Protected Area Network

Protected areas are those where human habitation, or, at the very least, resource exploitation, is restricted. 

In its classification rules for protected areas, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented a broadly agreed concept that has been largely accepted across regional and worldwide frameworks. Protected areas are classified according to their level of protection, which is determined by the enabling laws of each country or the norms of the international organisations concerned. 

Marine protected areas, whose limits will encompass some ocean area, and transboundary protected areas, which span many nations and eliminate borders inside the region for conservation and economic reasons, are also included in the phrase “protected area”.

Examples of protected area networks in India

Assam’s protected area network covers 3,925 square kilometres, accounting for nearly 5% of the state’s total land area. It consists of five national parks, 17 wildlife sanctuaries, three planned wildlife sanctuaries, four tiger reserves, five elephant reserves, two biosphere reserves, and two world natural heritage sites, all of which play a major role in in-situ biodiversity protection. 

Kaziranga National Park is well-known for being the home of the big Indian one-horned rhinoceros. In addition, the park is home to wild buffaloes, swamp deer, hog deer, sambar, elephants, tigers, and leopards. The faunal population includes 35 mammalian species, 42 fish species, and 254 bird species, including the Bengal florican bustard species. In addition to being a world heritage site, Kaziranga k is also a tiger reserve.

Manas National Park, which is also a biosphere reserve, extends along the Himalayan lower regions in a consistent straight band. There are 543 plant species in the floral diversity, 60 mammalian species, 42 reptile species, seven amphibian species, five fish species, 103 invertebrate species, and 327 bird species in the faunal variety. Rhinos are being transported from Pobitora to Manas in phases to reintroduce rhinos to Manas.

The Dibru-Saikhowa biosphere reserve, which contains the Dibru-Saikhowa wildlife sanctuary, biogeographically reflects the Indian and Malayan sub-regions. It is made up of several ‘ecotones’ that exist between riparian and grassland floral communities, as well as deciduous and wet evergreen forest types. The white winged wood duck, hoolock gibbon, wild buffalo, various types of turtles, Gangetic dolphin, golden mahseer, and other significant faunal species call this biosphere reserve home. 

Three species of amphibians, 22 species of reptiles, 25 species of birds, 25 species of mammals, 62 species of fish, and other animals have been reported in the Dibru-Saikhowa area. A handful of wild horses also live in this biosphere reserve.

Legislation regarding protected area networks in India

A policy framework for wildlife conservation in India is provided by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), which the prime minister leads. In 2002, the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-16) was passed, stressing public engagement and support for wildlife protection. 

The principle behind India’s conservation strategy is to identify and conserve representative natural habitats across all ecosystems. Forests and animals are included in the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution. The Federal Ministry serves as a guiding light in dealing with these issues.

The provincial Forest Departments are in charge of implementing national policies and plans, whereas the federal government is in charge of wildlife conservation policies and planning. 

There are 987 protected areas covering 1,73,053.69 square kilometres (5.26% of the total geographic area of India), with 106 national parks, 564 wildlife sanctuaries, 99 conservation reserves, and 218 community reserves. Annexure-I lists the protected areas in the nation by state/union territory, along with the year of notification and area. For species-specific management of tiger and elephant habitats, 39 tiger reserves (Annexure-II) and 28 elephant reserves (Annexure-III) have been declared.

Five protected areas have been declared as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Because political boundaries do not confine ecosystems and species, the idea of transboundary protected areas was developed to coordinate the protection of biological units and corridors through bilateral and/or multilateral collaboration between neighbouring countries. National parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and community reserves are the four types of protected areas.

Conclusion

Protected areas in India, which incorporate public parks, creature asylums, and preservation, include around 5.26% of the nation’s territory region as of July 2016. Madhya Pradesh and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands now have the most national parks (each with nine), followed by Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal (six each). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have the most wildlife sanctuaries (96), followed by Maharashtra (41) and Tamil Nadu (31).