India’s protected-area network is the backbone of in-situ conservation, and Prelims tests it every year — directly (which category allows grazing, who notifies a tiger reserve) and indirectly through a species or park that is in the news.

What UPSC asks

Prelims: differences between national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves; tiger reserves and the National Tiger Conservation Authority; biosphere reserves and their zones; eco-sensitive zones; the schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act after the 2022 amendment; species conservation projects; IUCN protected-area categories.
Mains GS III: human–wildlife conflict, rights of forest dwellers inside protected areas, relocation, corridors, and reintroduction programmes such as Project Cheetah.

Key sub-topics

Sub-topic	What to master
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972	Structure, authorities, major amendments (2002, 2006, 2022), schedules
Protected-area categories	National park, sanctuary, conservation reserve, community reserve, tiger reserve
Non-statutory designations	Biosphere reserves, elephant reserves
Buffers	Eco-sensitive zones under the Environment (Protection) Act
Species projects	Project Tiger, Crocodile, Elephant, Snow Leopard, Dolphin, Cheetah
Global frameworks	IUCN protected-area categories; UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme

Read this chapter after Biodiversity and Conservation; laws other than the Wildlife Act are in Environmental Laws and Institutions.