List of Indian Biosphere Reserves, and Marine National Parks/Sanctuaries.

Biosphere reserves and Marine National Parks/Sanctuaries   of India
Name	State	Year	Area (km2)	Key fauna	Location	Type
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka	1986	5520	Nilgiri tahr, tiger, lion-tailed macaque	Part of Waynad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai, Nilambur, Silent Valley	Western Ghats
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve	Uttarakhand	1988	5860	Snow leopard, Himalayan black bear	Parts of Chamoli District, Pithoragarh District & Bageshwar District	Western Himalayas
Gulf of Mannar	Tamil Nadu	1989	10500	Dugong	Indian part of Gulf of Mannar extending from Rameswaram island in the north to Kanyakumari in the south of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka	Coasts
Nokrek	Meghalaya	1988	820.00	Red panda	In west Garo Hills	Eastern hills
Sundarbans	West Bengal	1989	9630	Royal Bengal tiger	Part of delta of Ganges and Brahmaputra river system	Gangetic Delta
Manas	Assam	1989	2837	Asiatic elephant, tiger, Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur, pygmy hog	Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang Districts	Eastern Hills
Simlipal	Odisha	1994	4374	Gaur, royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant	Part of Mayurbhanj district	Deccan Peninsula
Dihang-Dibang	Arunachal Pradesh	1998	5112	Mishmi takin, musk deer	Part of Siang and Dibang Valley	Eastern Himalaya
Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve	Madhya Pradesh	1999	4981.72	Giant squirrel, flying squirrel	Parts of Betul District, Hoshangabad District and Chhindwara District	Semi-Arid
Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve	Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh	2005	3835	Four-horned antelope, Indian wild dog, sarus crane, white-rumped vulture, sacred grove bush frog	Part of Annupur, Dindori and Bilaspur districts	Maikala Hills
Great Rann of Kutch	Gujarat	2008	12454	Indian wild ass	Part of Kutch, Morbi, Surendranagar and Patan districts; the largest biosphere reserve in India.	Desert
Cold Desert	Himachal Pradesh	2009	7770	Snow leopard	Pin Valley National Park and surroundings; Chandratal and Sarchu & Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary	Western Himalayas
Khangchendzonga	Sikkim	2000	2620	Snow leopard, red panda	Parts of Kangchenjunga	East Himalayas
Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Kerala, Tamil Nadu	2001	3500.08	Nilgiri tahr, Asian elephant	Neyyar, Peppara and Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary and their adjoining areas	Western Ghats
Great Nicobar	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	1989	885	Saltwater crocodile	Southernmost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Islands
Dibru-Saikhowa	Assam	1997	765	White-winged wood duck, water buffalo, black-breasted parrotbill, tiger, capped langur	Part of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts	Eastern Hills
Seshachalam Hills	Andhra Pradesh	2010	4755	Slender loris	Seshachalam Hill Ranges covering parts of Chittoor and Kadapa districts	Eastern Ghats
Panna	Madhya Pradesh	2011	2998.98	Tiger, chital, chinkara, sambhar and sloth bear	Part of Panna District and Chhatarpur District	Catchment Area of the Ken River
Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park	Gujarat	1980	270	coral lichen, sea slug,shelled mollusc, octopus, painted storks, flamingos.	Jamnagar District; 42 islands	southern Gulf of Kutch
Mahathma Gandhi Marine National Park	Andaman	1983	281.5	coral, turtle	29 km from Port Blair.
Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary	Odisha	1997	1435	Olive Ridley Turtles
Malwan Marine Wildlife Sanctuary	Maharashtra	1987	29.22.	Flamingos,gulls, terns,	Sindhudurg District.

Conservation and protection of wildlife in India

Conservation and protection of wildlife in India

India has the following kinds of protected areas, in the sense of the word designated by IUCN:

• National Parks

• Wildlife sanctuaries

• Biosphere reserves

• Reserved and protected forests

• Conservation reserves and community reserves

• Private protected areas

• Conservation areas

As in May 2012, the protected areas of India cover 156,700 square kilometres (60,500 sq mi), roughly 4.95% of the total surface area.

There are four categories of Protected areas in India constituted under the provisions of Wildlife ( Protection) ACT, 1972. Tiger Reserves are constituted by including the areas of National parks and Wildlife sanctuaries. There are 50 tiger reserves in India.

National Parks No-104 Area 40501.03 % in geographical area - 1.23

Wildlife Sanctuaries No, 551 Area -118931.80 % in geographical area 3.51

Conservation Reserves No.88 Area -2594.03 % of geographical area-0.08

Community Reserves No. 127 Area 72.61 % of geographical area -0.002

Total Protected Areas No. 870 Area 162,099.47 km² % of geographical area -4.93

(Source -ENVIS Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, 2018)

National parks

National parks (IUCN Category II): India's first national park is Jim Corbett National Park, established in 1936. By 1970, India had 5 national parks; today it has 105 national parks. In terms of area, they encompassed a total 40,501.03 sq.km, comprising 1.23% of India's total surface area.

