Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park is a

national park of India National parks in India are IUCN (International Union of Conservation of Nature) category II protected areas. India's first national park was established in 1936, now known as Jim Corbett National Park, in Uttarakhand. By 1970, India only had ...

near

Wandoor Wandoor is a town in Malappuram district of Kerala, India at . It is located 13 km away from Nilambur. Notable people * The renowned ''Mappila Paattu'' poet Pulikkottil Hyder was born here. * T. K. Hamza, former minister of Kerala and ...

on the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

. It belongs to the

South Andaman South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman an ...

administrative

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, part of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n union territory of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

History

The park was created on 24 May 1983 under the

Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established scheduled pr ...

to protect marine life such as the

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

s and nesting

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s prevalent in the area. It was placed under the protection of the Chief Wildlife Warden of the forest department of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it is open creeks running through the park area were a special attraction.

Geography

There are 2 major island groups in the park: the Labyrinth Islands and the Twin Islands. The islands are situated south from

Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...

. The marine park covers 281.5 km² made up of 17 islands and the open sea creeks running through the area. There is a chance for

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

on the islands Jolly Buoy and Red Skin. The islands belong to the Rutland Archipelago and are located between

Rutland Island Rutland Island is an island of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island is located south from Port Blair. History The island u ...

and

South Andaman Island South Andaman Island is the southernmost island of the Great Andaman and is home to the majority of the population of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and ...

Ecosystems of the Island

Most of the coral reefs in the park are

fringing reef A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reef. It is distinguished from the other main types, barrier reefs and atolls, in that it has either an entirely shallow backreef zone (lagoon) or none at all. If a fringing reef grows direc ...

s. The type and composition of vegetation vary from island to island. Most notably there you can see a difference between the tourist islands which suffer more anthropocentric change and others which do not. There are also some islands more isolated or protected from the effects of weather in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

. Tarmugli, the largest island, is covered with thick

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

vegetation,

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

covered beaches, uprooted trees and

sheet rock Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...

s.Tarmugli
/ref> Twin Islands are an important breeding ground for turtles within the park.

List of Islands

Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park has some 20 islands and rocks.

Administration

Politically, all islands are part of

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Demographics

The islands are on uninhabited land, but there is a population of 7300 living in 10 adjacent villages (mainly Manglutan and Wandoor)

Image gallery

File: Jolly Boys Island 2010.jpg, Jolly Buoy Island, one of the 20 islands in the national park. File:Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park.jpg, Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park near Port Blair, Andaman Islands File:Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park ,Andaman.jpg, Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park during sunset .

References

*
Information about Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park

by K Dorairaj and R. Soundararajan {{National Parks of India National parks in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Marine parks of India 1983 establishments in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Protected areas established in 1983 Tourist attractions in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands