Lecture 30

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:19]Welcome back my dearest friends and friends. Welcome back in my next lecture salient feature of environmental law and biodiversity laws. So I'm professor Uruas working in department of wildlife sciences early Muslim University and today in this class we'll be discussing about the wildlife protection act 1972 part one. So wildlife protection act is is one of the act which covers all the wildlife in it. Before that we we studied the CBD um biodiversity uh conservation biodiversity act 2002 and biodiversity includes wildlife as well as the uh the flora and fauna of the kitchen garden and the uh outside the PA outside the jungle. Uh so bioasting is all living thing existing on the earth while wildlife act is meant only for wildlife.

[00:01:13]So it was uh made in 1972 to 1972. So uh wildlife protection act is uh uh it was enacted by the parliament of India on 9th September 1972 marking a pivotal moment in the country's environmental legislation. The act represents a comprehensive legal framework designed to address the urgent need for wildlife conservation amid increasing threat from habitat loss, population, poaching, population loss because of poaching and environmental degradation.

[00:01:52]It applies through throughout India except Jammu and Kashmir since it was uh UT. So it it had separate u uh act. So wild operation act 1972 is a comprehensive legislation enacted by the parliament of India on 9th September 1972. It provides protection to wild animals, birds and plants and for matter connected with or ancillary or in uh incidental uh the two that applies throughout India with the with the exception of J and K. So history and let's talk about the historical background. So historical background uh pre-independent the British colony era was marked by policies focus on revenue and excessive uh um and extensive hunting. So whatever conservation uh uh act we have they all were for the to generate the revenue. So it was the production forestry production conservation so that can meet the need of the human being. So the British colony era was marked by policies focus on revenue and extensive hunting which severely impacted India's wildlife and pushed several species toward towards extinction.

[00:03:10]Past independence following independence there was a growing awareness of the wildlife crisis. Key milestones uh uh this led to early production uh legislation through the extension extension of the cheetah in 1952 highlighted the urg urgency. A cheetah is a very important species. It is the it is a grassland species. Extinction of the cheetah means uh the grasslands are depleting the shrinking. So the the the the loss of chitha the extension of chitha actually highlighted the urgency of this of this act. The discovery of alarming alarming decline in the tiger population in 1960s was a major turning point leading to the formation of the Indian board for wildlife in 1970 1970 to spread uh uh spearhead conservation effort.

[00:04:08]So post independent uh realization 1950s first wild protection legislation in some states in 1952 we had first wildlife production legislation in some states not all country 1952 extinction of cheetah from India actually uh showed the urgency of the uh act and alarming decline in tiger population in 1960 and70 government of India made form Indian board of wildlife why the act came into uh existence, why was it needed? It's a very important question, important question. By the early 1970s, the country was facing a massive species decline with the tiger population having dropped by a shocking 95%.

[00:04:55]This was a direct result of several uh several factors including rapid deforestation, industrialization uh leading to significance habitat loss.

[00:05:05]Obviously when you are establishing a industry you have to clear the you have to clear the land. So these were the main reason the unregulated hunting was there. Uh the rampant uh commercial poaching and illegal violet train involving important species and their body parts lead to several population decline of umbrella or apex species.

[00:05:29]Hunting and poaching. We know after the narcotics uh the wildlife trade is the second largest trade in the world. So uh uh because of that the population was declining. Therefore this law was a much needed step to save the country's rich biodiversity rich wildlife. Continuing the last slide uh let me uh shade some light from constitutional perspective that that uh why the act was needed. The wild protection act was needed because India's constitution provides a clear mandate for environmental environmental and wildlife protection and article 48A a directive principle of uh state policy obligates the state of protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country.

[00:06:20]Additionally, article 51A we have already discussed earlier 51A within bracket G establishes this as a fundamental duty for every citizen. The act was a legislative responses to fulfill these constitutional obligation providing a legal framework to protect the country's biodiversity.

[00:06:43]So uh that is why it was needed. uh key terms used in this act. Uh there are several key terms define the act here.

