Digboi, Aug. 22 -- The Digboi Forest Division, custodian of Assam's last lowland tropical rainforest in Tinsukia district is battling a severe shortage of staff and officials among other adversities.

There is no Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) in the divisional office and six out of seven ranges have no regular and stable forest rangers.

This leaves vast stretches of the Dehing Patkai landscape and other areas are literally unsupervised or poorly administered.

Spread over more than 64,000 hectares of Reserved and Proposed Reserved Forests, the Digboi Division is home to the Dehing Patkai National Park and forms a part of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve.

This "Amazon of the East" harbours extraordinary biodiversity, including...