Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve
The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve encompasses a large part ''' of the island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Nicobars lie in the Bay of Bengal, eastern Indian Ocean, 190 km to the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Reserve has a total core area of approximately 885 km2, surrounded by a 12 km-wide "forest buffer zone".In year 2013 it was included in the list of Man and Biosphere program of UNESCO to promote sustainable development based on local community effort and sound science.Geography
The Reserve was declared in January 2013. It incorporates two National parks of India, which were gazetted in 1992: the larger Campbell Bay National Park on the northern part of the island, and Galathea National Park in the southern interior. The non-Biosphere portions of the island are confined to the southwestern and southeastern coastal reaches.
The environment is classified by the World Wide Fund for Nature as Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, and located in the Indomalayan realm.The reserve is home to many species of plants and animals, often endemic to the Andaman and Nicobars biogeographic region. Species of fauna in the reserve include: Nicobar scrubfowl, the edible-nest swiftlet, the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, saltwater crocodile, giant leatherback sea turtle, Malayan box turtle, Nicobar tree shrew, reticulated python and the giant robber crab.Indigenous inhabitants
The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve also incorporates territories and traditional lands of the indigenous Nicobarese and Shompen peoples.
