EVOLUTION OF

WILDLIFE LAWS IN
INDIA
Environmental Law Project

1149
 Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................2

Important Enactments ................................................................................................2

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 .......................................................................2
The Indian Forest Act (1927) and Forest Acts of State Governments ...................4
The Forest Conservation Act (1980) ......................................................................4
The Environment (Protection) Act (1986) .............................................................5
The Biological Diversity Act (2002) ......................................................................5
National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) ...........................................................5
National Forest Policy (1998) ................................................................................6

The Wildlife Protection Act .......................................................................................6

Conclusion .................................................................................................................7
Introduction
Many people are under the impression that India does not have strong wildlife
conservation laws. On the contrary, we have some of the most stringent
legislations to protect wildlife and habitats. It is imperative that all conservationists
familiarize themselves with these laws, so that they can contribute effectively. It is
also vital to understand which institutions control land in India before any
conservation interventions can be attempted in any landscape. The legal status of
the land must first be ascertained so that one can engage with the correct
authorities or agencies.

Important Enactments
The Government of India has introduced various types of legislation in response to
the growing destruction of wildlife and forests. These are:
The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
The Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA), 1972 is an important statute that provides a
powerful legal framework for:
 Prohibition of hunting
 Protection and management of wildlife habitats
 Establishment of protected areas
 Regulation and control of trade in parts and products derived from wildlife
 Management of zoos.
The WLPA provides for several categories of Protected Areas/Reserves:
 National Parks
 Wildlife Sanctuaries
 Tiger Reserves
 Conservation Reserves
 Community Reserves
National parks and Tiger Reserves are by law more strictly protected, allowing
virtually no human activity except that which is in the interest of wildlife
conservation. Grazing and private tenurial rights are disallowed in National Parks
but can be allowed in sanctuaries at the discretion of the Chief Wildlife Warden.
The amended WLPA does not allow for any commercial exploitation of forest
produce in both national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, and local communities can
collect forest produce only for their bona fide needs.
No wild mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, fish, crustacean, insects, or
coelenterates listed in four Schedules of the WLPA can be hunted either within or
outside protected areas. On conviction, the penalty for hunting is imprisonment for
a period ranging from a minimum of three to a maximum of seven years with fines
not less than 10,000 rupees.
Community reserves and conservation reserves are two new categories of protected
areas that have been included under the WLPA. These two categories provide a
greater role for local communities, stakeholders and civil society as well as the
opportunity to protect many areas of conservation value that cannot be designated
under strict categories such as wildlife sanctuaries or national parks.
The statute prohibits the destruction or diversion of wildlife and its habitat by any
method unless it is for improvement or better management and this is decided by
the state government in consultation with the National and State Boards for
Wildlife.
The WLPA contains elaborate procedures for dealing with legal rights in proposed
protected areas and acquisition of any land or interest under this law is deemed as
an acquisition for a public purpose. However, with the enactment of The
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006, compliance of various provisions relating to tenurial and
community rights must be ensured.
Apart from protected area establishment, other important aspects of the WLPA
include procedures for the appointment of state wildlife authorities and wildlife
boards, the regulation of trade in wildlife products and the prevention, detection
and punishment of violations of the WLPA.
The 2006 amendment introduced a new chapter (IV B) for establishment of the
National Tiger Conservation Authority and notification of Tiger Reserves (before
this amendment, Tiger Reserves were not defined under the law, but were merely
administrative designations to enable funding under Project Tiger).
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) was constituted vide the 2006
amendment to monitor and control the illegal trade in wildlife products.
The WLPA provides for investigation and prosecution of offences in a court of law
by authorized officers of the forest department and police officers.
The Indian Forest Act (1927) and Forest Acts of State Governments
The main objective of the Indian Forest Act (1927) was to secure exclusive state
control over forests to meet the demand for timber. Most of these untitled lands
had traditionally belonged to the forest dwelling communities. The Act defined
state ownership, regulated its use, and appropriated the power to substitute or
extinguish customary rights. The Act facilitates three categories of forests, namely
 Reserved forests
 Village forests
 Protected forests
Reserved forests are the most protected within these categories. No rights can be
acquired in reserved forests except by succession or under a grant or contract with
the government. Felling trees, grazing cattle, removing forest products, quarrying,
fishing, and hunting are punishable with a fine or imprisonment. Although the
Indian Forest Act is a federal act, many states have enacted similar forest acts but
with some modifications.
The Forest Conservation Act (1980)
In order to check rapid deforestation due to forestlands being released by state
governments for agriculture, industry and other development projects (allowed
under the Indian Forest Act) the federal government enacted the Forest
Conservation Act in 1980 with an amendment in 1988. The Act made the prior
approval of the federal government necessary for de-reservation of reserved
forests, logging and for use of forestland for non- forest purposes.
This powerful legislation has, to a large extent, curtailed the indiscriminate logging
and release of forestland for non-forestry purposes by state governments. While the
federal government imposed such strict restrictions, it did not simultaneously
evolve a mechanism to compensate state governments for loss of timber logging
revenues. This anomaly coupled with increasing pressure for land due to a
burgeoning population has generated considerable resentment within state
governments resulting in growing pressure to dilute the restrictive provisions of the
Act. The Supreme Court of India has currently imposed a complete ban on the
release of forestland for non-forestry activities without the prior approval of the
federal government.
The Environment (Protection) Act (1986)
The Environment Protection Act is an important legislation that provides for
coordination of activities of the various regulatory agencies, creation of authorities
with adequate powers for environmental protection, regulation of the discharge of
environmental pollutants, handling of hazardous substances, etc. The Act provided
an opportunity to extend legal protection to non-forest habitats (‘Ecologically
Sensitive Areas’) such as grasslands, wetlands and coastal zones.
The Biological Diversity Act (2002) India is a party to the United Nations
Convention on Biological Diversity. The provisions of the Biological Diversity Act
are in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions in any other law relating
to forests or wildlife.
National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) replaces the earlier Plan adopted in
1983 and was introduced in response to the need for a change in priorities given
the increased commercial use of natural resources, continued growth of human and
livestock populations, and changes in consumption patterns.
The Plan most closely represents an actual policy on protection of wildlife. It
focuses on strengthening and enhancing the protected area network, on the
conservation of Endangered wildlife and their habitats, on controlling trade in
wildlife products and on research, education, and training.
The Plan endorses two new protected area categories: “conservation reserves,”
referring to corridors connecting protected areas, and “community reserves”, which
will allow greater participation of local communities in protected area management
through traditional or cultural conservation practices. These new categories of
protected areas are likely to bring in corridor areas under protection. The Plan
contains various recommendations to address the needs of local communities
living outside protected areas and outlines the need for voluntary relocation and
rehabilitation of villages within protected areas. The Plan recognizes the need to
reduce human-wildlife conflict and emphasizes the establishment of effective
compensation mechanisms. It includes the restoration of degraded habitats outside
protected areas as a key objective.
National Forest Policy (1998) The National Forest Policy, 1988, (NFP) is
primarily concerned with the sustainable use and conservation of forests, and
further strengthens the Forest Conservation Act (1980). It marked a significant
departure from earlier forest policies, which gave primacy to meeting government
interests and industrial requirements for forest products at the expense of local
subsistence requirements. The NFP prioritizes the maintenance of ecological
balance through the conservation of biological diversity, soil and water
management, increase of tree cover, efficient use of forest produce, substitution of
wood, and ensuring peoples’ involvement in achieving these objectives. It also
includes meeting the natural resource requirements of rural communities as a major
objective. The NFP legitimizes the customary rights and concessions of
communities living in and around forests, stating that the domestic requirements of
the rural poor should take precedence over industrial and commercial demands for
forest products.

