Pariksha SaathiLesson 4 of 10 · Environment and Ecology
Wildlife Conservation in India: Project Tiger, Project Elephant, IUCN Red List and CITES
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Why species projects
By the late 1960s hunting, the fur trade and the loss of forests had pushed many Indian animals close to extinction. The response came in stages: the Indian Board for Wildlife in 1952, the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, and then projects aimed at single species. A project built around a flagship species such as the tiger protects its whole forest, and with it thousands of other species. The tiger was adopted as India's national animal in 1973, the year Project Tiger began.
Project Tiger
Launched on 1 April 1973 with 9 tiger reserves, Project Tiger is one of the world's best-known conservation programmes. Each reserve has a core area kept free of human use and a buffer around it. After the tigers of Sariska disappeared in the early 2000s, the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2006 created the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body chaired by the Union Environment Minister, and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. Sariska was restocked with tigers moved from Ranthambore in 2008. Since 2006 tigers have been counted every four years in the All India Tiger Estimation, using camera traps, by the NTCA with the Wildlife Institute of India. International Tiger Day, 29 July, was fixed at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit of 2010.
Project Elephant and other projects
Project Elephant was launched in 1992 to protect elephants, their habitats and corridors, to reduce human-elephant conflict and to improve the welfare of captive elephants; elephant reserves are its units, and the elephant was declared India's National Heritage Animal in 2010. The Crocodile Conservation Project began in 1975 with help from the FAO and UNDP, breeding gharials and other crocodiles in captivity and releasing them into rivers. Project Snow Leopard began in 2009 for the high Himalaya. The Gangetic river dolphin was declared the National Aquatic Animal in 2009, and the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary near Bhagalpur in Bihar dates from 1991. Vulture numbers crashed in the 1990s because cattle carcasses carried the painkiller diclofenac, so its veterinary use was banned in 2006 and breeding centres such as the one at Pinjore in Haryana were set up.
The IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was founded in 1948 at Fontainebleau in France and has its headquarters at Gland in Switzerland. It began its Red List of Threatened Species in 1964. The list sorts species into nine categories: Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern, Data Deficient and Not Evaluated. Only Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable together are called 'threatened'. Indian species long listed as Critically Endangered include the great Indian bustard, the gharial, three vultures (white-rumped, Indian and slender-billed), Jerdon's courser and the Bengal florican. The tiger, Asian elephant, red panda and Ganges river dolphin are listed as Endangered. Categories are revised as new data come in, so a status describes a species at a given time.
CITES
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was signed in Washington DC on 3 March 1973 and came into force in 1975; India joined in 1976. Its secretariat in Geneva is administered by UNEP, and 3 March is now World Wildlife Day. CITES does not deal with hunting inside a country; it controls trade across borders through three appendices. Appendix I lists species threatened with extinction, in which commercial trade is generally banned, such as tigers and snow leopards. Appendix II lists species not necessarily threatened now, whose trade is allowed under permits so that it does not become harmful. Appendix III lists species protected in one country that has asked other parties to help control the trade.
The Wildlife Protection Act schedules
The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 bans the hunting of listed animals and regulates trade in wildlife products, grading protection through schedules. Until 2022 it had six: Schedule I and Part II of Schedule II gave absolute protection, Schedules III and IV gave lesser protection, Schedule V listed vermin that could be hunted, and Schedule VI, added by a 1991 amendment, listed protected plants. Schedule I animals such as the tiger, lion, elephant, rhino and great Indian bustard attract the heaviest penalties. The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022 reduced the schedules to four: Schedule I (highest protection), Schedule II (lesser protection), Schedule III (protected plants) and Schedule IV (specimens listed in the CITES appendices), and removed the separate vermin schedule.
Institutions
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, set up in 1982, is an autonomous institute of the environment ministry that trains wildlife managers and carries out research. The National Board for Wildlife, chaired by the Prime Minister, replaced the Indian Board for Wildlife in 2003 and must clear projects inside protected areas. The Central Zoo Authority (1992) regulates zoos, and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau fights poaching and smuggling. Among non-government bodies, the Bombay Natural History Society (1883) is one of the oldest, and WWF, founded in 1961 with the giant panda as its symbol, works across the world.
Key facts
- Project Tiger: launched 1 April 1973 with 9 reserves; the tiger became the national animal the same year; Project Elephant: 1992.
- NTCA: statutory body created by the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2006, chaired by the Union Environment Minister; tigers are counted every four years.
- Crocodile project 1975 (FAO and UNDP help); Project Snow Leopard 2009; elephant made National Heritage Animal 2010; Gangetic dolphin made National Aquatic Animal 2009.
- Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, Bhagalpur (Bihar), 1991; diclofenac, which killed vultures, was banned for veterinary use in 2006.
- IUCN: founded 1948 at Fontainebleau (France), headquarters Gland (Switzerland); Red List since 1964; threatened = Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable.
- Critically Endangered Indian species: great Indian bustard, gharial, white-rumped, Indian and slender-billed vultures, Jerdon's courser, Bengal florican.
- CITES: signed in Washington DC on 3 March 1973 (now World Wildlife Day), in force 1975, India joined 1976; Appendix I bans commercial trade.
- WPA schedules: six until 2022 (Schedule V was vermin; Schedule VI, plants, was added in 1991); the 2022 amendment cut them to four (I highest, II lesser, III plants, IV CITES specimens).
- Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1982; Central Zoo Authority 1992; National Board for Wildlife (chaired by the Prime Minister) 2003; BNHS 1883; WWF 1961.
Quick revision
Project Tiger 1 April 1973 (9 reserves); tiger national animal 1973; NTCA by 2006 amendment; Project Elephant 1992; crocodile project 1975; snow leopard project 2009; IUCN 1948, Gland, Red List 1964, 9 categories, CR-EN-VU are threatened; GIB, gharial, three vultures CR; CITES 3 March 1973, India 1976, Appendix I to III; WPA six schedules cut to four in 2022; WII Dehradun 1982; NBWL chaired by PM.