India has a great diversity of forest and wildlife resources which are classified and protected in various ways. Species are categorized as normal, endangered, vulnerable, rare, endemic, or extinct depending on their population levels and risk of depletion. Various factors like hunting, deforestation, and urbanization threaten species. Conservation methods aim to protect habitats and species through laws, reserves, and community involvement in projects like Project Tiger to safeguard India's biological heritage.

1. Forest and Wildlife Resources
Class –
10th

2. Classification Of Species
India is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of its vast array of biological
diversity. Different varieties of forest and wildlife resources are found in India.
Based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we can
classify as follows –
• Normal Species
• Endangered Species
• Vulnerable Species
• Rare Species
• Endemic Species
• Extinct Species

3. Normal Species
Species whose population levels are considered to be normal for their survival are
known as Normal Species.
For e.g.:- Cattle, Sal, Pine, Rodents, etc.

4. Endangered Species
These are species which are in danger of extinction are known as Endangered
Species.
The survival of such species is difficult if the negative factors that have led to a
decline in their population continue to operate.
For e.g.:- Black Buck, Crocodile, Indian Wild Ass, Indian Rhino, Lion Tailed Macaque,
Sangai, etc.

5. Vulnerable Species
These are species whose population has declined from where it is likely to move into
Endangered Category in the near future, if negative factors continue to operate are
known as Vulnerable Species.
For e.g.:- Blue Sheep, Asiatic Elephant, Gangetic Dolphin, etc.

6. Rare Species
Species with small population may move into the endangered or Vulnerable
Category if the negative factors affecting them continue to operate are known as
Rare Species.
For e.g.:- Himalayan Brown Bear, Wild Asiatic Buffalo, Desert Fox And Hornbill, etc.

7. Endemic Species
These are species which are only found in some Particular Areas usually isolated by
natural or Geographical Barriers are known as Endemic Species.
For e.g.:- Andaman Teal, Nicobar Pigeon, Andaman Wild Pig, Mithun In Arunachal
Pradesh.

8. Extinct Species
These are species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where
they may occur are known as Extinct Species.
A species may be extinct from a local area, region, country, continent or the entire
earth.
For e.g.:- Asiatic Cheetah, Pink Head Duck, etc.

9. The Negative Factors
The negative factors that cause Fearful Depletion of the flora and fauna are the
following:-
• Hunting and Poaching
• Natural Calamities
• Soil Erosion
• Deforestation and Expansion of Agricultural Land
• Mining and Excavation Work
• Global Warming and Pollution
• Industrialisation and Urbanisation

10. Loss Of Cultural Diversity
• The Destruction Of Forests And Wildlife Is Not
Just A Biological Issue.
• The Biological Loss is strongly correlated
with the Loss of Cultural Diversity.
• Such losses have increasingly Marginalized
And Impoverished many Indigenous and
other forest-dependent Communities.
• These directly depend on various components
of the forest and wildlife for Food, Drink,
Medicine, Culture, Spirituality, etc.

11. The Drudgery Of Women
• Within the poor, Women are affected more
than men.
• In many societies, women bear the major
responsibility of collection of fuel, fodder, water
and other Basic Subsistence Needs.
• As these resources are depleted, the drudgery
of women increases and sometimes they have
to walk for More Than 10 Km to collect these
resources.
• This causes serious health problems for
women.
• It increases negligence of home and children

12. Conservation Of Forest & Wildlife
• Conservation in the background of rapid decline in wildlife population and forestry
has become essential.
• Advantages of Conserving the Natural Resources:-
‫נ‬ Conservation preserves the ecological diversity and our life support systems –
water, air and soil.
‫נ‬ It also preserves the genetic diversity of plants and animals for better growth of
species and breeding.
‫נ‬ For e.g.:- In agriculture, we are still dependent on traditional crop varieties.
Fisheries too are heavily dependent on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.

13. Methods Of Conservation
• The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act was implemented in 1972, with various
provisions for protecting habitats.
• The thrust of the program was towards protecting the remaining population of
certain endangered species by banning hunting, giving legal protection to their
habitats, and restricting trade in wildlife.
• Subsequently, central and many state govts. established national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries.
• The central govt. also announced several projects for protecting specific animals
such as ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Rhino’.
• Most recently, the Indian Elephant, Black Buck, the Great Indian Bustard and the
Snow Leopard etc. have been given full or partial legal protection against hunting
and trade throughout India.

14. Project Tiger
• In 1973, the Authorities realized that the tiger population had dwindled to 1,827 from
an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century.
• The major threats to tiger population were: Poaching for trade, Shrinking Habitat,
Depletion Of Prey, Growing Human Population, etc.
• Since India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the surviving tiger
population in the world, these two nations became prime targets for poaching and
illegal trading.
• “Project Tiger”, one of the well publicized wildlife campaigns in the world, was
launched in 1973.
• Initially, it showed success. But in 1993, the population of the tiger had dropped to
3,600.
• There were 39 tiger reserves in India covering an area of 32137.14 sq. km.

15. Indian Wildlife Sanctuaries
A Wildlife Sanctuary is an area where animal habitats and their surroundings are
protected from any sort of disturbance.
The famous Indian Wildlife Sanctuaries are as follows:-
• Periyar wildlife sanctuary {Kerala}
• Gir wildlife sanctuary {Gujarat}
• Sariska wildlife sanctuary {Rajasthan}
• Manas wildlife sanctuary {Assam}
• Wild Ass wildlife sanctuary {Gujarat}

17. Indian National Parks
A National Park is an area set aside by a national government for the preservation of
the natural environment.
The famous Indian National Parks are as follows:-
• Jim Corbett national park {Uttarakhand}
• Sundarbans national park {West Bengal}
• Bandhavgarh national park {Madhya Pradesh}
• Kaziranga national park {Assam}
• Ranthambore national park {Rajasthan}

19. Distribution Of Forests
In India, Forest and Wildlife Resources are managed by the govt. through the Forest
Department.
The forests are classified under the following categories:-
• Reserved Forests – More than ½ of the total forest has been declared as
Reserved Forests. They are regarded as the Most Valuable Resource.
• Protected Forests – Almost 𝟏
𝟑 of the total forest area is Protected Forest. This
forest is protected from Further Depletion.
• Unclassed Forests – These are other forests and wastelands belonging to Govt.,
Private Individuals and Communities.

20. Community & Conservation
• In India, local communities along with government officials are struggling to
conserve the wildlife resources.
• In Sariska Tiger Reserve {Rajasthan}, villagers have fought against mining by
citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
• The inhabitants of Alwar District of Rajasthan have declared 1,200 ha. of forest as
the Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, declaring their own rules which don’t allow
hunting and poaching.
• The Chipko Movement in the Himalayas has successfully resisted deforestation.
• Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao Andolan {Tehri} and Navdanya
have shown that adequate levels of diversified crop can be produced without the
use of chemicals.
• In India, Joint Forest Management (JFM) program gives a good eg. for involving

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