RAS question
India's first 'Biodiversity Heritage Site' was declared in which state?
Correct answer: (D) Karnataka.
India's first Biodiversity Heritage Site was Nallur Tamarind Grove at Nallur in Devanahalli Taluk, Bangalore district, Karnataka.
Explanation
The answer is Karnataka because the National Biodiversity Authority's Annual Report 2009-10 records that the Government of Karnataka notified the Tamarind site at Nallur in Devanahalli Taluk, Bangalore district, as the first Biodiversity Heritage Site in the country. This site is Nallur Tamarind Grove in Bengaluru, declared in 2007 under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The Karnataka Biodiversity Board declared Nalluru Tamarind Grove as a heritage site under Section 38 of that Act. Its ecological value comes from an old tamarind grove: the site has 300 tamarind trees over about 22 hectares, with their age assessed at 410 years.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Kerala is not the state named by the official NBA report, which identifies the first notified Biodiversity Heritage Site as the Tamarind site at Nallur in Karnataka.
- (B) Meghalaya does not fit because the first site is specifically placed at Nallur in Devanahalli Taluk, Bangalore district, Karnataka.
- (C) Rajasthan is ruled out because the first Biodiversity Heritage Site notification was made by the Government of Karnataka.
Concept
This tests statutory biodiversity conservation under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, especially Biodiversity Heritage Sites and state-level notification. It recurs in RAS because environment questions often ask location-based conservation firsts and their legal basis.