owl (very rare)

CLIMATE

The climate of the area is moderate sub-tropical arid. Summer days are generally very hot while due to sea moisture, temperature falls down in the nights. In winter, season temperature varies day to night from 5 ºC to 35 ºC respectively. An average annual rainfall of 50-150mm has been recorded. 

The Hungol valley has fantastic scenery of towering cliffs, pinnacles and buttresses, the river winding between.