Wildlife Santuary

India is unique in the richness and diversity of its vegetation and wildlife. India's national parks and wild life sanctuaries (including bird sanctuaries) from Ladakh in Himalayas to Southern tip of Tamil Nadu, are outstanding and the country continues to "WOW" the tourists with its rich bio-diversity and heritage. Wildlife sanctuaries in India attracts people from all over the world as the rarest of rare species are found here. With 96 national parks and over 500 wildlife sanctuaries, the range and diversity of India's wildlife heritage is matchless. Some of the important sanctuaries in India are The Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve Uttaranchal, Kanha National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh, Ranthambhor National Park - Sawai Madhopur, Gir National Park - Sasangir (Gujarat) etc. Supporting a great variety of mammals and over 585 species of birds, India's first national park, the Corbett was established in the foothills of Himalayas. Wildlife lovers will be excited to see magnificent Bird Sanctuary at Bharatpur, Rajasthan as it is the second habitat in the world that is visited by the Siberian Cranes in winter and it provides a vast

breeding area for the native water birds. In the Indian deserts, the most discussed bird is the Great Indian bustard. In western Himalayas, one can see birds like Himalayan monal pheasant, western tragopan, koklass, white crested khalij pheasant, griffon vultures, lammergiers, choughs, ravens. In the Andaman and Nicobar region, about 250 species and sub species of birds are found, such as rare Narcondum horn bill, Nicobar pigeon and megapode. While the national park and sanctuaries of northern and central India are better known, there are quite a few parks and sanctuaries in South India, too. For e.g. , Madumalai in Tamil Nadu and Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Nagahole National Park in Karnataka.

India has 515 <MoEF Website> animal sanctuaries, referred to as Wildlife sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV Protected Area). Among these, the 41 Tiger Reserves are governed by Project Tiger, and are of special significance in the conservation of the tiger. Some wildlife sanctuaries are specifically named Bird Sanctuary, e.g. Keoladeo National Park before attaining National Park status. Many National Parks were initially Wildlife Sanctuaries. Wildlife sanctuaries are of national importance to conservation, usually due to some flagship faunal species, are named National Wildlife Sanctuary, like the tri-state National Chambal (Gharial) Wildlife Sanctuary for conserving the gharial.

National park

A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, seminatural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride.[1] Furthermore, an international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas. While ideas for this type of national park had been suggested previously, the United States established the first such one, Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974. According to the IUCN, there were 6,555 national parks worldwide in 2006 that meet its criteria.[2] National parks are almost always open to visitors. Most national parks provide outdoor recreation and camping opportunities as well as classes designed to educate the public on the importance of conservation and the natural wonders of the land in which the national park is located.

Definitions
In 1969 the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics:[4]

One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty;

Highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation as soon as possible in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of ecological, geomorphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and Visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreative purposes.

In 1971 these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include:

Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence Statutory legal protection Budget and staff sufficient to provide sufficient effective protection Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources (including the development of dams) qualified by such activities as sport, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.

While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces.[5] In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the UK, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks.[5]