ENVIROMENTAL STUDIES ASSIGNMENT
WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT 1972
Submitted to-Ms. Nirmala Konsam
Submitted by-Ayushi Saini
BMS 1A
Roll no. 20044
The topic of this assignment as stated is Wildlife Protection Act 1972 which is an legislation.
Such legislation gives directions to the government, public and non-citizens to take care of
the environment.
In order to conserve animals, birds, plants and the matters connected therewith, the Indian
Parliament enacted Wildlife Protection Act in 1972, which was unique in its own, the very
first act focusing on the conservation of wildlife.
In 1972 there was UN conference on human environment which is generally termed as
Stockholm Conference which is considered as the starting point of environment governance
in the world.
There exist only five designated national parks in India before the enactment of this act.
WHAT IT IS ABOUT




Protection and management of wildlife.
Establishment of sanctuaries and national parks.
Regulation of hunting of wild animals and birds.
Regulation of illegal trade of wild animals and animal product (provisions for
CITES).
 Protection of hunting rights of schedule tribe in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, etc.
 Appointment of wildlife advisory Board, Wildlife warden, their powers, duties
etc., all these things are being provided by this act only.
This particular legislation is not only taking care of environment, wildlife and forest
ecosystems but also taking care of hunting rights of schedule tribes of Andaman and Nicobar
Islands.
According to the Act, wildlife includes any animal, and within the term ‘animal’ it includes
mammals, bird, reptiles and amphibians, and to kill any of the animals is a punishable
offence.
We have important international treaties or convention that are controlling the illegal trade in
wildlife. One is CITES which is intergovernmental treaty protecting the trade of endangered
species of flora and fauna It is also known as the Washington Convention and was adopted as
a result of a meeting of IUCN members and its private version is TRAFFIC which is
international wildlife trade monitoring network.
They collaborate with many governments and the Indian version of these protection
guidelines is Wildlife Protection Act.
NEED FOR WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT
 India is a country which is very rich in flora and fauna and a drastic decrease in both of
these can cause serious ecological imbalance which can affects many aspects of climate
and the ecosystem.
 There was a need to upgrade the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act, 1935 which
was passes during the British era as the punishments awarded to poachers and traders
of wildlife products were disproportionate to the huge financial benefits that accrue to
them.
 There were only five national parks in India prior to the enactment of this Act, and there
was a need to take a big step towards dealing with the problems associated with the
environment and wildlife.
HISTORY OF WILDLIFE PROTECTION LEGISLATION IN INDIA

The first such law was passed by the British Indian Government in 1887 called the Wild
Birds Protection Act, 1887. The law sought to prohibit the possession and sale of
specified wild birds that were either killed or captured during a breeding session.
 In 1912 A second law was enacted called the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act
which was later amended in 1935 when the Wild Birds and Animals Protection
(Amendment) Act 1935 was passed.

The issue of protection of wildlife and the prevention of some species becoming extinct
came forward in 1960 and long before that during the British Raj, wildlife protection
was not accorded a priority.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR THE WILDLIFE ACT
 Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding wildlife and forest is
directed to the State by Article 48A of the constitution. This article was added to the
Constitution by the 42 amendment in 1976.
 Certain fundamental duties for the people of India are being imposed by Article 51A.
One of them is to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.
HOW ACT IS COMING INTO ACTION OR BEING IMPLEMENTED
 We have six different schedules under this act.
 Schedule 1 to 4 are about controlling hunting, killing and illegal trade etc.
 Schedule 1 and part 2 of schedule 2 have the list of animals which need absolute
protection which means if someone hurt them or their habitat, there will be highest
level of penalties like monitory fine and imprisonment too.
 Schedule 1 have the list of most important species present in Indian wildlife like
Asiatic lions, Tigers, Gangetic Dolphins, Great Indian Bustard, Elephants, Rhinos,
Indian Wild Ass, Nigiri Tahr etc.
 Schedule 2 part 2 includes some important species like beetles, Mongooses,
Himalayan brown bear, these species are required for the proper functioning of their
local ecosystems. For example. Beetles are very important detritivores which helps in
the process of decomposition of dead remains.
 Part 1 of schedule 2 have less level punishment and penalties as the species mentioned
in part 1 are greater in population as compared to the species mentioned in schedule 1