[00:06:54]Uh will shed light on few most important ones such as animals. Animal in the act includes birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians and their young and egg. In the case of birds, animal article means many uh means any article made from any captive and wild animal. For example, is no show pieces, items made of elephant, ivory, leather bags and belts made up of snake or crocodile uh skin. So these terms we are going to use. You can easily see in these pictures how we are using like crocodile shoes, crocodile leather shoes are in fashion. These are the extreme left is the ivory. So breast carving carving is done on the ivory.

[00:07:39]There are many birds are being poed for or uh uh caught for for for for captivation for captive uh this thing uh keep in the captivity in the houses and uh hunting, capturing, killing, poisoning, trapping, injuring and possessing any wild animal and every attempt to do so will treat as hunting according to this act. So if you are going to touch the animal without the permission for any mean it will be considered as the hunting. This illustration shows what all uh this is the illustration shows what all comes under the hunting uh definition capturing birds their eggs their nest material for example bea weaver bird's nest usually people go and when they find the bea weaver bird small bird make beautiful nest so they bring the uh nest home for the as a decoration phase so collecting honey from the forest poisoning a water body to catch the fishes, teasing animals all comes under the all comes under the hunting. So by this picture you can easily uh understand what all comes under the hunting and uh uh trophy means uh this picture itself is explaining well uh trophy means uh means the whole or any part of any captive or wild animal which has been kept or preserved by any means.

[00:09:14]That is the trophy. Wildlife includes any animal including insects, aquatic and land vegetation that forms the habitat of wild animal. So the trophy and wildlife uh these are further uh terms used in this act and the key objective of this act uh the slides outlines the fundamental objective of the wildlife protection act 1972.

[00:09:39]The acts serve multiple um multiple critical functions like protecting endangered species from extinction, conserving natural habitats, regulating hunting and illegal trade, establishing protected areas like national park, ensuring human treatment of animal. The act set up various board and authorities to help with wildlife conservation like the national and state board of wildlife uh NBWLNS state board of wildlife and the wildlife crime control bureau to enforce these provisions. The objectives work together to create a comprehensive framework for wildlife conservation in India.

[00:10:19]So uh hunting of the wildlife uh breaking the uh table wildlife protection act how deals with several aspects of wildlife conservation uh through the most important and primarily objective of the act is to deal with hunting of wild animal. Let us understand when and which circumstances the hunting is allowed.

[00:10:44]So hunting of animal listed in schedule one and two is totally prohibited. There are many schedules in wild act. So schedule hunting of schedule one and schedule two um animals are totally prohibited unless granted by chief wildlife warden.

[00:11:03]So chief of foreign grant the permission for the hunting if the animal is dangerous to human or illrearable uh disabled. For example, man eating cases by tiger leopard recently from PIB tiger reserve in UP and run man eating uh cases by tigers in Rajasthan. So hunting uh permitted in self-defense or defense of other civil. So if you are killing the animal in your self-defense then that is not considered illegal. As for the act norms any wild animal killed or wounded in defense rescue become government property. What if you have killed any animal uh for the defense then that animal is the property of the government. Okay. So uh special provision when can the rules be relaxed?

[00:11:56]So wild act is not uh completely rigid.

[00:12:00]It has practical expectation of real life situation. Uh self-defense is permitted when an animal immediately threaten human life by this can uh cannot be uh misused for plan hunting.

[00:12:14]Farmers can protect their crops from wildlife damages but need proper authorization first. Without author authorization you cannot kill the animal. The worm declare de declaration is uh controversial but necessary. So authorities can permit hunting of problem animal like wild boar or nail guy that repeatedly destroy crops but only for limited time and specific area.

[00:12:41]For research and education scientist and filmmakers can get permit from the chief alfordin. All these exceptions require poorer documentation and approval.

[00:12:55]So uh these slides uh outline the fundamental structure of wild operation act. The act is divided into seven chapters and 66 sections.

