Bio – reserves in India and World Heritage Sites
There are 14 bio-reserves in India out of which 4 are listed in the UNESCO World Bio-reserves List
The following are the 14 bio-reserves in India and the first four are those that are also on the UNESCO List
Bio-reserves:
1 1989 Gulf of Mannar Indian part of Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka Tamil Nadu Coasts 10500 (largest of all)
2 1989 Sunderbans Part of delta of Ganges and Barahamaputra river system West Bengal Gangetic Delta 9630
3 1988 Nanda Devi Parts of Chamoli District, Pithoragarh District & Almora District Uttranchal West Himalayas 5860
4 1986 Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Silent Valley and Siruvani Hills Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka Western Ghats 5520 (Oldest of all)
5 1998 Dehang Debang Part of Siang and Debang valley Arunachal Pradesh East Himalayas 5112 6 1999 Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve Parts of Betul District, Hoshangabad District and Chhindwara District Madhya Pradesh Semi-Arid 4926
7 1994 Simlipal Part of Mayurbhanj district Orissa Deccan Peninsula 4374
8 2005 Achanakamar – Amarkantak Part of Annupur, Dindori and Bilaspur districts Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh 3835
9 1989 Manas Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darang District Assam East Himalayas 2837
10 2000 Kanchanjunga Parts of Kanchanjunga Hills Sikkim East Himalayas 2620
11 2001 Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve Neyyar, Peppara and Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary and their adjoining areas Kerala Western ghats 1701
12 1989 Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve Southern most islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Andaman and Nicobar Islands Islands 885
13 1988 Nokrek Part of Garo Hills Meghalaya East Himalayas 820
14 1997 Dibru- Part of Dibrugarh District and Tinsukia District Assam East Himalayas 765
As we can observe, 7 bio-reserves were selected before 1989 and the rest 7 are added till 2005
India has the following kinds of Protected areas, in the sense of the word designated by IUCN. As of May 2004, India has 156,700 km² of surface area designated as protected areas, roughly 4.95% of the total surface area
Protected Areas in India:
1. National Parks (IUCN Category II): India’s first National Park was Hailey National Park, now Jim Corbett National Park, established in 1935. By 1970, India had 5 National Parks; today it has over 90
2. Animal Sanctuary (IUCN Category IV): India has over 500 animal sanctuaries, referred to as Wildlife Sanctuaries. Among these, the 28 Tiger Reserves are governed by Project Tiger, and are of special significance in the conservation of the tiger
3. Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO designation roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V
4. Reserved Forest and Protected Forest (IUCN Category IV or VI, depending on protection accorded
5. Conservation Reserve and Community Reserve (IUCN Category V and VI respectively)
6. Village Forest and Panchayat Forest (IUCN Category VI)
7. Private protected areas8. conversation areas
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Selected by UNESCO World Heritage Site Committee
Total – 28 in India
Madhya Pradesh – 3
Maharashtra – 4
Uttar Pradesh – 3
Karnataka – 3
Tamil Nadu – 3
Uttaranchal – 1
Bihar – 1
West Bengal – 1
Gujarat – 1
Goa – 1
Orissa – 1
Delhi – 3
Assam – 2
Rajasthan – 1
World Heritage Sites from India:
1. Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh
2. Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
3. Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh
4. Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, Gujarat
5. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Maharashtra
6. Churches and Convents of Goa
7. Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra
8. Ellora Caves, Maharashtra
9. Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh
10. Great Living Chola Temples, Tamil Nadu
11. Group of Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka
12. Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
13. Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka
14. Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi
15. Kaziranga National Park, Assam
16. Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan
17. Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Madhya Pradesh
18. Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bihar
19. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam
20. Mountain Railways of India
21. Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Park, Uttaranchal
22. Qutub Minar and its monuments, Delhi
23. Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh
24. Red Fort, New Delhi
25. Konark Sun Temple, Orissa
26. Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal
27. Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh
28. Mysore Palace, Karnataka
Several railways were built in the mountainous regions of India. Collectively they are known as the Mountain railways of India. Four of these railways are running in 2007:
1. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
2. Nilgiri Mountain Railway
3. Kalka-Shimla Railway
4. Matheran Hill Railway
The collective designation refers to the current project by the Indian government to nominate a representative example of its historic railways to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was recognized in 1999, while the Nilgiri Mountain Railway was added as an extension to the site in 2005.
They were recognized for being outstanding examples of bold, ingenious engineering solutions for the problem of establishing an effective rail link through a rugged, mountainous terrain.
Both the Kalka-Shimla Railway and the Matheran Hill Railway are on the tentative nomination list for that site
