Protected areas

Option 1 is correctly matched. Sariska Tiger Reserve is in the Alwar district, Rajasthan. It mainly comprises scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955.
In 2004, it was reported that no tigers were sighted in the reserve. In July 2008, two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park were relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve. Another female tiger was relocated in February 2009. By 2020, the tiger population in the reserve has risen to 20.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, in the Pakke Kessang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The habitat types are lowland semi-evergreen, evergreen forest and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Nameri National Park is in the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, Nameri shares its northern boundary with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh.
The vegetation type of Nameri is of semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests with cane and bamboo brakes and narrow strips of open grassland along rivers Jia- Bhoroli and Bor Dikorai.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Area under Open Forest is much higher than under
Very Dense Forest (VDF) in India.

Very Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 70% and above.

–Moderately Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 40% and more but less

than 70%.

–Open Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than 40%.

–Scrub: Degraded forest lands with canopy density less than 10%.

Statement 2 is correct. The Ganga River passes through the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, among which Uttarakhand has highest

area under forest cover.

.

Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by

Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. In terms of forest cover as

percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal

Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).

# Data Source: India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India. It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water.
It is southwest of the Pangong Tso lake.

Statement 2 is correct. India has added Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as its 42nd Ramsar site, which is a second one in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway.

National Parks in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
NOTE: Indira Gandhi (Annamalai) National Park located in Tamil Nadu.

Black Buck National Park is located in Gujarat; Dinosaur Fossil National Park is located in
Madhya Pradesh, Guru Ghasidas National Park located in Chhattisgarh and Betla National
Park is located in Jharkhand.

Indravati National Park is the most famous wildlife sanctuary of the state of
Chhattisgarh. It has several wildlife sanctuaries in secure areas such as Barnawapara
Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamor Pingla, Kanger Ghati National Park, Pamed, Sanjay National
Park, Semarsot, Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary, Achanakmar
Wildlife Sanctuary, Badalkhol, Bhairamgarh, Gomarda wildlife sanctuaries etc.
Guindy National Park is a 2.70 km2 (1.04 sq mi) protected area of Tamil Nadu, located in
Chennai, India, is the 8th-smallest National Park of India and one of the very few national
parks situated inside a city.
Silent Valley National Park is located at Palakkad district in Nilgiri Mountains of Kerala. It
is at the heart of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and consists of areas of South Western Ghats
rain forests and tropical wet evergreen jungle. River Kunthi passes through it.

Madhav National park is situated near Shivpuri town in Madhya Pradesh. It
is a part of the upper Vindhyan hills.
•The Park was the hunting ground of Mughal emperors and Maharaja of Gwalior.
•It got the status of a National Park in 1958.
•The Park is a combination of dry deciduous & dry thorn forests that make home for
different varieties of antelopes like Nilgai, Chinkara and Deer.
•The park is home to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) like Saharia

The Kerala State government is set to declare the 148-sq-km buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park as Bhavani wildlife sanctuary.
• Encompassing parts of the Mannarkkad and Nilambur (South) forest divisions, the region will become the 25th protected area in the State.
• Home to abundant faunal and floral wealth, the Bhavani wildlife sanctuary is also known to be an emerging haven of dragonflies and damselflies.
• A recent faunal survey revealed the presence of several rare species of odonates here.
• There are currently five national parks, 18 wildlife sanctuaries, including two tiger reserves at Parambikulam and Periyar, and one community reserve in the State.
• The government had notified the Karimpuzha wildlife sanctuary in Malappuram in December last.

Indira Gandhi Zoological Park is located amidst Kambalakonda Reserve Forest in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the third largest zoo in the country. The zoological park is named after the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. It was declared open to the public on 19 May 1977.
Nehru Zoological Park is a zoo located near Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Amirthi Zoological Park is a zoo in Tiruvannamalai District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was opened in 1967 and is about 25 kilometres from the Vellore city. The area of the park is 25 hectares and one can find beautiful waterfalls.

Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary is a hidden gem hiding amidst Vindhyan
Hills in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
•This wildlife sanctuary is a well kept secret and is a safe haven for a large number of
flora and fauna.
•Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Barkheda, Madhya Pradesh is underway to
become India’s second home for the Asiatic lion.
•The species, whose only refuge in the country has been Gujarat’s Gir forest,
numbered in 523 in 2015.
•To prevent decline—and possible extinction—in a single habitat due to natural
disasters, epidemics, decline in prey or retaliatory killings, an action plan is being
implemented to relocate a number of lions to Kuno, a former royal hunting ground.