Wildlife sanctuaries

Wildlife sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV): India has 551 animal sanctuaries,covering about 1,18,932 Sq km(comprising 3.51 % of India's total surface area.) referred to as Wildlife Sanctuaries. Among these, the 50 Tiger Reserves are governed by Project Tiger, and are of special significance in the conservation of the tiger. Latest tiger reserve is Kamlang Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh. Now, the number of Tiger Reserves in India is 50.

Biosphere reserves

Biosphere reserve (UNESCO designation roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V): The Indian government has established Biosphere reserves, for protecting larger areas of natural habitat, and often include one or more national parks and/or preserves, along buffer zones that are open to limited economic activities. The Indian government has established 18 Biosphere Reserves of India.

Reserved and protected forests

Reserved forests and protected forest (IUCN Category IV or VI, depending on protection accorded): These are forested lands where logging, hunting, grazing and other activities may be permitted on a sustainable basis to members of certain communities. In reserved forests, explicit permission is required for such activities. In protected forests, such activities are allowed unless explicitly prohibited. Thus, in general reserved forests enjoy a higher degree of protection with respect to protected forests.

Conservation and community reserves

Conservation reserve and Community reserve (IUCN Category V and VI respectively): These are areas adjoining existing protected areas which are of ecological value and can act as migration corridors, or buffer zones. Conservation reserves are designated government owned land from where communities may earn a subsistence, while community reserves are on mixed government/private lands. Community reserves are the only privately held land accorded protection by the government of India.

Private protected areas

Private protected areas: These are regions which are owned by an individual or an organisation / corporation not affiliated to the government or a communal body. Even though Indian legislation does not provide protection to such areas, some NGOs are using methods such as land trusts to help in the conservation effort, and providing limited means of protection.

The World Land Trust, another non-profit organization, in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India has funded two significant privately owned protected land holdings in India. The purpose of the holdings are to provide migration corridors to herds of Indian elephants,and the corresponding project is called the Wild Lands Corridor. The two corridors are:

• The Siju-Rewak corridor in the Garo Hills , of Meghalaya, for connection between the Siju Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rewak Reserved Forest. This is one of only four forded corridors across the Simsang River, which bisects the Garo Hills. This region also contains large omnivores and carnivores like the Bengal tiger, clouded leopard and the Himalayan black bear.

• The Tirunelli-Kudrakote corridor, of Kerala between the Tirunelli Reserved Forest and the Kudrakote Reserved Forest acts as a migration corridor for India's largest extant elephant population. The region is part of the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot which is home to the Nilgiri tahr, Salim Ali's fruit bat and 13 endemic bird species including the Malabar parakeet. The trust is in the process of reallocation of villages in the corridor, and is planning to register the corridor as a reserved forest once reallocation is complete, so that standard government protection is obtained.

Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park VUFF-0029

Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park VUFF-0029

Marine National Park in the Gulf of Kutch is situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the Devbhumi Dwarka district of Gujarat state, India. In 1980, an area of 270 km2 from Okha to Jodiya was declared Marine Sanctuary. Later, in 1982, a core area of 110 km2 was declared Marine National Park under the provisions of the Wildlife (protection) Act, 1972 of India. There are 42 islands on the Jamnagar coast in the Marine National Park, most of them surrounded by reefs. The best known island is Pirotan.

The fauna found here include: 70 species of sponges, Coral 52 species including 44 species of hard coral and 10 species of soft coral. As the sea recedes, the sea creatures are exposed to the harsh sunlight before they retreat to deeper waters or take cover under rocks.

The birds visit the Narara coasts during low tide to pick on the fishes and crustaceans hiding beneath the rocks and reefs.Jellyfish, Portuguese man of war and sea anemones are other coelenterates found here. Arthropods include 27 species of prawns, 30 species of crabs, lobsters, shrimps and other crustaceans. Molluscs like pearl oysters and sea slugs are present. Octopus which change colour are also found. Echinoderms like starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins are present. The fishes found are puffer fishes, sea horse, sting ray, mudskippers and whale sharks which are an endangered species. Endangered sea turtles such as green sea turtles, olive ridleys and leatherbacks are seen here. There are three species of sea snakes. There are dugongs and smaller cetaceans like finless porpoises, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. Larger whales such as blue whales, sei whales are seen. Whale sharks can be found in deeper areas.A surprisingly large scale greater flamingo colony, reaching up to 20,000 nests is known to occur along the gulf.

Group of Indian Radioamateurs activated for the first time,  IOTA AS-175,  VUFF-0029                    from Beyt Shankhodar Island (aka Bet Dwarka Island) ;                 Logged 10,237 QSOs between 15 - 23 March 2012 as AT2DW.Other Operators were VU2CDP, SWS.                  QSL via VU2SWS and ClubLog.

