Secret gardens of India

* Bikram Grewal, birder

Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Assam

Near Jorhat, this isolated patch of forest holds mammals rarely seen elsewhere the stump-tailed macaque, pig-tailed macaque, slow loris, hoolock gibbon and capped langur.

Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Assam

Few people know of this large park near Tinsukia. It holds some of the rarest birds in India, including the swamp prinia, marsh babbler, Jerdon&rsquos bushchat and pale-capped pigeon.

Khonoma Village, Nagaland

The local council at this village has decided to stop all hunting and Jhum cultivation. This has created a haven for animals and birds. Rarities include the brown-capped, the striped and the Assam laughing-thrushes, the Naga wren babbler and the chestnut-vented nuthatch.

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh

Made famous by the discovery of a new bird in 2006, the Bugun liocichla, this small undisturbed forest could be called India&rsquos top birding hotspot. Birds that can be seen here include the beautiful nuthatch and the Sikkim wedge-billed babbler.

Neora Valley National Park, West Bengal

This park has brilliant birdlife as well as several species of mammals, including its star attraction, the red panda. Other animals are clouded leopard, musk deer, black bear, sloth bear, golden cat, leopard cat, goral, serow and barking deer. There are reportedly tigers in the lower reaches.

* Joanna Van Gruisen, naturalist and writer

Guru Ghasidas National Park, Chhattisgarh & Sanjay Dubri Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh

When I last visited this large reserve, it was in undivided Madhya Pradesh and known as Sanjay National Park. It contains fantastic habitat around a stunning perennial river.

Manas National Park, Assam

It&rsquos not exactly unknown but not visited in numbers commensurate to its beauty and importance. Its many different habitats&mdashriverine grasslands to evergreen forests&mdashmean the birds and animal species are incredibly diverse.

Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu

Topslip and Grass Hills are two very different destinations within this one reserve. Topslip has fabulous forests with lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langur and giant squirrels. Grass Hills are high rolling grasslands with rhododendron and Nilgiri tahr.

Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, Jammu & Kashmir

This high-altitude desert with azure, self-draining lakes always provides something compelling to see, from the smallest vole to the larger kiang.

Dachigam National Park, Jammu & Kashmir

Another stunning location, in every season. It is also the only sanctuary of the highly endangered hangul.

* Mike Pandey, wildlife filmmaker

Desert National Park, Rajasthan

Despite an ecosystem that seems so desolate and barren, it sustains an astounding diversity of life. It&rsquos noted for the great Indian bustard.

Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh

One of our largest parks, its inaccessibility has helped it remain largely untouched. Attractions include the snow and clouded leopards.

Dachigam National Park, Kashmir

Deep valleys, rocky outcrops, steep wooded slopes and rolling alpine pastures come together here. It&rsquos home to the endangered hangul.

Blackbuck National Park, Gujarat

The only tropical grassland in India that has national park status. It hosts the handsome blackbuck and is also among the few places in the world where the wolf population is proliferating.

Marine National Park, Gujarat

Fish in the coral reefs, endangered birds in the mangroves, green sea turtles breeding on the beaches and whale sharks in the deeper seas.

* Pradip Krishen, naturalist

Madhav National Park, Madhya Pradesh

It&rsquos small with dry scrub forest characteristics. Maybe that doesn&rsquot sound like a recipe for natural beauty, but what a little jewel of a place it is. There are no tigers anymore, but you&rsquoll find leopards and ungulates and arresting dry forest landscapes. That gorgeous tree, Anogeissus pendula (dhok, dhau, kardhai), is plentiful here, and so are the gnarled, twisty Boswellia serrata (salai) on the plateaus. Madhav doesn&rsquot close for the monsoons, and that&rsquos when its verdure is an unfailing treat.

Palpur-Kuno Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh

It probably won&rsquot remain a sanctuary much longer because it&rsquos large and empty and has already been touted as the place where another gene pool of the Asiatic lion could be created. It&rsquos Madhav-like in its trees and savannas but more hilly and rugged with a spectacular resthouse overlooking the Kuno river.

Satpura National Park, Madhya Pradesh

This is a place I know well, with some of the most wonderful vistas of forest-clad hills. Located in the central Satpuras, this is classic Gondwana country, made up of hundreds of feet of ancient sedimentary rock, which due to its softness weathers into breathtaking scarps and cliffs.

Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand

Lovely sharp hills and terrain and gorgeous monsoon forest. The Dhaulkhand area is the place I&rsquom thinking of. I have wonderful memories of elephants encountered on a rau &mdash those strange little, pebbly beds of streams that become deadly, fierce torrents in the rains.

Loghur forest, Madla district, Madhya Pradesh

I&rsquove been travelling hugely in MP for my book, and the place I&rsquove been most struck by is this patch of forest. It&rsquos hilly and densely forested in a way that&rsquos becoming rare in MP. It&rsquos a mixed forest too.

* Valmik Thapar, conservationist

Wild Ass Sanctuary, Gujarat

Located in the Little Rann, it&rsquos a flat landscape that&rsquos incredibly beautiful. You can see flamingos, wolves, if you're lucky, bird life and, of course, the wild ass. In the monsoon seawater travels 100km inwards and boats traverse the desert landscape searching for crustaceans

Desert National Park, Rajasthan

One hour&rsquos drive from Jaisalmer, this is the real Indian desert. This is where one can spot the great Indian bustard and countless chinkara. This is also a great area to observe demoiselle cranes.

Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, Goa

Less than ninety minutes from the coastline, it's marked by dense forests of the Western Ghats. If you&rsquore lucky, you can see tigers here.

Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra

This is a little gem of a place full of gaur with a bunch of tigers that follow them around. One of the most amazing pictures of a gaur and a tiger quenching their thirst at the same waterhole was taken here. It&rsquos a great place for birdwatching.

Eravikulam National Park, Kerala

It&rsquos famous for the Nilgiri tahr, a magnificent landscape and a mosaic of forest and tea estates. And it&rsquos great for long walks. Tigers pass through the area occasionally and it&rsquos also frequented by leopards.

* Naresh & Rajesh Bedi, wildlife photographers

Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary, Chhattisgarh

The dry deciduous forest supports a variety of wild animals and birds and has a healthy population of gaurs. Chances of sighting sloth bears and leopards at dusk around waterholes are high. Also, the Forest Department uses solar energy to run guesthouses and pumps to fill the waterholes.

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam

Barely 30km from Guwahati, Pobitora offers sure sightings of the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros. A small sanctuary of about 38km with patches of forest, flat floodplains and a hillock, it&rsquos overpopulated with 81 rhinos that survive in a 16 sq km area.

Singalila National Park, West Bengal

This high-altitude park offers exciting trek routes along the Singalila ridge and through virgin temperate forests. On a clear day it offers stunning views of the Kanchendzonga range. During March and April, rhododendrons bloom and clusters of primula, aconitum, gentians and blue iris adorn the forest clearings. With luck one can also sight rare tragopans, kalij pheasants or red pandas.