[00:13:05]So this uh the act created the schedule which are crucial for categorization species based on their level of protection uh ranging from those receiving absolute production to those with regular hunting. the date uh date the government has amended this act several times over the years. It is not that once the act is made that is permanent. You can do amendment on time to time as per the requirement of the time. So till date the government has amended the act several times over the years demonstrating the government's cons continued commitment to strengthening wildlife conservation in response to new challenges and changing need. The most recent amendment was happening 2022.

[00:13:54]So there were amend amendments in 1982 91 2002 2006 and 2022 is the latest amendment.

[00:14:05]So uh chapter wise breakdown we can talk uh I already mentioned there are uh uh there are so come to the uh chapter wise breakdown. The wild operation act is systematically organized into seven chapters we have already discussed and uh covering all aspects of wildlife conservation after preliminary definition in chapter one. The act establishes administrative authorities in chapter two. Chapter 3 regulates hunting activities while chapter four focuses on creating and and managing protected areas like national park and sanctuaries.

[00:14:43]Chapter fifth addresses trade and commerce in wildlife. Chapter six deals with uh enforcement and finalities for offenses and chapter seven contains miscellaneous provision ensuring comprehensive legal coverage. So there are seven chapters and the key administrative bodies um the wild operation act establish a hierarchal administrative structure to implement its provision effectively. At the apex is the national board for wildlife at the central level which provides policy guideline and state board for wildlife operate at the state level to address regional concern. So we have uh national board for wildlife to address the national uh this thing national need and every state has got the state board of wildlife that operates in the different states. The operational framework include chief wildlife warden who oversees the state level implementations wildlife warden who manage district operations and forest officers who work on ground to enforce the acts provision daily.

[00:15:53]two primary body from the uh backbone of wildlife govern governance in India. Uh role of key organizations uh so two uh bodies from the backbone of wildlife governance in India. The national board for wildlife and national board for wildlife is chaired by the prime minister. Minister serve as the apex advisory body that shapes national conservation policies and provides a strategic direction. At the state level we have a state board for wildlife chaired by the respective chief minister of the state and it adopt national guideline to local context and address state specific wildlife challenges. This two-tier structure ensure both centralized policy coherence and uh decentralized implementation flexibility. So we have two main bodies.

[00:16:49]One is the uh national board of wildlife and state board of wildlife. So beyond uh beyond governance uh u board the act establishes specializ specialized agency for specific conservation challenges.

[00:17:05]For example, the n national tiger conservation authority that is called NDCA focuses exclusive on protecting India's tiger reserve and their ecosystem. Then second is the wildlife crime control bureau com combat organized poaching and illegal wildlife trade through intelligence and enforcement operations.

[00:17:28]And third is the the central zoo authority NTCA uh wildlife crime control bureau. And then third is the central zoo authority regulates and monitors zoos nationwide ensuring proper animal welfare standards and contributing to conser breeding programs sura responsibility who does what.

[00:17:51]So the act clearly uh delineates appointment uh power between central and state government to ensure effective implementation. The central government appoints the director of wildlife preservation and supporting staff to oversee national lab program and supporting staff to oversee national lab program. It declares and modify the species schedules formulate national policies for wildlife conservation help coordinate between interstate wildlife issues also give approval for changes in boundary of the national parks. While the state government appoint chief wildlife of wardens who lead state conservation efforts, wildlife warden for district level operation and notably one honorable wildlife warden in each district to enhance community participation, grant permission and license for specific activities like a a machine mail, ar machine mail. It looked uh it took uh it look after dayto-day task of protected areas through its uh uh forest officials. This uh structure creates a comprehensive network from policym to ground level enforcement enabling effective oil production across the country. So uh central government power chief affordant and the state uh government power has been defined production level uh uh there are different schedules um and under these schedules the species are listed. So act uses a system system of schedule to give different level of production to species.