The Sundarbans National Park. VUFF-0091

Sunderbans National Park

The Most Famous Tiger Zone in the World's Largest Mangrove Forest in India. The delta is spread over India and Bangladesh with an area of about 10,000 square kilometres and is enjoying the status of being largest halophytic mangrove forest in the world. It is a delta of the two great Indian Rivers The Ganga and The Brahamputra .The whole area is the kingdom of the famous Royal Bengal Tigers.

The Sunderbans National Park is a tiger and biosphere reserve ,located in the southern West Bengal (India). The Sunderbans is named after the Sundari trees which are found in bulk in this area. It was established as a national park on 4th May 1984.It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The most preferable time to visit this park is in the month of September and May. If you visit in winter months you could see on the river banks, the powerful Royal Bengal Tigers. Other wild life species present in this park are Macaques, Indian Grey Mongoose, Leopard Cats, Ridley Sea Turtle, Wild Boar, Jungle Cat, Fox, Flying Fox, Fishing Cats, Chital, Pangolin and a lot others. While on boat cruises, even though you are unaware, the big cat and saltwater crocodile observe you at all times, watching every step you make.

. There are two kinds of boats operated by the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, available in Sunderban, AC and Non-AC. Also, they come in two sizes, large and small, for longer and shorter sailing duration, respectively. The safaris range from a day, and if you can’t get enough of the wild beauty, you have the opportunity to book the boat for up to a week.

Boat Safari Timing: The boat service is available from early morning at 8:30 AM to the approaching dawn time of 16:00 PM.

Note: No boat is allowed inside Sunderban after 6.30 PM

The Sundarbans National Park. (VUFF-0091)(Also IOTA AS-153)

Activations:

Is spread over in the Gangetic Delta, with 54 islands. SAGAR and JAMBUDWIP islands were activated, so far, covering the Sundarbans.

SAGAR Is ( Ganga Sagar Mela ) (almost every year from 2000 in January)

VU2HFR, from 10-17 January,2000, other calls operated: VU2SKD,JSH,KFR

VU2HFR, from 12-15 January 2001, other calls operated: VU2KFR, JSH, SKD.

VU2HFR, from 10-16 January 2002. other calls operated: VU2KFR, JSH

VU2HFR, from 10-17 January,2005, other calls operated: VU2SKD,JSH,KFR

8T5MQT, from 09-16 January, 2015.Other calls operated: AU2MQT, AU2WBR, VU2DPM, EWS, HFR, KFR, JSH, SKD. QSL to VU2NRO.

AU2WBR, from 01 January -31 March 2018, other calls operated: VU2MQT

8T2G, from 10-17,January, 2020, QSL to VU2NRO.

JAMBUDWIP Is (Expedition dedicated to Dipu Da VU2DPD (SK))

AU3SNP, from 28-31 December 2013, other calls operated: VU2GMT, MDG, VU3ARF, SJR, WNN

VUFF Indian Flora Fauna Award.

The VUFF Award  is a beautiful certificate issued by VU2UR  (arasuvu2ur@gmail.com).

The basic conditions are that you must have worked a minimum of three VUFF sites which are among the  activated. The relaxation is, if you work 3 or more  different call signs from the same VUFF site, like VUFF-0005 the Bannerghatta Biological  Park,VUFF-0091 the Sundarbans National Park (Sagar Is,IOTA as-153, every January),and Lakshadweep Marine Biosphere Reserve VUFF-0103, when  they  were activated at different times. Even the Gulf of Mannar VUFF-0030  (IOTA AS-173)   has been activated while at Rameswaram, by different groups like  AT5RP,  and others.
As all these logs are NOT available with the WWFF log search facility, KINDLY apply direct to VU2UR with your QSO  data, which will be examined and award sent to you by e-mail in soft copy jpeg or pdf format.

(Details about the "The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (VUFF-0030)", " The  Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park (VUFF-0029)  and "Sundarbans  National  Park   (VUFF-0091) " activations  are separately  given.)

Apart from   Minicoy Island Expedition, now to help popularise the VUFF award, all the operations from Lakshadweep Islands are also accounted for VUFF-0103, as the Marine Biosphere Reserve  encompasses a very large area, including both the island groups.

All the WWFF fans and radio operators taking part in WWFF hunting, please go through the activation calls given in the pages of this blog,  and  send me your entire log of Indian Stations  worked, so that I can sift and check the QSOs that are valid for the VUFF award and issue the award  immediately  by return mail.

 Thank you, 44/73,Namaste 

Here is a copy of the VUFF Award:

So far, ( till  01 June 2020), the following have been issued the above award:

RW3GW, UA1RJ, UT7WZA, UX5IZ, UU2JQ, UW7LL, RX9WN, HA7UG, RD4WM,
4X4JU, RU4HD, RX9FM, UN7BY, UA0SFN, OM3-27707, LZ1CY, UY6IM,
RA6YJ, I5FLN, YO3JW, IZ1JMN, DK7FK, DF6EX, RD4WM,.