Barda Hills Wildlife Sanctuary

Barda Wildlife Sanctuary is located at about 15 km from Porbandar, which faces Arabian Sea. Barda was a private forest of the ex-princely State of Ranavav (Porbandar) and Jamnagar and, therefore, it is still popularly known as Rana Barda and Jam Barda. Entire area is the reserve forest and had been notified as Sanctuary in the year 1979. The settlement of the area has been completed, but final notification is yet to be issued. The Sanctuary is distributed in two districts i.e. Porbandar and Jamnagar. The hilly terrain with patches of flat plains at places, the crisscrossing of numerous rivulets and streams and existing dams impart a divine look to the forest. One may hardly abstain from thinking that here is the place, where the saints in ancient times must have attained 'moksha', the ultimate liberation. The Sanctuary area is a green oasis, surrounded by agriculture fields, wastelands and forest.

The Sanctuary hardly has 192.31 sq. km area, but has one of the most diverse floral compositions and therefore a potential source of remedies of many ailments, and therefore deserves to be safeguarded. The terrain of Barda is almost hilly and undulating with an altitude ranging from 79.2 m to 617.8 m. above sea level. At places, there are gentle slopes with exposed rocks. The two main ephemeral rivers are Bileshvary and Joghri. Khambala and Fodara are important dams in the Sanctuary.

There are several forest sub-types, such as Southern tropical forest, Southern dry mixed deciduous forest, and Northern tropical thorn forest, while other predominant flora include Euphorbia scrub, dry deciduous scrub, and dry bamboo brakes. Important fauna are blue bull, chinkara, and wolf. While Barda was known to have had a permanent population of lions, they deserted the area towards the end of the nineteenth century. A proposed reintroduction programmer by the state government was cancelled.

Transport

By road: If you’re coming from Rajkot on bus, the bus passes right through town before reaching the bus station, so you can ask to be let off at Bedi Gate

By air: There is an airport 10 km from town, so it’s a relatively inexpensive rickshaw or taxi ride.