wildlife conservation

1. A presentation on:
Wildlife Conservation
ABHISHEK GIRI
Barkatullah University
Bhopal, 462026
Madhya Pradesh ( M.P.)

2. CONTENT
• Meaning of Wildlife Conservation.
• Benefits of Wildlife.
• Did you know?
• Threats of Wildlife.
• National Parks.
• Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Biosphere Reserves.
• Conservation Measures.
• IUCN.
• Other measures taken for Wildlife Conservation.
• Enforcement of legal provisions.
• International rules and laws.

3. • Wildlife:
According to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, wildlife includes any
animal, bees, butterfly, crustacean, fish and moth; and aquatic or land
vegetation, which form part of any habitat.
Therefore, wildlife refers to living organisms (flora and fauna) in their
natural habitats.
 Example: lion, deer, crocodiles, whales, trees and shrubs in dense
forests etc.
 But cultivated plants and domesticated animals are not included in
wildlife!
Meaning of wildlife conservation :-

4. • Wildlife is an essential component of various food chains, food webs,
biogeochemical cycles and energy flow through various trophic levels.
• Preserves vitality and health of environment and provides stability to
various ecosystems.
Benefits of Wildlife :-

5. Wildlife is a symbol of national pride and cultural heritage.
Over 100 years ago, there were over 1 lakh tigers across
Asia.
whereas today this number is below 5000 worldwide.
Wildlife is renewable source of a large variety of commercial
products like food, leathers, honey, herbal medicines, timber
etc.
Scientists and medical researchers use wildlife animals as
research materials on which trial experiments are performed
before there actual application to human beings ( Eg.
Xenotransplantation).
Project Tiger and Gir Lion Project have been launched by
the
government of India to protect the tiger and lion population in
country.
Did you know?

6. Threats to wildlife :-
Wildlife everywhere on the earth is under threat of extinction and struggling hard for survival.
1. Habitat loss :
• Population growth, fast industrialisation , urbanisation and modernisation have all contributed to a large-
scale destruction of natural habitat of plants and animals.
2. Pollution:
• Air, water, soil and noise pollution of the magnitude and toxicity never seen before is the major factor.
• Natural habitats have been destroyed or damaged by activities such as the indiscriminate use of synthetic
materials, release of radiations and oil spills in the sea, generation of effluents and wastes of various kinds
and toxicity, and their unscientific disposal.
3. Indiscriminate hunting:
• Indiscriminate killing and poaching of wild animals for food, horn, fur, tusk etc. has resulted in reduction
and even extinction of many wild species.

7. 4. Introduction of exotic species:
• Many native species have known to disappear and their existence is under threat because of the introduction of
exotic and alien species.

8. National parks :-
A national park is protected area of land in which a typical ecosystem with all
its wild plants and animals are protected and preserved in natural
surroundings.
• As of April 2012, there were 102 national parks.
• Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, established in 1936, was the first national
park in India.
• All national park lands then encompassed a total 39,919 km2, comprising 1.21% of
India's total surface area.
• A total of 166 national parks have been authorized.
• Over 17 national parks and sanctuaries have been selected for Project Tiger to protect
and increase tiger population in India.

9. Important National Parks
NAME STATE IN WHICH LOCATED ANIMAL (S) PROTECTED
Jim Corbett National Park Uttarakhand Tiger (EN)
Kaziranga National Park Assam Rhinoceros (CR)
Hazaribagh National Park Jharkhand Tiger (EN)
Kanha National Park MP Tiger (EN)
Cheetah (VU)
Sundarbans Tiger Reserve West Bengal Bengal Tiger (EN)
Gir National Park Gujarat Asiatic lion (EN)
Bandipur National Park Karnataka Elephant (VU)
Tiger (EN)
Desert National Park Rajasthan Great Indian Bustard (CR)
Black buck (NT)
EX = Extinct
EW = Extinct in the wild
CR = Critically
endangered
EN = Endangered
VU = Vulnerable
NT = Near Threatened
LC = Least Concern

10. Wildlife Sanctuary :-
A sanctuary is a protected are of land, wetland
or sea reserved for the conservation of wild
animals, birds and plants.
• India has over 492 wildlife sanctuaries.
• These cover over 3% of India’s total geographical
area.
• Hunting of any kind is prohibited in sanctuaries.
• Private ownership rights over
sanctuaries and limited human
activities may be granted provided
they do not interfere with the normal
activities(feeding, nesting, breeding
of wildlife.

11. Important national sanctuaries of India
NAME STATE IN WHICH LOCATED STATE IN WHICH LOCATED
Keoladeo Ghana Bird
Sanctuary
Rajasthan
(Bharatpur)
Siberian crane, famous for
Birds
Chilika Lake Bird Sanctuary Odisha Water fowls
Cranes
Ducks
Manas Wildlife Sanctuary Assam Panther
Tiger
Rhinoceros
Dachigam Sanctuary J&K Kashmiri stag
Musk snow leopard
Madhumalai Wildlife
Sanctuary
Tamil Nadu
(Nilgiri hills)
Elephant
Four-horned antelope
Nagarjunasagar Sanctuary AP Tiger
Panther
Periyar Sanctuary Kerala Elephant
Balmiki Nagar Tiger
Reserve
Bihar Tiger

12. Biosphere reserves :-
• Biosphere reserves are a specific category of protected area of land and/or
coastal area wherein tribal people native to the area are an integral part of the
system.
• The concept of Biosphere Reserve was conceived by the UN and was launched in
1975 as a part of UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere” Programme.
• In bioreserves various uses of land are permitted by dividing it into 3 distinct
zones viz, Core Zone, Buffer Zone and Transition Zone.
• The government of India has established 18 biosphere reserves.
• There are approximately 610 biosphere reserves located in 117 countries of the world.
• There are 18 biosphere reserves zones in India.
• Nine 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.

