This article is written by Raslin Saluja from KIIT School of Law, Bhubaneswar. The author has briefly reviewed the steps and measures taken by the Central government in order to protect its fauna.
Table of Contents
Introduction
India is a country that boasts of mega diversities and rich natural resources. With it being perfectly located in the mega biodiversity region, it is home to 7.6% of all mammals, 12.6% of birds, 6.2% of reptiles, and 6.0% of flowering plant species. The country preserves its wildlife in 120+ national parks, 515 wildlife sanctuaries, 26 wetlands, and 18 bio-reserves, out of which 10 are part of the World Network of biosphere reserves.
However, with time, the atrocities towards wildlife have been on a rise in the form of illegal hunting or poaching or exporting/importing or breeding to sell their body parts. Needless to say, it affects the natural state of our ecosystem in the grander scheme of things as they play a pivotal role in maintaining the health and diversity of the environment. To get better control, the government’s interference is a must because it is not a one-man job. We need proper plans and policies with scientific measures in order to avoid the disastrous consequences of wildlife extinction. Thus this article focuses on the steps and initiatives taken by the government bodies in order to protect its fauna.
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife is defined under Section 2(37) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to include any animal, either aquatic or terrestrial, and vegetation that forms a part of any habitat. Though conservation per se has not been defined in Indian law, the term generally connotes protection, preservation, or restoration. The practice of wildlife conservation involves taking measures to protect the wild species and their habitats to maintain a healthy count of their population and to restore or enhance the natural ecosystems.
Indian laws and International Conventions
By virtue of the provisions of the Constitution of India, it is a fundamental duty of the citizens to protect wildlife and have compassion for living creatures according to Article 51A(g). Apart from this, Article 48A provides that it is also the duty of the State to protect, safeguard and work for the improvement of forests and wildlife of the country. All these principles and duties need to be kept in mind even more now since the climate crisis, destruction of nature, the environment, and wildlife have taken over.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change MoEF is the nodal ministry representing the government of India in its various conventions/ treaties in matters of the environment. India is a member country of various international conventions on conservation and wildlife management. The five major conventions related to wildlife are the:
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),
- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS),
- International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN),
- International Whaling Commission (IWC), and the
- United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation- World Heritage Committee (UNESCO-WHO).
Present statistics
At present, many species and a variety of animals and plants face the threat of being extinct. They are critically endangered and need immediate attention in order to save all of what remains. In India, there are 70+ critically endangered animals while 300+ animals fall under the category of endangered.
Animals falling under the category of critically endangered are those which have the highest risk as assigned by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List to wild species. To determine whether a species is threatened or not, there are mainly five criteria that ensure so. They are:
- Any evidence that indicates that populations have declined or will decrease, by greater than 80% over the last 10 years or three generations.
- They have a restricted geographical range.
- They have a very small population size of fewer than 250 individuals and continue to decline at 25% in 3 years or one generation.
- The very small or restricted population of fewer than 50 mature individuals.
- There is a high probability of extinction in the wild.
At present, the number indicates 10 mammals, 15 birds, 6 reptiles, 19 species of amphibians, 14 fishes, etc. in the critically endangered category.
Steps taken by the Central Government
It was not long ago when there was minimal human interference and the wildlife was thriving with no danger surrounding its existence. However with time and expansion of industrialization, agricultural activity, livestock raising, and other developmental projects we are at a stage where several species of animals have been declared extinct with several others on the verge of it. The habitat loss and destruction, habitat fragmentation and degradation, mass-scale killings of wild animals for their fur, bones, teeth, hair, flesh, and meat have all led to huge wildlife loss all around the world. Thus this calls for immediate actions and measures on the part of the Government to preserve the wildlife. It requires proper judicious control and a rational approach for protecting wildlife. Certain few steps are as follows:
- The Central government has introduced the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) which among other things provides for creating protected areas that are meant for wildlife protection and also enlists the punishments and penalties to be imposed for hunting of specified fauna specified in the Schedules I to IV thereof in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in form of legal protection.
- A Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been established for preventing illegal trade and haunting of wildlife products including endangered species. They also ensure coordination among the officials and the State Governments for effective enforcement of the law.
- Some organizations such as Wildlife Institute of India, Bombay Natural History Society, and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History have undertaken research on the conservation of wildlife.
- The central government also empowered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in order to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders, identify illegal hunters and men involving in it under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The government has banned the hunting of endangered species of the animals and the veterinary use of diclofenac drug that has caused the rapid population decline of Gyps vulture across the Indian subcontinent. Conservation Breeding Programmes have been initiated to conserve these vulture species at locations such as Pinjore (Haryana), Buxa (West Bengal), and Rani, Guwahati (Assam) by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
- A new component is known as “Recovery of Endangered Species” has been included in Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats which is a centrally sponsored scheme. The scheme has been modified by including 16 species that have been identified for recovery viz. Snow Leopard in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh, Bustard (including Floricans), Dolphin, Hangul, Nilgiri Tahr in Tamil Nadu, Marine Turtles, Dugong, Edible Nest Swiftlet in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Asian Wild Buffalo, Nicobar Megapode, Manipur Brow-antlered Deer, Vultures, Malabar Civet, Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Lion, Sangai Deer in Manipur, Swamp Deer and Jerdon’s Courser, where the government has invested lakhs of rupees.
