Protected Areas & Conservation

📖 Categories of protected areas

Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, India has four categories of protected areas:

• National Parks — highest protection level; no human activity (grazing, private ownership) permitted.
• Wildlife Sanctuaries — protection with some regulated human activity permitted.
• Conservation Reserves — buffer zones, usually government-owned land adjoining protected areas.
• Community Reserves — areas where community or private land is involved, with local participation in conservation.

🐅 Project Tiger and tiger reserves

Project Tiger, launched in 1973, is one of India's most successful conservation programmes, credited with a significant recovery in the country's tiger population. Tiger reserves are managed with a core-buffer strategy — a core zone with minimal human disturbance, surrounded by a buffer zone allowing regulated activity.

🌐 Biosphere Reserves

Broader in scope than national parks, Biosphere Reserves aim to conserve entire ecosystems (including human communities within them) and are often designated under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme if internationally recognised.