Biosphere Reserves in India

Biosphere Reserve (BR) is an international designation by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for representative parts of natural and cultural landscapes extending over large areas of terrestrial or coastal/marine ecosystems or a combination of both.

• It is a protected area where plants and animals are conserved.
• 1979 First Biosphere Reserve of the world established.
• There are currently(April 2021) 714 biosphere reserves in 129 countries, including 21 transboundary sites, that belong to the World Networkof Biosphere Reserves
• Biosphere reserves are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Biosphere Reserves are designated under the intergovernmental MAB Programme by the Director-General of UNESCO. Their status is internationally recognized.
• Biosphere reserves are ‘learning places for sustainable development’. They are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves of the MAB Programme consists of a dynamic and interactive network of sites of excellence. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves promotes North-South and South-South collaboration and represents a unique tool for international co-operation through sharing knowledge, exchanging experiences, building capacity and promoting best practices.

Biosphere Reserves involve local communities and all interested stakeholders in planning and management. They integrate three main “functions”:

• Conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity
• Economic development that is socio-culturally and environmentally sustainable
• Logistic support, underpinning development through research, monitoring, education and training

These three functions are pursued through the Biosphere Reserves’ three main zones

CORE AREAS

It comprises a strictly protected zone that contributes to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation. Human intervention is strictly prohibited. It is the innermost undisturbed ecosystem.

BUFFER ZONES

It surrounds or adjoins the core area, and is used for activities compatible with sound ecological practices that can reinforce scientific research, monitoring, training and education. Only the research and education activities are permitted to humans.

TRANSITION AREA

The transition area is where communities foster socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable economic and human activities. Also known as zone of cooperation.

Biosphere Reserve

MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE (MAB) PROGRAMME

The MAB programme Launched in 1971, is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments. It combines the natural and social sciences with a view to improving human livelihoods and safeguarding natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate and environmentally sustainable.

BIOSPHERE RESERVES IN INDIA

Indian government has established 18 biosphere reserves (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.

Year	Name	Location	State	Type	Key fauna
1	1986	Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve	Part of Waynad, Nagarhole,Bandipur and Mudumalai,Nilambur, Silent Valley	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka	Western Ghats
2	1988	Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Chamoli District, Pithoragarh District & Bageshwar District	Uttarakhand	Western Himalayas
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
4	1988	Nokrek	In west Garo Hills	Meghalaya	Eastern hills
5	1989	Sundarbans	Part of delta of Ganges and Brahmaputra river system	West Bengal	Gangetic Delta
6	1989	Manas	Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang Districts	Assam	Eastern Hills
7	1994	Simlipal	Part of Mayurbhanj district	Odisha	Deccan Peninsula
8	1998	Dihang-Dibang	Part of Siang and Dibang Valley	Arunachal Pradesh	Eastern Himalaya
9	1999	Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Betul District, Hoshangabad District and Chhindwara District	Madhya Pradesh	Semi-Arid
10	2005	Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve	Part of Annupur, Dindori and Bilaspur districts	Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh	Maikala Hills
11	2008	Great Rann of Kutch	Part of Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar and Patan districts; the largest biosphere reserve in India.	Gujarat	Desert
12	2009	Cold Desert	Pin Valley National Park and surroundings; Chandratal and Sarchu & Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary	Himachal Pradesh	Western Himalayas
13	2000	Khangchendzonga National Park	Parts of Kangchenjunga	Sikkim	East Himalayas
14	2001	Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Neyyar, Peppara and Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary and their adjoining areas	Kerala, Tamil Nadu	Western Ghats
15	1989	Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve	Southernmost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Islands
16	1997	Dibru-Saikhowa	Part of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts	Assam	Eastern Hills
17	2010	Seshachalam Hills	Seshachalam Hill Ranges covering parts of Chittoor and Kadapa districts	Andhra Pradesh	Eastern Hills
18	2011	Panna	Part of Panna and Chhattarpur districts in Madhya Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh

18 Biosphere Reserves In India

• Largest Biosphere in India – Gulf of Munnar(Tamilnadu)
• Smallest Biosphere in India – Panna (Madhya Pradesh)
• First Biosphere in India – Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It is a part of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka.

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.

	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
10	Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Kerala and Tamil Nadu	2016
11	Khangchendzonga National Park	Sikkim	2018
12	Panna National Park	Madhya Pradesh	2020

India’s Bosphere reserves that are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list