THE WILD LIFE PROTECTION ACT, 1972
India is a treasure trove of varied flora and fauna.
Reasons for a nationwide law in the domain of the environment particularly wildlife
include the following:
1. Increase in population leads to undue pressure on land.
Forest are cleared for human habitation leads to shrinking of wild life habitats.
2. The illegal international trade in wildlife and wildlife products leads to their
destruction.
> Many species were seeing a rapid decline in numbers. For instance, it was
mentioned by Edward Pritchard Gee (A naturalist), that at the turn of the 20th
century, India was home to close to 40000 tigers. But, a census in 1972 showed this
number drastically reduced to about 1827.
> A drastic decrease in the flora and fauna can cause ecological imbalance, which
affects many aspects of climate and the ecosystem.
3. The most recent Act passed during the British era in this regard was the Wild Birds and
Animals Protection, 1935.
This needed to be upgraded as the punishments awarded to poachers and traders of
wildlife products were disproportionate to the huge financial benefits that accrue to them.
4. There were only five national parks in India before the enactment of this Act.
Lead Agency for enforcement and administration of this act is Department of Environment,
Forest and wildlife under Ministry of Env and Forests.
This Act provides for:
1 the protection of a listed species of animals, birds, and plants
2. establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
3. The Act prohibited the hunting of endangered species.
Scheduled animals are prohibited from being traded as per the Act’s provisions.
The Act provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife
species.
It helped India become a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)- multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting
endangered animals and plants. It is also known as the Washington Convention.
For the first time, a comprehensive list of the endangered wildlife of the country was
prepared.
4. It provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc.
Its provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo Authorityin 1992.
5. The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of
flora and fauna.
Schedule I and Schedule II (Part II) get absolute protection, and offences under these
schedules attract the maximum penalties.
The schedules also include species that may be hunted.
6. The National Board for Wildlife was constituted as a statutory organization under the
provisions of this Act.
This is an advisory board that offers advice to the central government on issues of
wildlife conservation in India.
The chief function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of
wildlife and forests.
It is chaired by the Prime Minister.
7. The Act also provided for the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation
Authority.
Its mandate is to strengthen tiger conservation in India.
It gives statutory authority to Project Tiger which was launched in 1973 and has put
the endangered tiger on a guaranteed path of revival by protecting it from
extinction.
There are five types of protected areas as provided under the Act. They are described
below.
1. Sanctuaries: “Sanctuary is a place of refuge where injured, abandoned, and abused
wildlife is allowed to live in peace in their natural environment without any human
intervention.”
2. National Parks: “National Parks are the areas that are set by the government to
conserve the natural environment.”
A national park has more restrictions as compared to a wildlife sanctuary.
3. Conservation Reserves: The State government may declare an area (particularly those
adjacent to sanctuaries or parks) as a conservation reserve after consulting with local
communities.
4. Community Reserves: The State government may declare any private or community
land as a community reserve after consultation with the local community or an individual
who has volunteered to conserve the wildlife.
5. Tiger Reserves: These areas are reserved for the protection and conservation of tigers
in India. They are declared on the recommendations of the National Tiger Conservation
Authority.
