The Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve is a non-use conservation area and

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in the Satpura Range of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in central

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The conservation area was created in 1999 by the Indian government. It also contains animals from the Himalayan mountains and from the lower Western Ghats.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

designated it a

in 2009. Almost every year scouts and guides visit this place as a ‘pachmarhi camp’.

Geography

The Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve is located within areas of

Narmadapuram Hoshangabad, officially known as Narmadapuram is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Hoshangabad district and Narmadapuram division. It is located in central India, on the sou ...

, Betul, and

Chhindwara , other_name = Corn city , nickname = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , p ...

Districts in Madhya Pradesh. The biosphere reserve's total area is . It includes three wildlife conservation units: * Bori Sanctuary (518.00 km²) *

Pachmarhi Sanctuary Pachmarhi is a hill station in Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It has been the location of a cantonment (Pachmarhi Cantonment) since British Raj. It is widely known as ''Satpura ki Rani'' ("Queen of Satpura" ...

(461.37 km²). *

Satpura National Park Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) also known as Satpura National Park is located in the Hoshangabad District (newly named Narmadapuram ) of Madhya Pradesh in India. Its name is derived from the Satpura range. It covers an area of . Satpura National Pa ...

(524.37 km²) Satpura National Park is designated as the core zone and the remaining area of 4401.91 km², including the Bori and Pachmarhi sanctuaries, serves as the buffer zone. B Fall, Pachmarhi

Ecology

The reserve is composed primarily of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

habitats, and is an important transition zone between the forest species of western and eastern India.

Flora

Flowering in Chironji plant at Pachmarchi hill

The forests are dominated by

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

(''Tectona grandis''). They include the westernmost groves of

sal Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

(''Shorea robusta''), which is the dominant tree of eastern India's forests. Other endemic vegetation includes wild mango,

silver fern ''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...

jamun ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

and '' arjun''. The Cuddapah almond trees are abundantly found over the hills of Pachmarchi.

Ethnobotany

Fourteen ethno-botanical plant species occur in PBR have been studied, which are traded from the selected villages of the buffer zone area of PBR. Different plant parts of these important species are collected by the local people for their own consumption and trade. A part of the reserve vegetation has been studied by Prof.

Chandra Prakash Kala Chandra Prakash Kala is an Indian ecologist and professor. His research interests include alpine ecology, conservation biology, indigenous knowledge systems, ethnobotany and medicinal aromatic plants. He is an assistant professor in the faculty ...

, especially with respect to the indigenous uses of the plants.

Fauna

Large mammal species include

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

, wild bear, gaur (''Bos gaurus''), chital deer (''Axis axis''),

muntjac deer Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

, sambar deer (''Cervus multicolour''), and

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

. The endemic fauna includes

chinkara The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Taxonomy The following six subspecies are considered valid: * Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii ...

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter Si ...

, Asian wild dogs, the

Indian wolf The Indian wolf (''Canis lupus pallipes'') is a subspecies of gray wolf that ranges from Southwest Asia to the Indian Subcontinent. It is intermediate in size between the Himalayan wolf and the Arabian wolf, and lacks the former's luxuriant wi ...

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North A ...

Indian giant squirrel The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (''Ratufa indica'') is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. Distribution and ...

s, and

flying squirrels Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they ar ...

References

External links

"Pachmarhi - New Biosphere Reserve"Enviro News, May 1999
{{coord, 22.47, 78.41, display=title Biosphere reserves of India Wildlife sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh Betul district Chhindwara district Tourist attractions in Hoshangabad district Pachmarhi 1999 establishments in Madhya Pradesh Protected areas established in 1999