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The world's only floating national park, set on the phumdis of Manipur's Loktak Lake and the last natural home of the Sangai deer.
Keibul Lamjao National Park is a national park in Bishnupur district of Manipur, spread over about 40 sq km in the south-eastern part of Loktak Lake. It is the only floating national park in the world, because most of its ground is not land at all but phumdis — thick, buoyant mats of soil, decayed vegetation and organic matter that float on the lake surface and rise and fall with the water. It was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1966 and upgraded to a national park in 1977, for one overriding purpose: to save the Sangai, the brow-antlered deer found nowhere else on earth, which had been declared extinct before a small population was rediscovered here.
Type: PhenomenonFloating habitat — the park rests on phumdis, mats of vegetation and organic matter roughly one-fifth of whose thickness sits above water and four-fifths below, thick enough in places to bear the weight of a deer or a hut
Sole natural home of the Sangai — the brow-antlered deer, Manipur's state animal, which walks on the springy phumdi surface and is locally called the 'dancing deer' for its gait
Three hillocks — Pabot, Toya and Chingjao rise above the floating mass and serve as dry refuges for wildlife when the water level rises in the monsoon
Part of the Loktak Lake wetland, which is a Ramsar site designated in 1990 and was placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 because of ecological degradation
Rich associated biodiversity — the Loktak wetland supports around 230 species of aquatic plants and 100-plus bird species, along with hog deer, wild boar, otters and the Indian python
Administered by the Manipur Forest Department under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, with the Loktak Development Authority managing the wider lake
Frequency: High — Keibul Lamjao, Loktak and the Sangai recur in UPSC Prelims environment questions and in state PSC papers, usually as a pairing or a Montreux Record question
A phumdi is a heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter at various stages of decomposition, which floats on the surface of Loktak Lake. Living plants root into the decaying layer beneath them, so the mat keeps building downward while it stays afloat. As the mat thickens its roots eventually reach the lake bed in the dry season and draw nutrients from it, then lift off again as water levels rise. This seasonal rise and fall is what keeps a phumdi healthy — and it is exactly what the Ithai barrage, built for the Loktak hydroelectric project, interrupted by holding the water at an artificially steady level. Phumdis are also the base of the athaphums, circular fish-farming enclosures visible from the air as rings on the lake.
Think of a phumdi as a giant floating compost raft. New plants grow on top while old ones rot underneath, so the raft thickens over time — and like any raft, it needs to bob up and down with the water to stay sound. Anchor the water level and the raft cannot breathe.
Bishnupur district, Manipur — southern Loktak Lake
About 40 sq km
1966
1977
Sangai / brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldii eldii) — Manipur's state animal
Endangered
1990
1993
Pabot, Toya, Chingjao
Keibul Lamjao is the clearest Indian example of a species and a landform that cannot be conserved separately. The Sangai survives only because the phumdi survives, and the phumdi survives only if Loktak's water level is allowed to rise and fall naturally. The Ithai barrage, built as part of the Loktak hydroelectric project, holds the water at a steady level year-round; the phumdis can no longer settle on the lake bed to take up nutrients in the dry season and have been thinning, which directly shrinks the deer's footing. Water hyacinth infestation, siltation from a deforested catchment and pollution from the Imphal valley compounded the damage — the reasons Loktak was placed on the Montreux Record, the Ramsar Convention's list of sites where ecological character has changed or is likely to change. For Mains, it is a compact case study of a development project, a Ramsar obligation and an endemic species colliding on the same 40 sq km.
Keibul Lamjao, Manipur — the world's only floating national park, about 40 sq km on Loktak Lake
Sanctuary 1966, national park 1977
Floats on phumdis — mats of soil and decaying vegetation, four-fifths submerged
Last natural refuge of the Sangai, Manipur's state animal, IUCN Endangered, Schedule I
Hills Pabot, Toya and Chingjao are the dry-season and flood refuges
Loktak: largest freshwater lake in north-east India; Ramsar site 1990; Montreux Record 1993
Main threat: the Ithai barrage holding water levels steady, plus hyacinth, siltation and pollution
Because most of the park is not solid ground but phumdis — thick floating mats of soil, decaying plants and organic matter that drift on Loktak Lake and rise and fall with its water level.
The Sangai or brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldii eldii), Manipur's state animal. This park is its only natural habitat, and the species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
In Bishnupur district of Manipur, in the south-eastern part of Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in north-east India.
Yes. Loktak Lake was designated a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 1990 and was placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 because of deforestation in the catchment, water hyacinth infestation and pollution.
The barrage, built for the Loktak hydroelectric project, keeps the lake at an artificially constant level. Phumdis can no longer touch the lake bed in the dry season to absorb nutrients, so they thin out — directly reducing the floating ground the Sangai walks on.