National park

Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 2 "Forest and Wildlife Resources"; Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"; Class 11, Ch 6 "Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences and Management"; Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"

Meaning

A national park is a protected area notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, where land is kept strictly for wildlife and its boundaries are fixed by law. No forestry, grazing or cultivation is allowed inside it. It is the strictest of India's four types of protected areas. Many of India's best-known tiger, rhino and bird habitats are national parks.

Explanation

How a national park protects wildlife

• Legal backing:
• The government notifies (officially declares) an area under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Its boundaries are fixed by legislation. They cannot be changed casually.

• Strict rules on people:

• Forestry (cutting trees for timber), grazing of cattle and cultivation (farming) are not allowed.

• So animals and plants live with very little human disturbance.

• Result: whole habitats stay safe, including food plants, water sources and breeding grounds. Big animals that need large, quiet spaces, like tigers, rhinos and snow leopards, can survive.

Where it sits among India's protected areas

India has four types of protected area (PA): land or water notified under the Wildlife Act to conserve wildlife and its habitat.

Type	How strict	Human activity
National park	Strictest	No forestry, grazing or cultivation
Wildlife sanctuary	Less strict	Collecting minor forest produce (honey, leaves, gum) is allowed if it does not harm wildlife
Conservation reserve	Buffer or corridor (a strip of land linking two habitats) next to a park or sanctuary	People keep their rights
Community reserve	Private or community land, outside other PAs	Run by local people

• 2022 amendment: the central government can now also notify conservation reserves [4]. These reserves often support national parks as buffers.

Size of the network

• As of 27 November 2023, India had 106 national parks out of 1,014 protected areas [2]. (NCERT gives 107.)
• National parks cover 44,402.95 km², which is only 1.35% of India [3].
• All PAs together cover about 5.32% of India [2].
• Key point: sanctuaries cover about three times the area of national parks. National parks are the strictest PAs, but not the largest part of the network.

Extra labels a national park can get

• Tiger reserve: a PA managed mainly for tigers under Project Tiger (1973).
• Ramsar site: a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (1971).
• World Heritage Site: a place listed by UNESCO under the World Heritage Convention (1972) for its "outstanding universal value".
• One park can hold all three labels. Sundarbans National Park is an example.

Where it occurs

• Corbett National Park, Nainital district, Uttarakhand: India's first national park, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park. It lies on the Ramganga river in the Shiwalik foothills. Project Tiger was launched here in 1973.
• Kaziranga National Park, Assam: on the Brahmaputra floodplain (flat land beside a river that floods). It has about two-thirds of the world's greater one-horned rhinoceros. It became a World Heritage Site in 1985 [5] and a tiger reserve in 2006.
• Yearly floods bring fresh silt (fine, fertile soil), so tall grass grows back and rhinos and deer get food.

• But high floods push animals towards the highway on higher ground, where vehicles kill some of them.

• Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan: a wetland with more than 350 bird species [9]. It became one of India's first two Ramsar sites in October 1981 [9] and a World Heritage Site in 1985. The Siberian crane was last seen here in 2002.

• Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal: part of the world's largest mangrove forest in the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta. Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees that grow in tidal mud along warm coasts.

• It became a tiger reserve in 1973, a World Heritage Site in 1987 [5], and a Ramsar site in 2019. The "Sundarban Wetland" is India's largest Ramsar site, at about 0.42 million ha [8].

• Great Himalayan National Park, Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh: a World Heritage Site in 2014 [7]. It is home to the snow leopard, Himalayan tahr (a wild goat) and western tragopan (a pheasant). Local villages take part in its conservation.

• Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks, Uttarakhand: a World Heritage Site in 1988, extended in 2005.
• Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim: India's only mixed World Heritage Site (natural plus cultural) since 2016 [6]. It runs from sub-tropical to alpine ecosystems and includes Mount Khangchendzonga, the world's third-highest peak [6].

Don't confuse with

• Wildlife sanctuary: a sanctuary allows some activities, such as collecting minor forest produce, if wildlife is not harmed. A national park allows no grazing, forestry or cultivation.
• Protected forest: this is a forest-land category run by the Forest Department. It is kept safe only from further depletion, and some local use is allowed. A national park is a protected area under the Wildlife Act.
• Conservation reserve / community reserve: in these, people keep their rights or local people run the area. A national park keeps people's activities out.
• Tiger reserve: this is a management label under Project Tiger, not a separate legal PA type. A national park can also be a tiger reserve, like Corbett, Kaziranga and Sundarbans.

Prelims Hooks

• India's first national park: Corbett, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park, in Nainital, Uttarakhand, on the Ramganga. Project Tiger was launched here in 1973.
• Count as of 27 November 2023: 106 national parks out of 1,014 PAs [2]. NCERT gives 107.
• Area: national parks cover 44,402.95 km² (1.35%) of India [3], against about 5.32% for all PAs [2].
• Trap: grazing is banned in a national park, not in a sanctuary.
• Keoladeo (Bharatpur, Rajasthan) is both a Ramsar site (1981) [9] and a World Heritage Site (1985).
• Only mixed World Heritage Site in India: Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim (2016) [6]. The 1985 natural trio is Kaziranga, Manas and Keoladeo, and only Keoladeo is outside Assam.

Mains Points

• Coverage is too small and broken up (GS-III):
• National parks cover only 1.35% of India [3], and all PAs about 5.32% [2].
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) asks countries to protect 30% of land by 2030.

• So parks need corridors, conservation and community reserves around them, and OECMs (areas outside formal PAs that still conserve nature) to link habitats.

• Strict parks vs. local people:

• The ban on grazing and forestry can hurt nearby villagers. In the Sundarbans, people who collect honey, fish or crabs face human-tiger conflict.

• Newer models include people. Examples are GHNP's village participation, 220 community reserves [2], and Gram Sabha consultation under the 2022 amendment [4]. These mark a shift from "fortress conservation" (keeping people out) to working with local people.

• Climate and disaster role (GS-III):

• Mangrove roots in Sundarbans National Park slow cyclone storm surges (walls of sea water pushed onto land by strong winds) and hold the mud in place, so there is less flooding inland.
• The Indian Sundarban has over 60% of India's mangrove area [8]. Sea-level rise drowns low islands and makes soil saltier.
• World Heritage and Ramsar labels bring international monitoring of problems like Kaziranga's floods and Keoladeo's water shortages.

Related concepts

• Wildlife sanctuary
• Corbett National Park
• Kaziranga National Park
• Keoladeo National Park
• Great Himalayan National Park
• Sundarbans
• Sundarbans National Park
• Natural World Heritage Sites of India

Read more

• Protected forests and protected areas: national parks, sanctuaries and World Heritage sites