National parks, sanctuaries and conservation reserves of Rajasthan

Rajasthan's protected-area network is built under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and later amendments. For an objective paper, the first distinction is between a national park, a wildlife sanctuary, a conservation reserve and a community reserve. A national park gives the highest general protection among these categories: grazing, private rights and resource use are tightly restricted after settlement of rights. A wildlife sanctuary also protects habitat and wild animals, but some rights may continue if they are compatible with conservation and are regulated by the authorities.

Conservation reserves and community reserves were added to Indian wildlife law by the 2002 amendment. A conservation reserve is usually declared on government land, often as a corridor, buffer, wetland, grassland or community-use landscape near a larger protected area. A community reserve is declared where local communities or private landholders voluntarily protect wildlife habitat. For Rajasthan, this distinction matters because many high-yield sites, such as Jawai, Jhalana-Amagarh, Sundhamata, Bisalpur, Jorbeed and Guda Vishnoiyan, are discussed as conservation reserves rather than national parks.

Exam takeaway: read every site with four tags in mind: category, district, flagship species and ecological type.