In bringing out a set of five commemorative postage stamps on National Parks of India, India Post celebrates the unique beauty of each. Whie applauding the conservation efforts so far made, there is obviously a need to carry this movement forward
with greater resolve. This set of stamps will create greater awareness of the heritage we need to preserve. India Post is proud to showcase the natural heritage of India by bringing out a set of five stamps featuring famous National parks around the country.
National Parks of India
India's rich biodiversity has fascinated people down the ages. We can boast of more than 500 species of mammals, 2,000 species of birds, 500 species of reptiles, and 30,000 species of insects. We also have an ingrained tradition of conservation
stretching back in history.
However, the pressures of an increasing population have led to widespread changes in land ways. This has, in effect, led to a gradual encroachment and decimation of forest cover and water bodies, resulting in the destruction of the natural habitat
which has sustained wildlife down the centuries.
While shooting for sport'Shikar', posed the greatest threat to wildlife in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is the destruction of habitat and illegal poaching for commerce that present the major problems to conservation today.
Realizing the danger, sanctuaries for protecting the wildlife, along witheir natural habitat, were set up in India from the first half of the 20th century itself and today there are more than 450 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 85 National Parks, around
the country.
A comprehensive legislation called the "Wildlife Protection Act' was enacted in 1972 for providing legal protection to wildlife, and to endangered species of fauna in particular, as protecting our natural heritage and preventing the extinction
of increasingly rare and endangered species of animals like the one-horned Indian Rhinoceros, the Indian elephant, the tiger, and the musk deer among other, assumed national importance.
Under this Act, the State Governments are empowered to declare any area as a Sanctuary or a National Park for the purpose of protecting and conserving wildlife and the environment. All National Parks and Sanctuaries are, however not alike. While
some have been created to protect certain specific rare and endangered species, some are famous for the richness and variety of their flora as well as fauna.
Bandhavgarh National park
TheBanhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh is primarily known for its tiger population. The former hunting reserve of the royal family of Rewa, Bandhavgarh was declared a National Park in 1968. Covering an area of 542.40 sq.km. the forest area
comprising of teak forest, grasslands nad scrubland has about 22 mammal species and about 250 bird species. This is the place where the famous white tigers were discovered. Apart from the tiger, the other animals inhabiting this hilly Parkland include the
Nilgai, Chausingha, Chital, Chinkara, Blackbuck and Wild Boar, as well as twp primate species, the Rhesus Macaque and the Hanuman Langur.
( Courtesy: BROCHURE released by Department of Posts India )