Question

What is a bio reserve? Give two examples.

Answer 1

Hint: With the increase in human population over the years, there is a need to address the increasing demand for food, water, home, electricity, roads, automobiles and numerous other commodities. Human activities to fulfil these needs exert pressure on natural resources and contribute greatly to their degradation, depletion and pollution.

Complete answer: As classified by the UNESCO, bio reserves are ’learning places for sustainable development’. They are designated sites of natural and cultural landscapes extending over large areas of terrestrial or coastal/marine ecosystems or both. Such reserves aim to balance economic and social development and maintenance of associated cultural values along with the preservation of nature and they also provide logistic support through research, monitoring, education and training. Structurally, a biosphere is divided into—core areas, a buffer zone and a transition zone. The core areas are the most protected areas of a biosphere reserve which contain endemic plants and animals and are kept free from human interference. Buffer zones surround the core areas and limited tourism and grazing are permitted in these areas. The transition zone is the outermost part of the biosphere reserve and is basically a cooperation zone. There are 18 bio reserves in India some of which are Nilgiri in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Kutch in Gujarat, Panna in Madhya Pradesh, Sundarbans in West Bengal, Manas in Assam, Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand, Dehang-Debang in Arunachal Pradesh, etc.

Note: Bio reserves much like other aspects of environmental protection is based on sustainable development which means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.