Pariksha SaathiLesson 3 of 10 · Environment and Ecology
Protected Areas of India: National Parks, Sanctuaries, Reserves and Biosphere Reserves
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The protected area network
India protects wild habitats through categories created by law. The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 provides for wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, and its 2002 amendment added conservation reserves and community reserves. Tiger reserves, notified under the same Act since 2006, and elephant reserves are usually built around existing parks and sanctuaries. Biosphere reserves are a separate category designated by the Government of India on the UNESCO model. Together they form the backbone of in-situ conservation.
National parks, sanctuaries and reserves
A national park gives the strictest protection: no grazing, hunting or private rights are allowed inside it, and it is declared for its ecological, animal, plant or geological value. A wildlife sanctuary gives somewhat lesser protection: hunting is banned, but grazing, collection of forest produce and some rights of local people may be allowed and regulated. Both are usually declared by state governments. A conservation reserve is declared on government land, often next to a park or sanctuary as a buffer or corridor, after consulting local people; a community reserve is declared on community or private land where the people themselves volunteer to protect wildlife.
The first national park
India's first national park was set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park in the hills of the then United Provinces, now Uttarakhand, along the Ramganga river. It was later renamed Ramganga National Park and then Jim Corbett National Park, after the hunter turned conservationist and author Jim Corbett. Project Tiger was launched from Corbett in 1973. Many of today's famous parks began as royal hunting reserves, and their change from hunting grounds to protected areas is a common exam theme.
Biosphere reserves
A biosphere reserve protects a large natural landscape together with the people who live in it. Its core zone is legally protected and allows only research and monitoring; the buffer zone around it allows research, education, tourism and limited traditional use; and the outer transition zone has villages, farms and other sustainable activities. The idea comes from UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme of 1971. India's first biosphere reserve was Nilgiri, created in 1986 across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka; it was also the first Indian reserve placed on UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves, in 2000. Nanda Devi followed in 1988, and Gulf of Mannar, India's first marine biosphere reserve, and Sundarbans in 1989. A biosphere reserve can contain parks and sanctuaries: Nilgiri includes Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole and Silent Valley.
Parks of the north and east
Kaziranga in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is famous for the great one-horned rhinoceros; Manas, also in Assam, shelters the pygmy hog, golden langur and hispid hare; and Pobitora has a very high density of rhinos. The Sundarbans in West Bengal is the mangrove home of the Royal Bengal tiger. Dachigam near Srinagar protects the hangul (Kashmir stag), Hemis in Ladakh the snow leopard, and Keibul Lamjao on Loktak Lake in Manipur, the world's only floating national park, the sangai deer. Namdapha in Arunachal Pradesh is often cited as home to four big cats: tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard. Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh is known for swamp deer and for rhinos reintroduced there in 1984. The Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh and the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers parks in Uttarakhand are World Heritage Sites.
Parks of the west and centre
Gir in Gujarat, with the landscape around it, is the only wild home of the Asiatic lion; Velavadar in Gujarat is known for blackbuck and the Little Rann of Kutch for the Indian wild ass, and the Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kutch is counted as India's first marine national park. In Rajasthan, Ranthambore and Sariska are tiger reserves, Keoladeo at Bharatpur is a bird paradise and World Heritage Site, and the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer protects the great Indian bustard. In Madhya Pradesh, Kanha saved the hard-ground barasingha and Bandhavgarh is known for its tigers. The National Chambal Sanctuary, shared by Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, protects the gharial.
Parks of the south and Odisha
Periyar in Kerala is known for elephants, Silent Valley for the lion-tailed macaque and Eravikulam for the Nilgiri tahr. Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu form one continuous elephant and tiger landscape. The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park protects coral islands off Tamil Nadu. In Odisha, Bhitarkanika is known for saltwater crocodiles and Simlipal is a tiger reserve.
Key facts
- First national park: Hailey National Park, 1936, later renamed Ramganga and then Jim Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand); Project Tiger was launched from it in 1973.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 provides for sanctuaries and national parks; the 2002 amendment added conservation reserves and community reserves.
- National park: no grazing or private rights allowed; sanctuary: hunting banned but some regulated activities such as grazing may be permitted.
- Biosphere reserve zones: core (research only), buffer (research, education, limited use), transition (villages and sustainable activities); based on UNESCO's MAB programme, 1971.
- First biosphere reserve: Nilgiri, 1986 (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka); first Indian reserve on UNESCO's world network, 2000.
- Gulf of Mannar (1989) was India's first marine biosphere reserve; Nanda Devi became a biosphere reserve in 1988 and Sundarbans in 1989.
- Animal-park pairs: rhino-Kaziranga, pygmy hog and golden langur-Manas, hangul-Dachigam, snow leopard-Hemis, sangai-Keibul Lamjao (floating park on Loktak).
- More pairs: Asiatic lion-Gir, blackbuck-Velavadar, great Indian bustard-Desert National Park, barasingha-Kanha, gharial-National Chambal Sanctuary, saltwater crocodile-Bhitarkanika.
- Namdapha (Arunachal Pradesh) is often cited for four big cats: tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard; Dudhwa got reintroduced rhinos in 1984.
Quick revision
First national park Hailey 1936 (now Jim Corbett, Uttarakhand); WPA 1972 gives sanctuaries and national parks, 2002 amendment adds conservation and community reserves; biosphere reserves from UNESCO MAB 1971: core, buffer, transition; first Nilgiri 1986, on UNESCO network 2000; Gulf of Mannar first marine BR 1989; Kaziranga rhino, Gir lion, Dachigam hangul, Hemis snow leopard, Keibul Lamjao sangai, Kanha barasingha, Chambal gharial.