Biosphere Reserves in India

The Indian National Man and Biosphere (MAB) Committee identifies and recommends potential sites for designation as Biosphere Reserves, following the UNESCO’s guidelines and criteria. By 25th October 2007, fourteen Biosphere reserves have been established in India and some additional sites are under consideration.

Bio-geographical Regions in India

The geographical location of India between 8o 4’ N and 37o 6’ N provides a wide latitudinal spread and permits a wide range of variations in temperature. The topographical diversity marked by mountainous regions covering an area close to 100 million hectares, arid and semi-arid zones spreading over 30 million hectare and the long coast line over 7000 km, coupled with varied precipitation constitute a rich landscape diversity.

India consists of:

a) Two ‘Realms’

The Himalayan region represented by Palearctic Realm and the rest of the sub-continent represented by Malayan Realm

b) Five Biomes

(i) Tropical Humid Forests

(ii) Tropical Dry or Deciduous Forests (including Monsoon Forests)

(iii) Warm deserts and semi-deserts

(iv) Coniferous forests and

(v) Alpine meadows.

c) Ten Bio-geographic Zones

1. Trans Himalayan,

2. Himalayan

3. Indian Desert

4. Semi-Arid

5. Western Ghats

6. Deccan Peninsula

7. Gangetic Plain

8. North-East India

9. Islands

10. Coasts; and

d) Twenty five Bio-geographic Provinces

It is this ecological diversity that makes India as one of the mega-diversity regions on the globe. Efforts are on to designate at least one Biosphere Reserve in each of the Biogeographic Provinces.

National Biosphere Reserve Programme

India has created a network of protected areas in the form of 96 National Parks, 510 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 28 Tiger Reserves and 25 Elephant Reserves. The area covered under protected area network accounts for around 5% of the total geographical area of the country. The rich biodiversity in India has given shape to variety of cultural and ethnic diversity which includes over 550 tribal communities of 227 ethnic groups spread over 5,000 forest villages.

The National Biosphere Reserve Programme was initiated in 1986 and its aims and objectives are as follows:

To serve as wider base for conservation of entire range of living resources and their ecological foundations in addition to already established protected area network system

To bring out representative ecosystems under conservation and sustainable use on a long term basis

To ensure participation of local inhabitants for effective management and devise means of improving livelihood of the local inhabitants through sustainable use

To integrate scientific research with traditional knowledge of conservation, education and training as a part of the overall management of BR

Objectives

It may be noted that BRs are not a substitute or alternative, but a re-enforcement to the existing protected areas. The objectives of the Biosphere Reserve programme, as envisaged by the Core Group of Experts, are as follows:

To conserve the diversity and integrity of plants and animals within natural ecosystems;

To safeguard genetic diversity of species on which their continuing evolution depends;

To provide areas for multi-faceted research and monitoring;

To provide facilities for education and training; and

To ensure sustainable use of natural resources through most appropriate technology for improvement of economic well-being of the local people

How Biosphere Reserves are different from protected areas such as National Parks (NP) and Wildlife Sanctuaries (WS)?

It may be noted that the BR is not intended to replace existing protected areas but it widens the scope of conventional approach of protection and further strengthens the Protected Area Network. Existing legally protected areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuary, Tiger Reserve and reserve/protected forests) may become part of the BR without any change in their legal status. On the other hand, inclusion of such areas in a BR will enhance their national value. It, however, does not mean that Biosphere Reserves are to be established only around the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

However, the Biosphere Reserves differ from protected areas due to their emphasis on:

(i) Conservation of overall biodiversity and landscape, rather than some specific flagship species, to allow natural and evolutionary processes to continue without any hindrance

(ii) Different components of BRs like landscapes, habitats, and species and land races

(iii) Developmental activities, and resolution/mitigation of conflicts between development and conservation

(iv) Increase in broad-basing of stakeholders, especially local people’s participation and their Training, compared to the features of scheme on Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks

(v) Sustainable environment friendly development, and sustained coordination amongst different development organizations and agencies

(vi) Research and Monitoring to understand the structure and functioning of ecological system and their mode of reaction when exposed to human intervention

List of Biosphere Reserves, their area (sq km), date of notification and location

Nilgiri (5520) 1.8.86

Part of Wynad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Madumalai, Nilambur, Silent Valley and Siruvani Hills (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka)

Nanda Devi (5860.69) 18.1.88

Part of Chamoli, Pithoragarh & Almora districts (Uttaranchal)

Nokrek (820) 1.9.88

Part of Garo Hills (Meghalaya)

Manas (2837) 14.3.89

Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darang districts (Assam)

Sunderbans (9630) 29.3.89

Part of delta of Ganges & Brahmaputra river system (West Bengal)

Gulf of Mannar (10500) 18.2.89

Indian part of Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka (Tamil Nadu)

Great Nicobar (885) 6.1.89

Southern most islands of Andaman and Nicobar (A&N Islands)

Similipal (4374) 21.6.94

Part of Mayurbhanj district (Orissa)

Dibru-Saikhowa (765) 28.7.97

Part of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts (Assam)

Dehang Debang (5111.5) 02.09.98

Part of Siang and Debang valley in Arunachal Pradesh

Kanchenjunga (2619.92) 07.02.2000

Parts of North and West Sikkim

Agasthyamalai (3500.36) 12.11.2001 (area expanded on 30.3.2005)

Parts of Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu and Thiruvanthapuram, Kollam and Pathanmthitta in Kerala

Achanakmar Amarkantak 30.3.05

Parts of Anuppur and Dindori Districts of MP and Bilaspur District of Chhattisgarh

(Nilgiri, Nanda Devi, Sunderbans and Gulf of Mannar are part of UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves)

Potential sites yet to be designated as BR

Namdapha, Arunachal Pradesh

Thar Desert, Rajasthan

Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat

Kaziranga, Assam

Kanha, Madhya Pradesh

North Islands of Andaman, Andaman & Nicobar

Abujmarh, Madhya Pradesh

Cold Desert, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh

Seshachalam, Andhra Pradesh

Chintapalli, Andhra Pradesh

Lakshadweep Islands, Lakshadweep

Singbhum, Jharkhand

Source: http://envfor.nic.in