[00:19:37]uh earlier uh there were six schedules after two 2022 amendment it was reduced to four schedules the species earlier listed in those schedule 3 and four have now been redistributed into schedule one and two now let's understand each schedule with appropriate example like schedule one the list provide the high highest level of protection for animal species it covers endangered species and strictly prohibited hunting and trade with the highest penalties for violation. For example, tiger, elephants and lion. These are the schedule one species. So you will have to pay uh huge uh penalty if you are caught hunting this species.

[00:20:24]Come to the schedule two. Schedule two includes uh animal species that also receive a high degree of production though uh though less than schedule one.

[00:20:36]Schedule one means highest. 2 is again high high degree of production but as compared to schedule one less though less than schedule one. Hunting and trade are prohibited in these cases also but the penalties for violation are lower than for schedule one species. For example, the schedule areas as Macak, Himalayan black beard, Jekal Indian coarieties. So you will get all these information on the MOF website.

[00:21:06]Now come to the schedule three. There are four schedule. We have discussed two schedule.

[00:21:11]Schedule three the list is specifically uh for protected plant species. It provides for regulation of their cultivation pro possession and trade which generally require a license.

[00:21:25]Example of schedule three are uh beds uh psych blue w cut these all are plants of o these are all all are orchids. So schedule one and two includes the species animal species while schedule uh three have the plant species and schedule four is uh earlier cover few less threatened species like monkey few deer species.

[00:21:53]However, after 2022 amendment, the schedule fourth was fully revised and species regulated and sites were incorporated into this schedule.

[00:22:04]It gives the power to central government uh government power to regulate the import export and trade of sites listed species. SITE is the convention on international trade to control the trade. One convention took place and that is called sites. So earlier sites was not the part of wild operation act.

[00:22:24]Now after the amendment of 2022 the sites were incorporated in this schedule. It gives the power to the central government uh to regulate the import export and trade of sites listed species. So protected area management uh like wild operation act has a provision to create different types of protected area with different rules. We have already discussed this in our earlier classes. National park are the most strict. No human activities are allowed at all. Not even cattle grazing to keep nature completely undisturbed.

[00:23:03]The national park boundaries are clearly defined into core zone and buffer zone.

[00:23:08]Core zone are the zones where no tourist is allowed. Research work can be conducted here with prior approval of the competent authority and that authority is the chief oil of warden.

[00:23:20]So uh these zones are primarily divided into beads, sections and the ranges which are guarded by the forest guards.

[00:23:28]So be section and ranges are the management units and these units have been uh different foresters, rangers, guards are assigned in these units to take care of. So uh however there are regulated tourism in certain zones and predefined uh routes of the park for example kit national park in Uttraham national park in Rajasthan whereas wildlife sanctuaries um are a bit more flexible and allow some limited human activities as long as they don't harm the animal. Uh grazing is allowed in the buffer area of the sanctuary.

[00:24:08]regulated tourism in these beads.

[00:24:10]Section and the ranges are the administrative boundary of the wildlife sanctuary section and the ranges are the administrative boundary of the wildlife sanctuary. For example, Katany wildlife sanctuary in UP.

[00:24:28]So, uh apart from national park and sanctuary, there are other types of protected areas too. uh they are the conservation reserves and the community reserves. Conservation reserves are governmentowned land and collect different protected areas uh creation creating safe passage for animals to move between habitats. These are created after talking with local communities.

[00:24:56]This is the conservation reserve. Then we have the community reserve. Community reserves are uh private or community land where uh local people volunteer agree to protect wildlife and the tiger reserve get a special attention with the own funding and management system because tiger are our national animal and need extra protection to survive. So apart from the uh national park and sanctuary we have community reserves and the conservation reserve. So uh thank you very much uh I hope you have enjoyed this lecture. We have already discussed the small small protected area management under that we have discussed about the national park, sanctuary, county reserve and conservation reserve.

[00:25:38]So basically these things has been declared under the uh under the um wildlife act. So this is the one part of the wilderation act 1972. We'll be continuing this part in our next lecture. So uh thank you very much and enjoy this lecture. I hope this is very um the notes has been made very clear.

[00:26:00]So just remember what is this. So thank you very much. We'll be meeting again.