1. A presentation on: Wildlife Conservation
By:
Utkarsh Singh

2. Meaning of wildlife conservation
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
Wildlife everywhere on the earth is under threat of extinction and struggling hard for survival.
Habitat loss :
Population growth, fast industrialisation , urbanisation and modernisation have all contributed to a large-scale destruction of natural habitat of plants and animals.
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.
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. 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 population in India.

8. IMPORTANT NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA
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
Kanha National Park MP
Cheetah (VU)
Sundarbans Tiger Reserve
West Bengal
Bengal Tiger (EN)
Gir National Park
Gujarat
Asiatic lion (EN)
Bandipur National Park
Karnataka
Elephant (VU)
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

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, breeding of wildlife

10. Important national sanctuaries of India ANIMAL/BIRD PROTECTED
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
Periyar Sanctuary
Kerala
Balmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve
Bihar

11. 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

12. 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
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
Wild Elephant
Gaur
Achanakmar- Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve
Chhattisgarh
Wide range of flora and fauna
Nicobar Islands
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Saltwater Crocodile

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. ”
“ 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 ”
The IUCN programme for

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
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.

20. 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 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.

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.

22. 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

23. 
By:
Utkarsh Singh