Test: Forest & Wild Life Resources - 2 - UPSC

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India only had five designated national parks.

Vulnerable Species: This includes species whose population has declined to levels from where it is likely to move into the endangered category in the near future. For examples, blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.

Simlipal National Park is a national park and a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in the Indian state of Odisha.

The Sunderbans National Park is a tiger and biosphere reserve located in the Sunderbans delta in the state of West Bengal (India). The Sunderbans is named after the Sundari trees which are found in bulk in this area. The park was established as a national park on 4th May 1984 as earlier it was created as wildlife sanctuary in 1977, designated as the core area of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve.

The Indira Sagar Dam is a multipurpose project of Madhya Pradesh on the Narmada River at Narmada Nagar, Mundi in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh in India. The foundation stone of the project was laid by late Smt Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India on 23 October 1984. 

Extinct Species: Furthermore, there are some extinct species. This includes species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur. For example, the Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck etc.

The Himalayan Yew is a medicinal plant that is found in Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. From the bark, needles, twigs and roots of this tree, a chemical compound called  is extracted. This chemical is used to make drugs that are used to cure certain types of cancers, but the species is becoming extinct due to over-exploitation.

According to the 2019 report, the total forest cover of the country is 712,249 square kilometres (21.67 percent of India's total geographical area) slightly up from 708,273 sq. km (21.54 percent) in 2017

(i) At least 10% of India’s recorded wild flora and 20% of its mammals are on the threatened list.
(ii) The cheetah, pink-headed duck, mountain quail, forest spotted owlet, and plants like madhuca insignis (a wild variety of mahua) and hubbardia heptaneuron (a species of grass) have already been categorised as critical, i.e. they are on the verge of extinction.
(iii) Many smaller animals like insects and plants have become extinct.

Overgrazing by cattle herds also leads to large-scale destruction of pastures and natural forests. Enrichment plantation is the practice of replacing different species of trees in an area by a single commercially valuable species. Teak plantations have damaged the natural forests in south India, while Chir Pine plantations in Himalayas have greatly reduced the natural oak and rhododendron forests. Factors like environmental pollution and forest fires lead to a depletion of both our flora and fauna. The environmental factors that lead to a decline in biodiversity are caused by inequitable consumption of resources and inequitable responsibility borne for the well-being of the environment.

The policies and objectives of Joint ForestMovement are detailed in the Indian comprehensive National Forest Policy of 1988 and the Joint Forest Management Guidelines of 1990 of the Government of India.

Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area near Thekkady in the districts of Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area covers an area of 925 km² (357 sq mi). 305 km² (118 sq mi) of the core zone was declared as the Periyar National Park in 1982. The park is a repository of rare, endemic and endangered flora and fauna and forms the major watershed of two important rivers of Kerala, the Periyar and the Pamba.

Nearly 1,500 plant species are considered endangered. Over 81,000 species of fauna and 47,000 species of flora are found in this country so far. Of the estimated 47,000 plant species, about 15,000 flowering species are endemic (indigenous) to India.

Jhumming is a primitive method of farming in rural areas which consists of burning of trees in forest to clear them out for practising agriculture . the unburnt trees are hacked out and left to decay. but now jhumming is banned by governments .

Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage forever represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the tiger's distribution in the country. 

Extinct Species: Furthermore, there are some extinct species. This includes species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur. For example, the Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck etc.

The Himalayan Yew is a medicinal plant found in various parts of Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh in the Himalayan region. A chemical compound called ‘taxol’ is extracted from its bark, needles, twigs and roots. This has been successfully used to treat some types of cancers. The species is, therefore, over-utilised for manufacturing cancer fighting drug. The drug is now the biggest selling anti-cancer drug in the world. The species of Himalayan Yew is, therefore, under great threat due to over-exploitation on account of its medicinal value.

Chipko Movement was started in the 1970s to ensure that the forest crops were saved from unnecessary felling. 
One of the major achievements of the movement was that the government of Uttar Pradesh ensured zero tolerance towards commercial forest felling and thousands of trees were saved from being felled which resulted in conserving abundant forest wealth for local benefits.

Taxol, an antimitotic agent used to treat cancer, blocks cancer cell growth by stopping cell division, resulting in cell death.

Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programmelaunched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure.

 Mining is another important factor behind deforestation. The Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal is seriously threatened by the ongoing dolomite mining.
Many environmentalists feel that the greatest degrading factors behind the depletion of forest resources are grazing and fuel wood collection.
Large-scale developmental projects have also contributed to the loss of forests. 

Extinct Species: Furthermore, there are some extinct species. This includes species which are not found after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur. For example, the Asiatic cheetah, pink head duck etc.

(i) Grazing and fuelwood collection are not valid reasons for the depletion of flora and fauna
(ii) Demarcation of Wildlife Sanctuaries do not directly involve community participation.  

Madhya Pradesh is the state which has the largest area covered under permanent forest. The state covers about 11.24% of the forest in India. It is known to have the states maximum forest cover area. The total forest cover in Sq km is seen that it is seen to be 77,522 sq km.

The Sangai deer is found only on a floating biomass on Manipur's Loktak lake.

The critically endangered species of brow-antlered deer ‘Sangai’, which is found only on a floating biomass on Manipur’s Loktak lake, will soon be provided a second home to save it from extinction.