Protected Areas (PAs) network in India has been used as a tool to manage natural resources for biodiversity conservation and for the well-being of people dependent on these resources.

Protected Areas are those in which human occupation or at least the exploitation of resources is limited.

India has designated four categories of PAs- National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves.

The PAs are constituted and governed under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Implementation of this Act is further complemented by other Acts such as the Indian Forest Act, 1927, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

India is also a party to major international conventions that aim to strengthen and synergise global wildlife conservation efforts, such as Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, UNESCO-World Heritage Committee, and Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

As of 2014 there are 690 PAs in India. 102 National Parks, 527 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 57 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves.

These PAs cover 166,851 sq. km , which is 5.07% of the country's geographical area.

National parks are protected land areas preserved in natural conditions to provide natural habitat to wildlife. In these areas, forestry, grazing, cultivation and free entry of people are not allowed.

Wildlife Sanctuary is an area dedicated to protect the wild life, conserving particular species only. In such areas capturing or killing of animals is strictly prohibited. Forestry and other usages such as grazing of animals are permitted to the extent that they do not adversely affect the wildlife.

Conservation Reserves can be declared by the State Governments in any area owned by the Government, particularly the areas adjacent to National Parks and Sanctuaries and those areas which link one Protected Area with another. Conservation Reserves are declared for the purpose of protecting landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and their habitat. The rights of people living inside a Conservation Reserve are not affected.

Community Reserves can be declared by the State Government in any private or community land, not comprised within a National Park, Sanctuary or a Conservation Reserve, where an individual or a community has volunteered to conserve wildlife and its habitat. Community Reserves are declared for the purpose of protecting fauna, flora and traditional or cultural conservation values and practices. As in the case of a Conservation Reserve, the rights of people living inside a Community Reserve are not affected.

Zoos refer to places where animals are protected by keeping them in special enclosure and cages for public exhibition. A zoo plays an important role in creating awareness amongst people about the need to conserve nature.

A Botanical garden is place where a wide variety of plants are cultivated for scientific, educational, and ornamental purposes, it includes a library, herbarium, greenhouses. There are nearly 1600 botanical gardens around the world.

There are 23 MPAs present in peninsular India and more than 100 MPAs in the country's islands.

These 23 MPAs cover an area of about 6158 km , which is 3.85% of the total area covered under the entire PA network of India.

The total area of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 4947 km, of which 1510 km is protected under the provisions of India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

There are 105 PAs in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, of which about 100 include marine areas.

Towards achieving these two targets, 106 coastal and marine sites have been identified and prioritised as Important Coastal and Marine Areas (ICMBAs) by the Wildlife Institute of India.

Sixty-two ICMBAs have been identified along the west coast of India, and 44 have been identified along the east coast. Of these, 22 ICMBAs have been prioritised for immediate conservation actions and proposed to be upgraded as Protected Areas under categories such as Conservation or Communities Reserve to increase participation of the local communities in governance.

Providing connectivity between isolated habitat patches through wildlife corridors is crucial to safeguard the landscape-dependent species such as tigers and elephants that face major threats of poaching and habitat loss.

Project Tiger was launched by the government of India in 1973, to save tigers from extinction due to poaching.

47 Tiger reserves are covered under the Project Tiger.

Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.

The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy. The core areas have the legal status of a national park or a sanctuary, whereas the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area.

The Project Tiger aims to foster an exclusive tiger agenda in the core areas of tiger reserves, with an inclusive people oriented agenda in the buffer.

The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 states. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Till now 28 Elephant Reserves (ERs) have been notified by various state governments.

In February 2011, the MoEFCC had issued its guidelines for Declaration of Eco-sensitive Zone around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

The basic objective of these guidelines is to regulate activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimize the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystems around PAs.

The National Biosphere Reserve Programme was initiated by MoEFCC in 1986.

A Biosphere reserve is a large protected area for the conservation of wildlife, plant, and animal resources. The main aim of the biosphere is to conserve biodiversity, maintain ecological balance, as well as the culture of the area. One would find tribals and other people co-existing in this area. A biosphere may contain National Park and Sanctuaries, so it is much larger than a National Park or a Sanctuary.

BRs help in ensuring long-term conservation and sustainable use of India's representative and diverse biological diversity.

So far 18 Biosphere Reserve (BR) have been notified by the Government of India.

Globally, the World Network Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) has designated a total of 621 BRs, of which 9 are in India. These are the Achanakmar-Amarkantak, Nilgiri, Gulf of Mannar, Nanda Devi, Sundarban, Simlipal, Pachmarhi, Nokrek and Great Nicobar BR.

The Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are conservation areas of international significance for conservation of birds at the global, regional or sub-regional level.

(IBA) programme of BirdLife International aims to identify, monitor and protect a global network of IBAs for conservation of the world's birds and other biodiversity.

The IBAs contain a range of habitats, such as wetlands, mudflats, microhabitats in biodiversity hotspots, grasslands and scrublands, making them excellent indicators of biodiversity richness.

The Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International have identified 467 IBAs in India.

Forty percent of these IBAs fall outside the PA network and thus form an important tool for landscape-level conservation planning.

The BNHS is in the process of adding 100 more IBAs to the existing network of IBAs. As of now, a tentative list of 58 new IBAs has been proposed across nine States of India.

KBAs comprise an 'umbrella' which includes globally important sites for different taxa and realms: IBAs, Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas (MPCAs), Important Sites for Freshwater/Marine Biodiversity; and Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites.

There are 126 KBAs in the Western Ghats.

In India, Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) is represented by the Zoo Outreach Organisation and Ecosystems India.

Currently there are 19 species recognised by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) in India.

The Government of India (GoI) provides financial and technical support to such initiatives through Central Schemes. A total of 141 CCAs covering a total area of ca. 157,046 ha have been identified for conservation measures.