2. Meaning of wildlife conservatin
• 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.
➢Example: lion, deer, crocodiles, whales, trees and
shrubs in dense forests etc.
Therefore, wildlife refers to living organisms (flora and
fauna) in their natural habitats.
❖ But cultivated plants and domesticated animals are
not included in wildlife!
3. Benefits of Wildlife
• 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
4. Did you know??
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.
5. Threats to wildlife
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.
Wildlife everywhere on the earth is under threat
of extinction and struggling hard for survival.
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.
6. 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.
7. 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
8. 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
Conservation status
IMPORTANT NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA
9. 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,
10. NAME STATE IN WHICH LOCATED ANIMAL/BIRD PROTECTED
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
Important national sanctuaries of India
11. • 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
Biosphere reserves
12. 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
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve Uttarakhand
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
9 of the 18 Biosphere Reserves which are part of
the World Network of Biosphere Reserves
13. 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.
14. IUCN(International Union for Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources)
• The International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN, Union internationale pour la conservation de la
nature [UICN], in French) is an international
organisation 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.
15. “ 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. ”
The IUCN programme
for 2013-2016.
“ 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 ”
16. 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
17. Other measures taken for Wildlife
conservation
Breeding programmes for endangered
species
Prevention of poaching, hunting and
biopiracy
18. 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
( amended 1991, 2002 )
19. 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
o To create and manage reserved forests, protected forests and village
forests.
o To protect non-governmental forests and forest land.
oTo control movement of forest produce.
o To control and regulate cattle grazing.
20. • 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 emphasises 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.
National forest policy, 1988
21. Wildlife protection act, 1972 (Amended
1991, 2002)
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.
❖ The amendment to this Act in 2002 brought in the concept of Community Reserves and made
the provision of the Act more stringent by altering several definitions in the previous Act.