and part 2 of schedule 2. Example Bengal Porcupine, Flying Squirrel, Indian Rhesus
Monkey
Schedule 3 and 4 also contains the protected species but have very less punishment or
penalties like Nilgai, Pigeon, Pelicans, Assamese Macaque.
Schedule 5 includes the list of animals which are termed as Vermin means which can
be killed. On hunting of these animals there is no penalty or punishment.
Example: Crow, Rats, Flying Fox, Fruit Bats, as these create disturbance to health and
agriculture scenarios and domestic life too.
Forest and wildlife is in the concurrent list of the constitution so both Central and
State government are empowered to frame legislations but generally Centre leaves
these domains in the hand of State.
But if State want to add some animal under Vermin then they have to request centre,
they cannot do so on their own
Like Monkeys are declared Vermin in Himachal Pradesh, Nilgai in Bihar, Wild Boar
in Uttarakhand.
Schedule 6 is related to plants but it is not related to protection of plants, it is related
to plant species which are not allowed to cultivated, stored or traded.
Example: Pitcher Plant found in eastern regions
Certain species of Orchids like Ladies Slipper Orchid, Red Wanda, Blue Wanda.
There are various chapters too which are under this article only.
STATUTARY BODIES UNDER WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT 1972
There are four important bodies that gets their power from this act.
 NATIONAL BOARD FOR WILDLIFE (NPWL)
 Chaired by prime minister.
 Deputy chairman Environment Minister.
 Only advisory in nature
 Apex body in the country to review any wildlife related decisions
 Approval to the projects within or near any protected area
 Alteration in the boundaries of the protected area comes under the authority of this
board
 National wildlife action plan – Blueprint for next fifteen year for the management
of wildlife. Presently 3rd plan is going i.e., 2017 to 2031. Making this plan is in the
authority of NPWL.
 Addition or removal of any species from Integrated development of wildlife
habitat comes under the authority of this organisation
 CENTRAL ZOO AUTHORITY (CZA)
 Authorize and regulate the zoos, biological parks in the country also gives monitory
and technical support
 Supplement the ex-situ efforts
 Helping hand in artificial breeding programs
 Also regulates the exchange of animals of threatened category between two protected
areas within the country like shifting Asiatic lions from Gujrat to Kuno Palpur,
Madhya Pradesh comes under the authority of CZA
 WILDLIFE CRIME CONTROL BUREAU
 Multi-disciplinary body to combat organised wildlife crime in the country.
 Collection and dissemination of information related to such crimes and then passing
on to respective authorities.
 Assistance and collaboration with foreign authority and international organisation.
 Establishment of a centralised wildlife crime data bank with the help of IT.
 Have conducted various operations for protecting and guarding various species of
flora and fauna.
 NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY (NTCA)

Nodal agency for project tiger, cheetah reintroduction project from Namibia
(African cheetah).

Plans prepared by various states related to tiger conservation is approved by
NTCA.
 Along with state governments it conducts tiger census in every 4 year.
DESIGNATION OF PROTECTED AREAS UNDER WILDLIFE
PROTECTION ACT 1972
 National Parks: National Parks are the areas that are set by the government to
conserve the natural environment Examples: Bandipur National Park in Karnataka;
Hemis National Park in Jammu & Kashmir; Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
 Wildlife Sanctuaries: Sanctuary is a place of refuge where injured, abandoned, and
abused wildlife is allowed to live in peace in their natural environment without any
human intervention. Examples: Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary (Rann of Kutch, Gujarat);
Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu (oldest bird sanctuary in India); Dandeli
Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka).
 Tiger Reserves: These areas declared by the recommendation of National Tiger
Conservation Authority reserved for the protection and conservation of tigers in India.
 Community Reserves: These are the private or community owned land which is being
declared by the State government as a community reserve after consultation with the
local community or an individual who has volunteered to conserve the wildlife.
 Conservation Reserves: These are the areas (particularly those adjacent to sanctuaries
or parks) which are declared by the State Government as conservation reserves after
consulting with local communities.
 Biospheres are not an outcome of WPA 1972 but are designated under Man and
Biosphere Program by UNESCO
AMENDMENTS
The Code has been amended several times.
S.no.
SHORT TITLE OF AMENDING LEGISLATIONS
YEAR
1.
Wildlife Protection Act 1982
1982
2.
Wildlife Protection Act 1986
1986
3.
Wildlife Protection Act 1991
1991
4.
Wildlife Protection Act 1993
1993
5.
Wildlife Protection Act 2002
2002
6.
Wildlife Protection Act 2006
2006
7.
Wildlife Protection Act 2013
2013
In the year 2006 the act was last amended.
Also, an Amendment bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2013 and was referred to a
Standing Committee, but it was withdrawn in 2015.
CONCLUSION
Wildlife is important for human life because it is the animals and the ecology that sustain life
on the planet. India has had a very rich wildlife thriving in green and lush forests.
However, has been a steep decline in the flora and fauna of the nation houses. A number of
animals and birds are either extinct or steadily on the way to extinction.
This has been a cause of deep concern. Parliament, therefore, found an urgent need for a
Central legislation and enacted the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
The law now provides for the constitution of Life Advisory Board for each State to regulate
and prohibit the hunting of wild animals and birds, to regulate possession, acquisition or
transfer of, or trade in wild animals and animal articles. The law also provides for declaring
some areas as sanctuaries, national parks etc. in order to make a secure environment for
animals to thrive. Wildlife Protection Act captive breeding programme for endangered
species. Several Conservation Projects for individual endangered species like Lion (1972),
Tiger (1973), Crocodile (1974) and Brown antlered Deer (1981) were stated under this Act.
The Act is adopted by all states in India except J & K, which has its own Act.
REFERENCE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JfIdcHyKWU
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_Protection_Act,_1972
 https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/wildlife-protection-act-1972/