Wildlife Conservation in India: Initiatives, Achievements & Future

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT TIGER

• Launched in 1973 (from Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand) + Centrally Sponsored
• Objective: to protect ‘Endangered’ Tiger population from extinction by ensuring a viable population in their natural habitats, contributing to wildlife conservation in India. 
• Tiger is an Umbrella species.
• The Tiger Reserves are constituted on a ‘Core-Buffer Strategy’.
• Tiger census: conducted once every 4 years since 1972.
• Tiger census uses: Pugmark technique, Camera trapping, M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers -Intensive Protection & Ecological Status) etc.
• India achieved its ‘St. Petersburg declaration’ target by doubling Tiger population (in 2019) ahead of 2022 target
• India currently houses around 70% of the World’s Tiger population.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT ELEPHANT (1992)

• Launch: 1992 + Centrally Sponsored
• IUCN status: Asian elephant: Endangered & African elephant: Vulnerable.
• Objectives: to protect elephants, their habitat & corridors + to prevent man-animal conflict + Welfare of captive elephants.
• It provides financial & technical support to wildlife management efforts by states, contributing to wildlife conservation in India. .
• The Project is being mainly implemented in 16 States: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, showcasing significant progress in wildlife conservation in India.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: VULTURE CONSERVATION

• A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion + live predominantly in the tropics and subtropics.
• Vultures, also known as nature’s clean up crew.
• Vultures in south Asia, mainly in India and Nepal, have declined dramatically since the early 1990s
• Drug Diclofenac is implicated as the main cause of vulture decline. Replaced by
• Vultures die of kidney (Renal) failure caused by Diclofenac poisoning.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: INDIAN (ONE HORN) RHINO VISION (IRV) 2020

• Launched in 2005 + supported by WWFIndia, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), contributing to wildlife conservation in India. .
• Implemented by Assam State Government with the Bodo autonomous council as an active partner
• Aim: to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 one-horned rhinos in the Indian state of Assam.
• IUCN: Vulnerable + Schedule -I WPA, 1972.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT SNOW LEOPARD (2009)

• Launched in 2009 + IUCN: Vulnerable
• Objective: To safeguard & conserve India’s unique natural heritage of high-altitude wildlife populations, contributing to wildlife conservation in India.
• Most of the Snow leopards are found in China followed by Mongolia and India.
• The Snow Leopard range states / UTs of India: Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT SECURE HIMALAYA (2017)

• Launched in 2017 + By India in association with UNDP, the GEF -Global Environment Facility.
• Project duration: 6 years.
• Objective: to secure livelihoods, conserve, restore & sustainably use Himalayan ecosystems.
• Project Implemented in Specific Landscapes, showcasing significant progress in wildlife conservation in India:

1. Changthang: Jammu and Kashmir
2. Lahaul: Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh)
3. Gangotri: Govind & Darma Byans Valley (Uttarakhand)
4. Kanchenjunga: Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim).

• Also, focused on the protection of snow leopard & other endangered species and their habitats in Himalayas.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT SEA TURTLE

• Launched in 2005 + by MoEF & CC in association with UNDP.
• Implemented by Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT CROCODILE

• Launched in 1975 + by GoI in association with UNDP, FAO.
• There are three crocodilian species found in India.
• Objectives:

1. To protect the remaining population of crocodilians.
2. To enhance their population through ‘rear & release’ technique.
3. To promote captive breeding.

• Note: Central Crocodile Breeding & Management Training Institute is located at Hyderabad, Telangana.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: PROJECT HANGUL (KASHMIR STAG)

• Launched in 1970s + by Govt. of Jammu & IUCN & WWF, contributing to wildlife conservation in India.
• IUCN status: Critically Endangered.
• It is found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys & mountains of the Kashmir and northern Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh.
• In Kashmir, it’s found in the Dachigam National Park, Rajparian Wildlife Sanctuary, Overa Aru, Sind Valley, Kishtwar & Bhaderwah.
• Note: Hangul is the only surviving species of the Asiatic member of the red deer family + Hangul society is matriarchal & only male members have antlers.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: CONSERVATION BREEDING PROGRAMME

• This involves the captive propagation of endangered species.
• To help maintain genetic diversity, produce viable individuals to mitigate species’ extinction, contributing to wildlife conservation in India.
• Important ongoing Conservation Breeding Programme in India:

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: DOLPHIN CONSERVATION

• National Aquatic Animal: Ganges River Dolphin.
• IUCN status – Endangered + included in Schedule-I of the WPA 1972 + Appendix I of CITES + Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
• The Ganges River Dolphins can only live in freshwater, are blind and catch their prey using ultrasonic sound
• It makes a sound while breathing called the Su-Su.
• Need for conservation: They once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna & Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, but are now mostly extinct from many of its early distribution ranges.
• In India they are distributed across 7 states: Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA: SOUTH ASIA WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT NETWORK (SAWEN)

• Launched in 2011 in Paro Bhutan + Secretariat: Kathmandu, Nepal, contributing to wildlife conservation in India.
• SAWEN is an inter-government wildlife law enforcement support body of South Asian countries.
• Objective: to promote & co-ordinate regional co-operation for curbing illegal wildlife trade in wild flora and fauna of South Asia.
• Member countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is the nodal point for SAWEN in India.