Correct Option: E

The Indian government has established 18 Biosphere Reserves of India, (categories roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary), and often include one or more National Parks and/or preserves, along buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities who inhabit these regions, and their ways of life. Eight of the Eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list. In 2009, India designated Cold Desert of Himachal Pradesh as a Biosphere Reserve. And, on September 20, 2010, Ministry of Environment and Forests designated Seshachalam Hills as another Biosphere Reserve taking the count to number of such designated areas to 17. And, on August 25, 2011 Panna (Madhya Pradesh) became India’s 18th Biosphere Reserve.