The Wildlife Protection Act

India is a land with a rich heritage of wild life. India is home to many big animals
and smaller species in large numbers. The Indian jungles are famous and
immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in his Mowgli books. Elephants, Rhinoceroses,
tigers and lions are all at home in the Indian jungles. To get a magnitude of the
wild life in India one has only to examine the numbers of these animals as they
existed throughout history. Reports indicate that the elephant population number
over 500,000 and the lion roamed all over India. The tiger population was over
100,000. But indiscriminate poaching and hunting by Maharajahs and their ilk,
depleted the wild life dangerously. The British who for a long period ruled India
were not concerned about Indian wild life and over the years the Lion almost
became extinct and the number of tigers dwindled dangerously. There were also
only 5 wild life parks available when India became free in 1947.
With a dwindling population of wild life in India with mass scale hunting and
poaching and deforestation , which destroyed the natural habitat of the Indian
species the government of India with pressure from wild life enthusiasts thought it
fit to pass a stringent law to curb such practices and also give statutory recognition
to game parks and animal reserves. Thus the Indian Wild Life Protection Act
1972 was enacted by the Indian parliament. The law was made applicable to the
entire India state except Jammu and Kashmir which enacted its own wild life act.
The law for the first time regulated the setting up and control of game parks to be
referred to as National Parks and declared many species as protected animals and
also provided for stringent punishments for poachers or other persons who killed
wild animals. Effectively the act banned hunting for pleasure or sport.
The act has six schedules which cover the entire gamut of wild life.
a) Schedule I and II are the most potent sections of the act. This section covers
animals which are in the category of endangered species. The sections in this
schedule give absolute protection to certain species and these cannot be infringed
on any account. The value of these sections can be seen from the fact that the
famous actor Salman Khan was sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment for
shooting a black buck in Rajasthan. The case is under appeal in the high court. In
addition, 16 persons have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of prison
up to 7 years for killing a tiger.
b) Schedule III and IV. These also have roughly the same provisions of Section
I and II but cover animals that are not in danger of becoming extinct. The penalties
under this section are also less than Schedule I and II.
c) Schedule V delineates animals that can be hunted like ducks and deer’s. For
this purpose, the hunter has to apply for a license to the District Forest Officer who
will allow a hunter to shoot during a specific season and restricted area. Any
infringement can lead to cancellation of the hunting license.
d) Schedule VI concerns cultivation and plant life and gives teeth to setting up
more protected animal parks.
The Indian Wild life protection act is a god send for wild life conservation in India
and gives sweeping powers to law enforcement authorities to punish anybody
guilty under the act.

Conclusion
Conservation has evolved from an informal practice providing arbitrary protection
to wildlife to its present avatar as a practiced art and science. If ever the need to
evolve and expand it beyond its present realms was of prime necessity, that time is
now.