Amendments in Wildlife Trade Rules

January 22, 2024

GS Paper III Environment

Context:

Wild Life (Protection) Licensing (Additional Matters for Consideration) Rules, 2024 issues fresh guidelines excluding some species from the process of licenses for their wildlife trade.

After 40 Years, Centre Revises Wildlife Trade Rules

New guidelines: No license shall be granted for trade in wild animals listed in Schedule I of WPA 1972 ,except with previous consultation of the central government.
- Fresh guidelines were issued for granting licenses to stakeholders involved in snake venom, captive animals, trophy animals and stuffed animals.
- Schedule II: Restrictions on Schedule II species have been lifted.
  - It includes: Endangered species of bats, shrews, squirrels; and a very large variety of birds including barbets, bee eaters, bulbuls, buntings, prinias, falcons, and pittas. Turtles, geckos, snakes, frogs, mammals etc
- 1983 rule: It prohibited issuing licenses to trade in a wild animal categorized under Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The licences were granted in exceptional cases with previous approval of the central government.
Criteria for the Issue of License

- The capacity of the applicant to handle the business concerned in terms of facilities, equipment and feasibility of the premises.
- Source and manner of the supplies obtained by the business involved
- Number of licenses already issued in the concerned area.
- To consider the implications on hunting or trade of wild animals concerned

Wildlife Protection Act 1972

Wildlife Protection Act 1972 provides a legal framework for the protection of various species of wild animals and plants, management of their habitats, regulation and control of trade in wild animals, plants and products made from them.
Schedules in Wildlife Protection Act 1972:
- Schedule I: Animal species enjoying the highest level of protection including those which are critically endangered.
  - Examples: Chinkara/Indian Gazelle, Andaman Horseshoe Bat, Asiatic wild Dog/Dhole
- Schedule II: Animal species that will be subject to a lesser degree of protection
  - Examples: Nilgai, Spotted Deer/ Chittal, Indian Hedgehog
- Schedule III: Protected Plant species
  - Example: Tree Turmeric, Neelakurinji, Blue Vanda
- Schedule IV: Specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES
  - Example: Red Pandas, Otters etc

About Wildlife Trade

Wildlife trade is the selling or exchange of wild animal and plant resources.It can involve live animals and plants or their parts. It is regarded as the second largest direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction.
Scale: 6,000 different species of flora and fauna were seized between 1999 and 2018 as per The World Wildlife Report 2020 by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
- The traffickers belonged to approximately 150 different countries illustrating that wildlife crime is a global issue.
Laws governing wildlife trade: The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 ,The Forest Conservation Act,1980 , The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 , The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, The Customs Act, 1962, The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002