- The Central government has also established countrywide protected area networks, viz, National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves covering the important habitats that have been created as per the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to provide better protection to wildlife, including threatened flora and fauna and their habitat. These networks include 730 Protected Areas including 103 National Parks, 535 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 26 Community Reserves, and 66 Conservation Reserves in different regions.
- Financial and technical assistance is extended to the State Governments / Union Territories under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, viz, ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’ for providing better protection and conservation to wildlife along with the improvement of their habitat. The State Governments have been requested to strengthen the field formations and intensify patrolling in and around the Protected Areas.
- The enactment of the National Biological Diversity Act (NBA), 2002 was done in order to ensure the protection of threatened species and their habitats. Under Section 38 of the NBA, 2002 the species which are on the verge of extinction or likely to become extinct in near future as threatened species, are notified.
- The Indian government has also taken up some important wildlife protection projects such as the Project Tiger, Project Elephant, Crocodile Conservation Project, UNDP Sea Turtle Project, Project Rhino, the Great Indian Bustard, and many other eco-development projects. Some of which have been elaborated on below.
Project Tiger:
It has been one of the wildly successful projects initiated in the year 1972. It has contributed to the entire ecosystem beyond just the conservation of tigers. It involves about 47 tiger reserves located in more than 17 regions which help in conducting and surveying the count of tigers, their hunting characteristics, and their habitat under the Tiger Task Force (TTF). It has witnessed immense success in increasing the population of the tigers in the reserve areas and recovery of the habitat from a scanty 268 in 9 reserves in 1972 to above 1000 in 28 reserves in 2006 to 2000+ tigers in 2016.
Project Elephant:
This too was initiated back in 1992 with the aim of conserving the elephants along with their habitat and migratory routes using scientific management resources against poachers and unnatural death. It also considers the general welfare of the elephants and looks after the issues like mitigation of human-elephant conflict.
Crocodile Conservation Project:
Crocodiles have been on the verge of extinction once and this project has successfully managed to prevent that. It aims to establish sanctuaries to extend protection to the remaining population of the crocodiles and their habitat. It strives for bettering the management measures by involving local folks and promotes captive breeding. This venture of conserving the Indian Crocodiles is rather remarkable since it shows signs of restocking about 4000 gharial/Alligator, 1800 mugger/crocodile, and 1500 saltwater crocodiles.
UNDP Sea Turtle Project:
This project was initiated and implemented by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun in November 1999 with the aim of conserving the Olive Ridley Turtles. This is a geographical location-specific project mainly for 10 coastal states of India to help map out the breeding sites, migratory routes, and the habitat along the coastline of the turtles. It has immensely contributed to developing guidelines for safeguarding their mortality rate.
The Vulture project:
In 2006, the Government released its “Vulture Recovery Plan’ with the three major aims of conserving the declining number of vultures, which are banning the veterinary use of diclofenac, arranging a safe substitute for this drug, and initiating conservation breeding measures. In furtherance of this, it launched vulture research and breeding facilities in Pinjore, Assam, West Bengal, and Bhopal as mentioned earlier.
The Indian Rhino Vision (IRV 2020):
The government has shown remarkable efforts in conserving the declining number of Rhinos from 100-200 in the early 90s’ to 3500 presently. This project was initiated in collaboration between the Assam Forest Department, International Rhino Foundation, and WWF India. It was later joined by Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). It was initiated with the aim to expand the range of species from three protected areas to seven.
Further, some steps that Government can take are to have periodical surveys and collect the relevant information about wildlife their numbers and growth, to make such arrangements so that to protect and preserve the natural habitat of the wildlife by protecting forests, delimiting the areas of their natural habitat, making arrangements for protecting them from pollutants and natural hazards, making specific sanctuaries for specific animals whose numbers are declining and their protection needs to be taken care of and finally developing awareness among the people in order to gain their contribution in terms of volunteering and funding.
The Indian government has also come out with a 10-year plan for the conservation of birds and their habitat as out of the 1317 species recorded, 100 of them are categorized as threatened. They realized that they got so engrossed in the conservation of tigers and elephants, that the birds’ protection took a back seat. The visionary plan’s time span spreads from 2020-2030 proposing short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies for protecting the rare and the endangered species of avian diversity.
Besides these measures, India has also signed a few international schemes and projects with its neighboring countries Nepal and Bangladesh in relation to the illegal wildlife species trade and conservation of leopards and tigers. Further, there have been many such legal, administrative, and financial efforts taken for the smooth functioning of the policies. In the 2020-2021 budget presented by the Indian government, Rs. three billion (Rs. 300 crore) are allocated for Project Tiger alone.
Conclusion
Already a lot of damage has been done to our ecosystem. It is of profound significance that we realize the benefit of wildlife as they are a vital part of our ecosystem and help to maintain the ecological balance of the environment. Along with the government’s initiative, we as responsible citizens also have a duty towards contributing and aiding the government’s strategies and policies in whatever little way we can. We need to channel all our interest and actions into the protection and conservation of the wildlife and their habitat.
References
- https://www.wwfindia.org/news_facts/feature_stories/rhino_conservation_in_india/
- https://www.ranthamborenationalpark.com/blog/wildlife-conservation-initiatives-indian-government/
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