Biosphere reserves of India

The Indian government has established 18 biosphere reserves^[1] (categories roughly correspondingly to IUCN Category V Protected areas) to protect larger areas of natural habitat than a typical national park or animal sanctuary, and that often include one or more national parks or reserves, along with buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities who inhabit these regions, and their ways of life.

World network[]

Twelve of the eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list.^[1]^[2]^[3]

#	Name	States/ UT	Year
1	Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka	2000
2	Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve	Tamil Nadu	2001
3	Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve	West Bengal	2001
4	Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve	Uttarakhand	2004
5	Nokrek Biosphere Reserve	Meghalaya	2009
6	Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve	Madhya Pradesh	2009
7	Simlipal Biosphere Reserve	Odisha	2009
8	Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	2013
9	Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve	Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh	2012^[2]
10	Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Kerala and Tamil Nadu	2016^[4]
11	Khangchendzonga National Park	Sikkim	2018^[5]
12	Panna Biosphere Reserve	Madhya Pradesh	2020

List of biosphere reserves in India[]

**Biosphere reserves of India**
	Year	Name	Location	State	Type	Key fauna	Area (km²)
1	1986	Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve	Part of Waynad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai, Nilambur, Silent Valley	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka	Western Ghats	Nilgiri tahr, tiger, lion-tailed macaque	5520
2	1988	Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Chamoli District, Pithoragarh District & Bageshwar District	Uttarakhand	Western Himalayas	Snow leopard, Himalayan black bear	5860
3	1989	Gulf of Mannar	Indian part of Gulf of Mannar extending from Rameswaram island in the north to Kanyakumari in the south of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka	Tamil Nadu	Coasts	Dugong	10500
4	1988	Nokrek	In west Garo Hills	Meghalaya		Red panda	820.00
5	1989	Sundarbans	Part of delta of Ganges and Brahmaputra river system	West Bengal	Gangetic Delta	Royal Bengal tiger	9630
6	1989	Manas	Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang Districts	Assam		Asiatic elephant, tiger, Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur, pygmy hog	2837
7	1994	Simlipal	Part of Mayurbhanj district	Odisha	Deccan Peninsula	Gaur, royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant	4374
8	1998	Dihang-Dibang	Part of Siang and Dibang Valley	Arunachal Pradesh	Eastern Himalaya	Mishmi takin, musk deer	5112
9	1999	Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Betul District, Hoshangabad District and Chhindwara District	Madhya Pradesh		Giant squirrel, flying squirrel	4981.72
10	2005	Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve	Part of Annupur, Dindori and Bilaspur districts	Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh		Four-horned antelope, Indian wild dog, sarus crane, white-rumped vulture, sacred grove bush frog	3835
11	2008	Great Rann of Kutch	Part of Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar and Patan districts; the largest biosphere reserve in India.	Gujarat	Desert	Indian wild ass	12454
12	2009	Cold Desert	Pin Valley National Park and surroundings; Chandratal and Sarchu & Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary	Himachal Pradesh	Western Himalayas	Snow leopard	7770
13	2000	Khangchendzonga National Park	Parts of Kangchenjunga	Sikkim	East Himalayas	Snow leopard, red panda	2620
14	2001	Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Neyyar, Peppara and Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary and their adjoining areas	Kerala, Tamil Nadu	Western Ghats	Nilgiri tahr, Asian elephant	3500.08
15	1989	Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve	Southernmost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Islands	Saltwater crocodile	885
16	1997	Dibru-Saikhowa	Part of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts	Assam		White-winged wood duck, water buffalo, black-breasted parrotbill, tiger, capped langur	765
17	2010	Seshachalam Hills	Seshachalam Hill Ranges covering parts of Chittoor and Kadapa districts	Andhra Pradesh		Slender loris	4755.997^[6]
18	2011	Panna	Part of Panna and Chhattarpur districts in Madhya Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh	Moist deciduous forest	Bengal tiger, Chinkara, Nilgai, Sambhar, and Sloth bear	542.7^[7]

Potential sites[]

The following is a list of potential sites for Biosphere Reserves as selected by Ministry of Forests and Environment:^[8]

Abujmarh, Chhattisgarh
Andaman and Nicobar, North Islands
Chintapalli, Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh
Kanha, Madhya Pradesh
Kovalam, Kerala
Lakshadweep Islands, Lakshadweep
Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat
Phawngpui (Blue Mountain), Mizoram
Namdapha, Arunachal Pradesh
Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Tawang and West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh
Thar Desert, Rajasthan
Tadoba National Park and Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Maharashtra

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Biosphere Reserves in India" (PDF). Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "20 new Biosphere Reserves added to UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme". UNESCO. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ "Man and the Biosphere Programme". UNESCO. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ "20 sites added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves". UNESCO. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ Mohan, Vishwa (8 August 2018). "Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve gets entry into the UNESCO's global list". The Economic Times (India). Retrieved 5 February 2020.
^ http://www.wiienvis.nic.in/Database/BiosphereReserves_8225.aspx
^ https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/70818/panna-tiger-reserve-gets-unescos-biosphere-reserve-status
^ "Status of Biosphere reserves in India" (PDF). ENVIRO NEWS, Ministry of Environment and Forests. January–March 2008. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

External links[]

Wildlife Institute of India webpage on India's Biosphere Reserves at archive.today (archived 9 May 2004)
United Nations List of National Parks and Protected Areas: India (1993) at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 25 November 2001)
Ministry of Environment and Forests

[MOEF_2011-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Biosphere Reserves in India" (PDF). Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[UNESCO_2012-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "20 new Biosphere Reserves added to UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme". UNESCO. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[3] "Man and the Biosphere Programme". UNESCO. Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[UNESCO_2016-4] "20 sites added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves". UNESCO. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[5] Mohan, Vishwa (8 August 2018). "Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve gets entry into the UNESCO's global list". The Economic Times (India). Retrieved 5 February 2020.

[6] ttp://www.wiienvis.nic.in/Database/BiosphereReserves_8225.aspx

[7] ttps://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/70818/panna-tiger-reserve-gets-unescos-biosphere-reserve-status

[8] "Status of Biosphere reserves in India" (PDF). ENVIRO NEWS, Ministry of Environment and Forests. January–March 2008. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

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