Wildlife researchers recently documented the presence of an Indian gaur in the Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS) in Roha and Murud talukas of Raigad district.
• According to the Maharashtra forest department, this is the first time a sighting of this species of bison has been reported or documented at the sanctuary.
• The Indian Gaur is listed as Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and is tagged as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
• Gaurs are the world’s largest and tallest wild bovines, with 85% of their current population found in India.
• Male gaurs weigh 1,000-1,500kg, while females weigh 700-1,000kg. Their height ranges from 165-220cm (5 to 7ft).

Project Tiger was formally launched in India on 1st April 1973, with the goal of saving the tiger and its habitat in India.
• With an initial 9 Tiger Reserves, the Project went on to cover 50 Tiger Reserves across the country, incorporating an area of 71,027.10 sq. km.
• Although Project Tiger tackled various issues over the past 45 years, it was unable to keep pace with the rapid changes that affected the tiger landscape, including increased human pressures.
• In 2006, it was replaced by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Both statements are correct.

Kaziranga National Park’s 430 square kilometer area in Assam is sprinkled with elephantgrass

meadows, swampy lagoons, and dense forests are home to more than 2200 Indian

one-horned rhinoceros. Along with the iconic Greater one-horned rhinoceros, the park is

the breeding ground of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.

The park is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the

conservation of avifaunal species. Birds like lesser white-fronted goose, ferruginous duck,

Baer’s pochard duck and lesser adjutant, greater adjutant, black-necked stork, and Asian

Openbill stork specially migrate from the Central Asia during the winter season.

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), with help from Gujarat’s forest department, is attempting for the first time a process to restore coral reefs using biorock or mineral accretion technology.

 A biorock structure was installed one nautical mile off the Mithapur coast in the Gulf of Kachchh.

 Biorock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface.

 The technology works by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water.

• When a positively charged anode and negatively charged cathode are placed on the sea floor, with an electric current flowing between them, calcium ions combine with carbonate ions and adhere to the structure (cathode).

 This results in calcium carbonate formation. Coral larvae adhere to the CaCO3 and grow quickly.

Scientists have discovered remnants of the world’s oldest fossil forest — an extensive network of trees around 386 million years old — in sandstone quarry in the U.S.

 The fossil forest in Cairo would have spread from New York all the way into Pennsylvania and beyond, according to the researchers from Binghamton University, and New York State Museum in the U.S.

 The forest is around 2 or 3 million years older than what was thought to be the world’s oldest forest at Gilboa, also in New York State and around 40 kilometres away from the Cairo site.

Severe Cyclone Fani rendered not only several thousand people homeless as it tore along India’s east coast last week, but also dealt a body blow to wildlife and forest resources in the region.

• The scenic stretch along the tree-lined Marine Drive that bisects the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary adjacent to the Bay of Bengal between Puri and Konark, is now a wasteland with hardly any tree left untouched.

 “As many as 20% of the trees were uprooted, while the rest were found snapped and broken. The devastation has left around 400 spotted deer homeless”.

 Apart from deer, the sanctuary, spread over an area of 87 sq km, was home to wild boar, jackals, striped hyenas, wolves and mongooses.

 In Bhubaneswar, the cyclone had uprooted decades-old trees inside the Nandankanan Zoological Park.

 Several animal enclosures too have been affected forcing authorities to shut down the zoo for an indefinite period.

 The Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary, which is close by, has also been impacted with thousands of trees uprooted. Authorities are attempting to assess the extent of damage.

 As a result, hundreds of displaced monkeys have now entered residential colonies in the periphery of Bhubaneswar. Residents have reported cases of the simians attacking people after loss of habitat and food sources.

Changthang sanctuary is home to a diversity of flora and fauna and is spread over an area of 1,600 sq km.

 It is located in the Ladakhi Changthang Plateau in the Leh district of Ladakh Union Territory.

 It boasts of the highest lake on earth, Tso Moriri. Not just that it is also believed to include the world’s highest village, Korzok Village that draws tourists for the Korzok Monastery.

• From sighting the rare snow leopard, one can also spot a kiang or a wild ass, along with the dark-necked crane.

 Other interesting species one can find are the Tibetan wolf, wild yak, bharal, brown bear and the mormot that seems to be present everywhere.

 It also has a wide variety of avifauna and around 44 types of water birds and seasonal species of migratory birds are also found here.

