Which one among the following Biosphere Reserves is spread over three states in India?

Correct — B, Nilgiris. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve straddles the tri-junction of the Western Ghats where Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala meet, and it takes in protected areas in all three: Mudumalai, Mukurthi and Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu, Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka, and Silent Valley, Wayanad and Aralam in Kerala. Set up in 1986 under the Man and the Biosphere programme, it was the first biosphere reserve declared in India and remains one of the largest, at roughly 5,520 square kilometres. Each of the other three reserves lies wholly inside a single state, so none of them can satisfy the stem.

• (a)Dehang Debang — Dehang-Debang Biosphere Reserve lies entirely within Arunachal Pradesh, in the Upper Siang, West Siang and Dibang Valley country of the eastern Himalaya. One state only.
• (c)Nokrek — Nokrek lies wholly in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya. It is among the better known of India's reserves, which is what makes it a tempting pick, but being well known is not the same as spanning three states.
• (d)Seshachalam — Seshachalam is in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, in the Chittoor and Kadapa country around Tirupati. A single state again.

A biosphere reserve is a large protected area designed to conserve an entire ecosystem along with the people who live in it, and it is zoned rather than uniformly protected: a strictly guarded core zone, a buffer zone where research and limited use are allowed, and a transition zone of settlement and sustainable use. India's programme began with the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986, and a subset of the Indian reserves has since been admitted to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves under the Man and the Biosphere programme.

Multi-state reserves are a favourite of examiners because they force you to hold the map rather than the name. The reliable way to sort them is by physiography: a reserve that follows a mountain system or a river basin is a candidate for crossing boundaries, while one named after a single hill range or a single hill district almost never does. On that test the Nilgiris — a hill massif at the meeting point of three states — is the obvious answer, and Nokrek, Seshachalam and Dehang-Debang, each named for one range inside one state, are not. Others in the same multi-state family are worth carrying: Agasthyamalai across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Achanakmar-Amarkantak across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Panna and Pachmarhi wholly in Madhya Pradesh.

• The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was designated in 1986, the first in India, and spreads across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
• It covers about 5,520 square kilometres and is the largest protected forest area in the country.
• It includes Mudumalai, Mukurthi and Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu, Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka, and Silent Valley, Wayanad, Aralam and Karimpuzha in Kerala.
• Dehang-Debang lies in Arunachal Pradesh, Nokrek in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya and Seshachalam in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh — each within a single state.
• A biosphere reserve is zoned into a core, a buffer and a transition zone, the core being the most strictly protected.

• Choosing a reserve because its name is familiar rather than because it crosses state boundaries — Nokrek is well known but lies in one state.
• Confusing the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with the Nilgiri hills district of Tamil Nadu; the reserve is far larger than the district.
• Forgetting the other multi-state reserves — Agasthyamalai across two states and Achanakmar-Amarkantak across two — when the stem asks for exactly three.

As a single-answer question on which reserve spans two or three states, or as a match list pairing biosphere reserves with their states.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one among the following biosphere reserves lies entirely within the State of Meghalaya?

  • (a)Manas
  • (b)Nokrek
  • (c)Similipal
  • (d)Dehang-Debang

  Answer(b) Nokrek — it lies in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya; Manas is in Assam, Similipal in Odisha and Dehang-Debang in Arunachal Pradesh.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one among the following was the first biosphere reserve to be established in India?

  • (a)Nanda Devi
  • (b)Nilgiri
  • (c)Sundarbans
  • (d)Gulf of Mannar

  Answer(b) Nilgiri — designated in 1986, the first of India's biosphere reserves.