The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

 The Wildlife (Protection) Act was enacted in the year :

(a) 1986 (b) 1974

(c) 1994 (d) 1972 è

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Objectives of wild life conservation

1. Protection of natural habitats of organisms through controlled exploita­tion.

2. Maintenance of rare species in protected areas such as national parks, santuries etc.,

3. Establishment of specific biosphere reserves for endangered plants and animals.

4. Protection of wild life through legislation such as banning hunting etc.,

5. Imposing specific restrictions on export of endangered plants and animals or their products.

6. Educating the public about the need to protect and preserve the environ­ment as a long range goal for the welfare of future generations.

Salient Features of Wildlife Protection Act

1. This Act provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds, and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.

2. The Act provides for the formation of wildlife advisory boards, wildlife wardens, specifies their powers and duties, etc.

3. It helped India become a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

4. CITES is a multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting endangered animals and plants. It is also known as the Washington Convention and was adopted as a result of a meeting of IUCN members.

5. The Act prohibited the hunting of endangered species.

6. Scheduled animals are prohibited from being traded as per the Act’s provisions.

7. The Act provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife species.

8. It provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc.

9. Its provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo Authority. This is the central body responsible for the oversight of zoos in India. It was established in 1992.

10. The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of flora and fauna.

11. Schedule I and Schedule II (Part II) get absolute protection, and offences under these schedules attract the maximum penalties.

12. The schedules also include species that may be hunted.

13. 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. It is also the apex body to review and approve all matters related to wildlife, projects of national parks, sanctuaries, etc. The chief function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests. It is chaired by the Prime Minister.

14. The Act also provided for the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with an overall supervisory and coordination part, performing capacities as given in the Act. 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.

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