: The Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) (Odisha) has lost one of its beloved members — 41-year-old Orangutan, an extant species of great apes.

 According to NZP, the Orangutan named ‘Bini’ died due to age-related complications.

 He also suffered from respiratory tract infection.

Over 30% of India’s protected area has been covered under the final ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) notification, the Environment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha.

 As on June 25, 2019, final ESZ notifications covering 316 protected areas (PAs) and draft ESZ notification covering 199 protected areas have been published by the ministry.

 According to the ministry, out of the 651 Protected Areas (PAs) in India, 316 have been covered under the final ESZ notification which provides for prohibition of mining, stone quarrying and crushing units located within one k.m. of such protected areas.

 In the absence of the notification, an area of 10 k.m. around the PAs is considered ‘default ESZ’ according to the directions of the Supreme Court.

 Out of the 316 areas covered in ESZ final notification, 100 PAs are in Andaman and Nicobar Islands followed by 29 in Maharashtra and 23 protected areas in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

 The ESZ notifications are issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Environment (Protection) Rules 1986.

The objective of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project is to assist Government of India (GoI) in building national capacity for implementation of comprehensive coastal management approach in the country, and piloting the integrated coastal zone management approach in states of Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal.

 There are four components to the project, the first component being national ICZM capacity building. The national component will include mapping, delineation and demarcation of the hazard lines, and delineation of coastal sediment cells all along the mainland coast of India.

 The second component is the piloting ICZM approaches in Gujarat. This component will support capacity building of the state level agencies and institutions, including preparation of an ICZM plan for the coastal sediment cell that includes the Gulf of Kachchh, and pilot investments.

 The third component is the piloting ICZM approaches in Orissa. This component will include capacity building of the state level agencies and institutions, including preparation of an ICZM plan for the coastal sediment cells that include the stretches of Paradip-Dhamra and Gopalpur-Chilika, including a regional coastal process study, and pilot investments.

 Finally, the fourth component is the piloting ICZM approaches in West Bengal.

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve falls under the biogeographic region of the Malabar rain forest. The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Wyanaad Wildlife Sanctuary Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Mukurthi National Park and Silent Valley are the protected areas present within this reserve.

Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer State in Protected Area management and development of forest resources and wildlife.

 The total area under the protected area management is 7,072.95 sq. km. which comes to 30.92% of the State’s Forest area.

 The Protected Areas in the State includes 5 National parks, 15 Wildlife sanctuaries, 15 bird sanctuaries and 2 conservation reserves besides 4 Tiger Reserves viz. Anamalai, Kalakkad – Mundanthurai, Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam

• These Protected Areas have been established under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

 Further Tamil Nadu also has the distinction of having 3 Biosphere Reserves viz. Nilgiris, Gulf of Mannar and Agasthiarmalai, which are internationally acclaimed for their rich and unique biodiversity.

Bannerghatta National Park (Karnataka): was declared a national park in 1974, with a portion of it being made into BBP in 2002. BBP has four divisions: the zoo, the safari, the butterfly park and the rescue centre.

Machia Biological Park (Jhodpur, Rajasthan): The primary aim of the Park is conservation and to supplement the efforts for in situ conservation of the flora and fauna of the Aravalli and desert ecosystem.

Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary is located at Agra (Uttar Pradesh).

The Kudremukh National Park is located at a distance of 96 km from the district of Chikmagalur in the state of Karnataka in India.
• Nestled in the Western Ghats, the park is spread over an area of over 600 sq km at an altitude of 1,894 m above sea level.
• The Kudremukh National Park derives its name from a hill top that resembles the shape of the head of a horse.
• The park houses four ranges named Kudremukh, Kerekatte, Kalasa, and Shimoga. The entire park is covered by thick forests with various species of flora. It is also surrounded by tea and coffee plantations.
• The Kudremukh National Park falls under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA.
• It is also the origin of three very well-known rivers – the Nethravathi, the Tunga and the Bhadra.

•A statue of Lord Varaha at a height of six feet can be found inside an ancient cave and a temple of goddess Bhagavathi is also present here. These attract many tourists, mainly pilgrims, here.
• Kudremukh National Park is home to several species of flora and fauna. Eucalyptus, casuarinas, acacia auriculiformis and Grevillea Robusta are some of the species of flora found here.
• Together with a wide array of wildlife consisting of tigers, leopards, wild dogs, Malabar giant squirrels, common langurs, sloth bears, gaurs, porcupines, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, jackals, giant flying squirrels and mongoose found here.