13. 9 of the 18 Biosphere Reserves which are part of the
World Network of Biosphere Reserves
NAME STATE IN WHICH LOCATED ANIMAL(S) PROTECTED
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Tamil Nadu
Kerala
Karnataka
Nilgiri Tahr
Lion-tailed macaque
Gulf of Mannar Biosphere
Reserve
Tamil Nadu Dugong
Sea Cow
Sundarbans National Park West Bengal Royal Bengal Tiger
Nokrek Biosphere Reserve Meghalaya Red Panda
Panchmarhi Biosphere
Reserve
Madhya Pradesh Giant Squirrel
Flying Squirrel
Simlipal Biosphere Reserve Odisha Royal Bengal Tiger
Wild Elephant
Gaur
Achanakmar- Amarkantak
Biosphere Reserve
Chhattisgarh
Madhya Pradesh
Wide range of flora and fauna
Nicobar Islands Andaman & Nicobar Islands Saltwater Crocodile
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve Uttarakhand

14. Conservation measures :-
The conservation strategies should include the following
programmes and policies:
• Protection of threatened/useful plants and animals
species living in natural habitats, zoological and
botanical gardens, seed gene, tissue culture and DNA
banks.
• Preservation of critical habitats of animal and plant
species plus the management of life supporting systems
in the surrounding habitats.
• Hunting and international trade in wild animals and
plants products should be regulated and a strict vigil
should be maintained upon these actions.
• Role of government and NGOs in spreading awareness
programmes among common people about values of
wildlife and it’s conservation.

15. IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources) :-
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an
international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions
to our most pressing environment and development challenges".
• The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species, which assesses the conservation status of species.
• It works for the enlistment and preservation of endangered species of
plants and animals. Now known as the World Conservation Union, it
aims to impart information about the distribution and status of
threatened species, develop awareness about the importance of
threatened biodiversity and guide their conservation programmes
and actions.

16. • “ Protected areas and threatened species could most effectively be safeguarded if
local people considered it in their own interest to do so. Working with rather than
against local people became a major working principle for IUCN. ”
• “ IUCN's stated vision is "a just world that values and conserves nature". Its
mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to
conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and
ecologically sustainable ”

17. • The union has identified and documented endangered species of plants and animals
and has placed them into eight “Red list” categories. The red list categories can be
regrouped into four main categories as follows:
 EXTINCT SPECIES
 ENDANGERD SPECIES
 VULNERNABLE SPECIES
 RARE SPECIES

18. Other measures taken for Wildlife conservation :-
• Breeding programmes for endangered species.
• Prevention of poaching, hunting and biopiracy.

19. Enforcement of legal provisions :-
Some important legal provisions related to wildlife protection and conservation:
• Forest conservation act, 1980
• National forest policy, 1988
• Wildlife protection act, 1972

20. Forest conservation act, 1980 :-
• India is one among a few countries in the world which has a Forest Act
since 1927.
• The act was reformulated in 1980 and later amended in 1988.
The Act empowered the government and the forest department
• To create and manage reserved forests, protected forests and village forests.
• To protect non-governmental forests and forest land.
• To control movement of forest produce.
• To control and regulate cattle grazing.

21. National forest policy, 1988 :-
• In the year 1952, India formulated her first forest policy which
laid more emphasis on revenue generation than on
sustainability of forests and their natural functions.
• The new forest policy emphasizes conservation of forests as a
natural heritage and ensures environmental stability and
maintenance of ecological balance including atmospheric
equilibrium which is so vital for life and growth of all life forms
including wildlife.

22. Wildlife protection act, 1972 :-
• The act was passed by the Parliament of India to protect India’s wildlife.
• Before 1972,India only had five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the
Act established schedules of protected plant and animal species; hunting or harvesting
these species was largely outlawed.
The main objective of the Act are as follows:
• Prohibition on hunting of specified plants and/or animals.
• Setting up and management of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• Control of trade and commerce in wildlife, and wildlife products.
• Setting up of wildlife advisory board from state level to block and panchayat levels and
empowering zoo authorities with control and management of zoos and for captive
breeding.

23. International rules and laws :-
Many nations have reached bilateral/multilateral agreements and have
framed rules and regulations for protection and conservation of wildlife.
Some of these are:
• AFRICAN CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES,
1968.
• CONVENTION OF WETLANDS OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE (RAMSAR
CONVENTION), 1971.
• CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURE AND NATIONAL
HERITAGE ACT, 1972.