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Protected areas and wildlife conservation: quick recap

Protected areas and wildlife conservation · Quick recap · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

The whole chapter in one sitting: the constitutional and legal base, the four categories of protected area, tiger and elephant reserves and species programmes, biosphere reserves, Ramsar sites, the Montreux Record and World Heritage sites.

Wildlife protection in India rests on a constitutional base laid in 1976. The 42nd Amendment moved forests and the protection of wild animals and birds to the Concurrent List (entries 17A and 17B), added Article 48A asking the State to safeguard forests and wildlife, and added Article 51A(g), the citizen's duty to protect nature and show compassion to living creatures. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, passed under Article 252, bans hunting except in narrow cases, sets up the National Board for Wildlife chaired by the Prime Minister and, since the 2022 amendment, has four schedules, the fourth for specimens listed under CITES. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau enforces the bans on trade.

The Act creates four kinds of protected area. A wildlife sanctuary allows some regulated use such as grazing, while a national park is stricter, with rights extinguished and no grazing; India's first national park, Hailey (1936), is today's Corbett. A conservation reserve on government land and a community reserve on community or private land were added in 2002. The boundaries of a sanctuary or national park can be altered only on the recommendation of the National Board for Wildlife. Around protected areas, an eco-sensitive zone is notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, not the wildlife law.

Project Tiger began on 1 April 1973 at Corbett with nine reserves. After Sariska lost all its tigers, the 2006 amendment created the statutory National Tiger Conservation Authority, chaired by the Union environment minister. A tiger reserve is notified by the state on the NTCA's recommendation and has an inviolate core, the critical tiger habitat, and a buffer where people live; there were 58 by March 2025. The All India Tiger Estimation, held every four years since 2006, put the 2022 figure at about 3,682 (at least 3,167 photographed), with Madhya Pradesh first among states.

Project Elephant (1992) works through the elephant reserve, an administrative unit notified by states rather than a category of the Act; the elephant became the National Heritage Animal in 2010. The first DNA-based count, for 2021–25, estimated about 22,446 wild elephants, and a 2023 report listed 150 corridors. Other programmes cover crocodiles (1975), the snow leopard (718 in the 2024 assessment), the great Indian bustard, which the Supreme Court sought to shield from power lines in 2021 and 2024, vultures poisoned by veterinary diclofenac (banned 2006), the rhinoceros of Kaziranga, the Ganges river dolphin (National Aquatic Animal, 2009) and the cheetah, brought to Kuno from Namibia in 2022 and South Africa in 2023.

Three further labels connect Indian places to international systems without adding new law. A biosphere reserve, from UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (1971), has core, buffer and transition zones; India has 18, starting with Nilgiri in 1986, and 13 of them are in UNESCO's World Network, the latest being the Cold Desert in 2025. A Ramsar site is listed under the wetlands treaty signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971; India joined in 1982 and had 103 sites by October 2026, with Tamil Nadu holding the most. The Montreux Record flags troubled sites and now lists Keoladeo and Loktak; Chilika was removed in 2002.

Under the 1972 World Heritage Convention, which India ratified in 1977, India has seven natural sites, among them Kaziranga, Keoladeo and Manas (all 1985) and the Western Ghats (2012), and one mixed site, Khangchendzonga National Park (2016). The labels stack: the Sundarbans is a national park, a tiger reserve, a biosphere reserve in the World Network, a Ramsar site and a World Heritage site all at once. The whole network of protected areas covers a little over five per cent of India (Wildlife Institute of India, 2024), against a global goal of 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030 set in 2022, which community-conserved places are expected to help meet.

Protected areas and labels at a glance
LabelBasisWho declaresExample
Wildlife sanctuaryWild Life (Protection) Act, 1972State governmentChilika (Nalabana) sanctuary
National parkWild Life (Protection) Act, 1972State governmentCorbett
Conservation and community reserveWild Life (Protection) Act (2002 amendment)State governmentCommunity land or government land
Tiger reserveAct, Chapter IVB (2006)State, on NTCA recommendationNagarjunsagar-Srisailam
Elephant reserveProject Elephant (administrative)State governmentSinghbhum (first, 2001)
Biosphere reserveUNESCO MAB idea; national schemeCentral government; UNESCO for the World NetworkNilgiri
Ramsar siteRamsar Convention, 1971Listed by the Convention on India's nominationSundarban Wetland
World Heritage siteWorld Heritage Convention, 1972Inscribed by the World Heritage CommitteeKaziranga

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. Consider the following statements:
1. Forests and the protection of wild animals and birds were placed in the Concurrent List by the 42nd Amendment.
2. Eco-sensitive zones around protected areas are notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct, so options 2 and 4 fail. Statement 2 is wrong because eco-sensitive zones are notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, so options 2 and 3 fail.

Q2. In which of the following protected areas is grazing of livestock not permitted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972?

  1. Wildlife sanctuary
  2. National park
  3. Community reserve
  4. Conservation reserve
Show answer

Answer: B. National park

Grazing is not permitted in a national park. In a sanctuary it may be regulated rather than banned outright, and conservation and community reserves are designed to keep people's use alongside conservation, so the other options are wrong.

Q3. Consider the following statements:
1. The National Tiger Conservation Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister.
2. A tiger reserve has a core or critical tiger habitat that is to be kept inviolate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Statement 1 is wrong: the NTCA is chaired by the Union environment minister, while the Prime Minister chairs the National Board for Wildlife, so options 1 and 3 fail. Statement 2 is correct, so option 4 fails.

Q4. Which one of the following was declared India's National Heritage Animal in 2010?

  1. Tiger
  2. Asiatic lion
  3. Elephant
  4. Ganges river dolphin
Show answer

Answer: C. Elephant

The elephant was declared the National Heritage Animal in 2010. The tiger is the National Animal, the Ganges river dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal, and the Asiatic lion holds neither title today.

Q5. The sharp decline of Gyps vultures in India was mainly caused by:

  1. Loss of nesting trees to urbanisation
  2. The veterinary drug diclofenac in cattle carcasses
  3. Electrocution on power lines
  4. Hunting for feathers
Show answer

Answer: B. The veterinary drug diclofenac in cattle carcasses

Diclofenac in carcasses poisoned the vultures, and its veterinary use was banned in 2006. Urbanisation, power lines and hunting were not the identified cause; power lines are the main threat to the great Indian bustard.

Q6. Consider the following statements:
1. India has 18 biosphere reserves, all of which are in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
2. The Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve was added to UNESCO's World Network in 2025.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: B. 2 only

Statement 1 is wrong: only 13 of the 18 are in the World Network, so options 1 and 3 fail. Statement 2 is correct, so option 4 fails.

Q7. Which of the following Indian wetlands are on the Montreux Record at present?
1. Keoladeo National Park
2. Chilika Lake
3. Loktak Lake
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 and 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: B. 1 and 3 only

Keoladeo and Loktak are on the Record. Chilika was removed in 2002, so every option that includes 2 (options 1, 3 and 4) is wrong.

Q8. Match List I (site) with List II (label):
List I: A. Khangchendzonga National Park B. Sundarban Wetland C. Singhbhum D. Nilgiri
List II: 1. India's first elephant reserve 2. India's first biosphere reserve 3. Mixed World Heritage site 4. Largest Ramsar site in India
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
  2. A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
  3. A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
  4. A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2

Khangchendzonga is the mixed World Heritage site, the Sundarban Wetland is the largest Ramsar site, Singhbhum was the first elephant reserve and Nilgiri the first biosphere reserve. Option 2 swaps A and B, option 3 swaps C and D, and option 4 swaps A and D.

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