- Private protected areas of India
Private protected areas of India refer to
protected area s insideIndia whose land rights are owned by an individual or a corporation / organization, and where the habitat and resident species are offered some kind of protection from exploitative activities like hunting, logging, etc. TheGovernment of India did not provide any legal or physical protection to such entities, but in an important amendment introduced by theWildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 , has agreed to protect communally owned areas of ecological value.Private ownership
In pre-British India, and erstwhile
British India and associatedsuzerain ties, large tracts of wilderness were under private ownership, typically under the ownership of the royal families of the suzerainties. Animals and habitat in these tracts were protected byroyal decree and royal forces. Later, after the advent of the British, these lands were protected by personal guards of the royal families.However, these lands were usually used as hunting grounds for the maharajahs and other noble families, so while the animals and habitat were accorded protection from external entities, hunting for sport by the owners of the land was commonly practised. Even so, some of such hunting was done on a sustainable basis, and some wildlife like the
Asiatic Cheetah were trained to hunt in such hunting grounds.After independence, the
political integration of India caused most of the royal families to lose their ownership rights to these lands, and these were converted into reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Some of India's most famous protected areas had their origins in privately owned protected lands. Some of these are listed below.From the Northern princely states
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Dachigam National Park - Once the private hunting preserve of the Maharaja of KashmirHari Singh , it was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1951 after the accession ofKashmir , and was designated a national park in 1981.From the Western princely states
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Gir National Park - These were the private hunting grounds of the Nawab ofJunagarh , who by royal decree banned the hunting of the increasingly rareAsiatic Lion in 1900. It was only in 1966 that the region was protected as the "Gir Forest Area", and the region received national park status in 1975
*Ranthambhore National Park - The area around theRanthambhore Fort were the private hunting grounds of MaharajaSawai Man Singh II ofJaipur . After integration with India, the Government of India declared the region "Sawai Madhopur Game Sanctuary" in 1955, making it aProject Tiger reserve in 1973, and a national park in 1980
*Keoladeo National Park - These were the private hunting grounds ofMaharaja Brijendra Singh of Bharatpur. Upon joining the Union of India, the maharaja kept his hunting privileges at the grounds until 1971, when it was declared a wildlife sanctuary. It was upgraded to the status of a national park in 1982.
*Sariska National Park - Sariska was the private hunting grounds ofMaharaja Jai Singh ofAlwar . It was given the status of a reserved forest in 1955 and became a wildlife sanctuary in 1958, before becoming a national park in 1992.
*Darrah National Park - These were the hunting grounds of the Maharaja ofKota , and were declared awildlife sanctuary in 1955 after the merger of Kota with India, and combined with two other sanctuaries a national park in 2004.From the Central princely states
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Bandhavgarh National Park - The area around the overgrownBandhavgarh Fort were the hunting grounds of the Maharaja of Rewa. After the union of Rewa with India, the maharaja still retained hunting rights to the area until 1968, when the Maharaja handed over the hunting grounds (with the exception of the fort) to be declared a national park. A special permit is still required to visit the fort.
*Madhav National Park - The area aroundShivpuri were the private hunting grounds of theScindia royal family ofGwalior . Upon accession to India, the grounds were designated to be "Madhya Bharat National Park" (1959), later being renamed to "Shivpuri National Park" and finally to "Madhav National Park".From the Southern princely states
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Periyar National Park - The region around the Periyar lake was fashioned as a private game sanctuary by the maharaja ofTravancore to stop the encroachment oftea plantation s. Founded as "Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary" in 1934, it was consolidated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1950 after the political integration of India, and designated as a national park in 1982.
*Bandipur National Park - These were private hunting grounds of theMaharaja of Mysore . In 1930,Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV declared Bandipur a "game reserve" of 80 km², and in 1941 expanded it to 800 km², reinventing it as "Venugopala Wildlife Park". After theKingdom of Mysore joined India, the park was made a Project Tiger reserve in 1973, and a national park in 1985.
*Rajiv Gandhi National Park - Nagarhole (as it was called initially) and its surrounding regions were the hunting grounds of theMaharaja of Mysore . After the merger of Mysore with India, Nagarhole first became a wildlife sanctuary in 1955, and later became a national park in 1988.
*Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park - This region was the private hunting ground of theNizam of Hyderabad . After the annexure of Hyderabad in 1956, it was wildlife sanctuary in 1975, and a national park in 1994.Among the other former hunting grounds of the Nizam of Hyderabad (once one of the richest persons in the world) are the
Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary and theNagarjunsagar-Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary .Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary was also privately owned by theMaharaja of Mysore before he was persuaded bySalim Ali to declare it a wildlife sanctuary in 1940.From the Eastern princely states
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Simlipal National Park - Initially a hunting ground for the Maharajas ofMayurbhanj . After the merger of Mayurbhanj with India in 1949, it became a reserved forest in 1956. It then became a tiger reserve (1973), wildlife sanctuary (1979), national park (1980) and finally a biosphere reserve (1994).
*Manas National Park - The area was initially the hunting grounds of theMaharaja of Cooch Behar and the Raja ofGauripur . It was declared a protected area - "Manas Sanctuary", as early as 1928, but the hunting rights of the royal families were not revoked. The sanctuary finally turned fully protected when it became a Tiger Reserve in 1973, and a national park in 1990.However, royal families were allowed to keep personal land holdings below a certain threshold area, and hence some small scale privately held protected areas still exist in India.
Non-profit ownership
The biggest non-profit private organization which acquires wilderness tracts for development into
private protected area s, theNature Conservancy - does not operate inIndia , but has shown interest in expanding its operations to the country.The
World Land Trust , anothernon-profit organization , in partnership with theWildlife Trust of India has funded two significant privately owned protected land holdings in India. The purpose of the holdings are to providemigration corridor s to herds ofIndian elephants ,and the corresponding project is called the "Wild Lands Corridor". The two corridors are:
* The Siju-Rewak corridor in theGaro Hills in the state ofMeghalaya , for connection between theSiju Wildlife Sanctuary and theRewak Reserved Forest . This is one of only four forded corridors across theSimsang River , which bisects the Garo Hills. This region also contains large omnivores and carnivores like theBengal Tiger ,Clouded Leopard and theHimalayan Black Bear .
* The Tirunelli-Kudrakote corridor in the state ofKerala between theTirunelli Reserved Forest and theKudrakote Reserved Forest acts as a migration corridor for India's largest extant elephant population. The region is part of theWestern Ghats , abiodiversity hotspot which is home to theNilgiri Tahr ,Salim Ali's fruit bat and 13 endemic bird species including theMalabar 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. [ [http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/india-corridors.htm Site] for the Wild lands corridor, "World Land Trust" website]The introduction of the protected area category "community reserves" under the
Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community held lands, which could be used for obtaining state protection in non-profit privately held lands of ecological value. (SeeConservation reserves and community reserves of India )References
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