Which of the following is the largest Biosphere Reserves of India?

Q. Which of the following is the largest Biosphere Reserves of India?

A. Nandadevi
B. Nilgiri
C. Gulf of Mannar
D. Sundarbans

Answer: Gulf of Mannar

The Indian government has established 18 Biosphere Reserves in India, (categories roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary), and often include one or more National Parks or preserves, along with buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities who inhabit these regions, and their ways of life. Animals are protected and saved here.

The Gulf of Mannar

The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, in the Coromandel Coast region.

A species known as dugong (sea cow) is found here.

The chain of low islands and reefs known as Ramsethu also called Adam's Bridge, which includes Mannar Island, separates the Gulf of Mannar from Palk Bay, which lies to the north between India and Sri Lanka. The estuaries of Thamirabarani River of South India and the Malvathu Oya (Malvathu River) of Sri Lanka drain into the Gulf.

In 2009, India designated Cold Desert of Himachal Pradesh as a biosphere reserve. On September 20, 2010, the Ministry of Environment and Forests designated Seshachalam Hillsas the 17th biosphere reserve. Panna (Madhya Pradesh) was scheduled to become the 18th on August 25, 2011.

Biosphere reserves of India (area wise)

Year	Name	Location	State	Type	Key fauna	Area (km2)
1989	Gulf of Mannar	Indian part of Gulf of Mannar extending from Rameswaram island in the North to Kanyakumari in the South of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka	Tamil Nadu	Coasts	Dugong	10500
2008	Great Rann of Kutch	Part of Kutch, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Patan Districts. It is the largest Biosphere Reserve in India.	Gujarat	Desert	Indian wild ass	12454
2000	Khangchendzonga	Parts of Kangchenjunga	Sikkim	East Himalayas	Snow leopard, red panda	2620
1989	Manas	Part of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Nalbari, Kamrup and Darrang Districts	Assam	East Himalayas	Golden langur, red panda	2837
2011	Panna	Part of Panna District and Chhatarpur District	Madhya Pradesh	Catchment Area of the Ken River	Tiger, chital, chinkara, sambhar and sloth bear	2998.98
2001	Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve	Neyyar, Peppara and Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuaryand their adjoining areas	Kerala, Tamil Nadu	Western Ghats	Nilgiri tahr, elephants	3500.08
2005	Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve	Part of Annupur, Dindori and Bilaspur districts	Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh	Maikala Hills	Four-horned antelope, Indian wild dog, Sarus crane, White-rumped vulture, Philautus sanctisilvaticus (Sacred grove bush frog)	3835
1994	Simlipal	Part of Mayurbhanj district	Odisha	Deccan Peninsula	Gaur, royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant	4374
2010	Seshachalam Hills	Seshachalam Hill Ranges covering parts of Chittoor and Kadapa districts	Andhra Pradesh	Eastern Ghats	Slender Loris	4755
1999	Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Betul District, Hoshangabad District and Chhindwara District	Madhya Pradesh	Semi-Arid	Giant squirrel, flying squirrel	4981.72
1998	Dihang-Dibang	Part of Siang and Dibang Valley	Arunachal Pradesh	Eastern Himalaya	Mishmi Takin, Musk Deer	5112
1986	Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve	Part of Waynad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai, Nilambur, Silent Valley	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka	Western Ghats	Nilgiri tahr, lion-tailed macaque	5520
1988	Nanda Devi National Park & Biosphere Reserve	Parts of Chamoli District, Pithoragarh District & Bageshwar District	Uttarakhand	WesternHimalayas	Snow Leopard, Himalayan Black Bear	5860
1997	Dibru-Saikhowa	Part of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts	Assam	East Himalayas	Golden langur	765
2009	Cold Desert	Pin Valley National Park and surroundings;Chandratal and Sarchu & Kibber Wildlife Sancturary	Himachal Pradesh	Western Himalayas	Snow leopard	7770
1988	Nokrek	In west Garo Hills	Meghalaya	East Himalayas	Red panda	820. Parth tution
1989	Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve	Southern most islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Islands	Saltwater crocodile	885
1989	Sundarbans	Part of delta of Ganges and Brahmaputra river system	West Bengal	Gangetic Delta	Royal Bengal tiger	9630