A recent survey reported that the population of wildlife has dropped globally by 68 % since 1970 and we are reportedly on the verge of the sixth mass extinction. Wildlife generally refers to undomesticated organisms living in the natural habitat. These organisms help in meeting human requirements while also assisting in preserving the natural equilibrium. However due to overpopulation, poaching, smuggling, overexploitation, climate change, and pollution they face huge threats to their survival. In view of this, the government has taken conservation efforts such as Project Tiger, Project Elephant, Project vulture, Project Rhino, Project Snow Leopard, and more to conserve the vulnerable species either in in-situ or ex-situ conservation methods. This article will explain to you about Wildlife Conservation Efforts which will be helpful in preparing the Environment Syllabus for the UPSC Civil Service exam.

Threats to Wildlife

• Because of human activity, the pace of species extinction in the world is accelerating.
• "The Evil Quartet" is a term used to describe the four main reasons for diversity loss.
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation: Habitat loss and fragmentation are key contributors to the loss of species diversity and the extinction of plants and animals.
• These factors include pollution, urbanization, and a variety of other human activities.
• For instance, the Amazon rainforest (the planet's lungs), which is home to millions of species, is being cut down and removed for a variety of reasons.
• Tropical rainforest, which once spanned 14% of the landmass, now only makes up about 6% of it.
• Overexploitation: Excessive use of natural resources causes many species to go extinct.
• For instance, the passenger pigeon, Steller's sea cow, and several marine fish are overfished.
• Alien Species Invasions: Some alien species that are purposely or accidentally introduced can become invasive and wipe out native species.
• For instance, the extinction of cichlid fish in Lake Victoria because the Nile perch was introduced
• The indigenous catfish in rivers are in danger due to the illegal introduction of African catfish.
• Co-extinctions: Co-extinctions occur when two species that are related to one another go extinct at the same time. For instance, a parasite may become extinct along with its host fish.
• When one species goes extinct, it also causes the extinction of other species, just like a plant pollinator.

Methods of Wildlife Conservation

In-situ Conservation

• In-situ conservation refers to the protection of biodiversity-rich areas like biosphere reserves, national parks, and sanctuaries.
• For example, preserving the Sunderbans, olive ridley sea turtles, and the royal Bengal tiger.
• Hotspots for biodiversity have been found that are rich in species. Globally, 34 hotspots have been identified; for instance, our country's Western Ghats, Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma, and Himalaya regions have significant biodiversity.
• India has a history of preserving the environment. In many civilizations, wildlife and trees are given complete protection, such as in sacred groves.

Ex-situ Conservation

• Ex-situ conversations take place when endangered and threatened species are located, removed, and preserved in designated areas like botanical gardens, wildlife safaris, etc. with full protection.
• Cryopreservation procedures are used to preserve the gametes of endangered species.
• The seed bank houses the seeds of plants with significant economic value.

Major Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Project Tiger

• Project Tiger is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change.
• Project Tiger has put the endangered tiger on an assured path of recovery by saving it from extinction, as revealed by the recent findings of the All India tiger estimation using the refined methodology.
• The Indira Gandhi government launched Project Tiger in 1973 from the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
• It was the first project of its kind in India to maintain the population of tigers and protect them from poaching and other threats.
• It establishes a legal framework for the protection of tiger reserves and strengthens institutional safeguards for ecologically sensitive areas and endangered species.
• Project Tiger was made a statutory authority (NTCA) by inserting enabling provisions into the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972 via an amendment, the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act of 2006.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Tiger

Project Elephant

• Project Elephant was launched in February 1992 as a federally funded initiative to assist states with free-roaming populations of wild elephants.
• It was also launched to ensure the long-term survival of identified viable elephant populations in their natural habitats.
• Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are the main states/UTs where the project is being implemented.
• States are receiving both financial and technical assistance to help them achieve the Project's goals.
• Other states with small elephant populations are also helped with censuses, field staff training, and human-elephant conflict mitigation.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Elephant

Project Vulture

• The Government of India launched Project Vulture in 2006 to increase the population of Indian vultures.
• Vultures, which feed on dead animals, were once the most common birds on the planet, including the Indian subcontinent.
• Until the 1980s, vultures were very common in India. With India losing more than 95 percent of its vulture population between the 1990s and the mid-2000s, conservation efforts were urgently needed to prevent vultures from becoming extinct.
• The decline of vulture populations in India was first observed at Rajasthan's Keoladeo Ghana National Park.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Vulture

Project Rhino

• Project Rhino was launched in 2005 to protect and conserve the rhinos.
• It was an ambitious effort to achieve a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread across seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 2020.
• Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang National Park, Manas National Park, Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary, and Dibru Saikhowa Wildlife Sanctuary are the seven protected areas for Rhinos.
• Translocations from densely populated parks, such as Kaziranga National Park, to parks in need of rhinos, such as Manas National Park, were a critical component of IRV2020.
• The International Rhino Foundation, Assam's Forest Department, the Bodoland Territorial Council, World Wide Fund - India, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are among the organizations involved.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Rhino

Project Snow Leopard

• Project Snow Leopard is the government of India's flagship program on slow leopard conservation.
• It aims to strengthen the unique natural heritage of India's high-altitude wildlife population and their habitats by promoting conservation through participatory policies and actions.
• In 2009, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change launched Project Snow Leopard to promote an inclusive, participatory, and landscape-based approach to conserving Snow Leopards and their habitat in India.
• The project's goal is to protect and conserve the high-altitude regions of the Himalayan and trans-Himalayan ranges in order to improve wildlife conservation and to use a participatory approach that involves local communities and other stakeholders in protecting the snow leopard and its habitat.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Snow Leopard

SECURE Himalaya

• The Indian government launched the SECURE Himalaya project on the inaugural day of the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference.
• This was launched to ensure the conservation of forest resources, land, and biodiversity with local and global significance.
• It encompasses the high Himalayan Ecosystem, which stretches across Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh.
• This project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• The project was launched against the backdrop of increasing habitat degradation, area fragmentation as a result of local communities' reliance on natural resources, and unplanned infrastructure.

*To know more about the topic, click this link SECURE Himalaya

Sea Turtle Project

• Every winter, a sizeable fraction of the olive ridley turtle population migrates to Indian coastal waters to lay their eggs, primarily along the eastern coast.
• The Ministry of Environment & Forests and UNDP launched the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in November 1999 with the goal of preserving olive ridley turtles and other marine turtle species that are in danger of extinction.
• Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun served as the project's implementing agency.
• Ten coastal states in the nation are participating in the project, with the state of Orissa receiving special attention.
• The project has aided in the creation of an inventory map of sea turtle breeding sites, the identification of nesting and breeding habitats along the shoreline, and the migration routes traveled by sea turtles.
• It has also helped in the formulation of guidelines to protect and minimize turtle mortality, national and international cooperative and collaborative action for sea turtle conservation, guideline plans for tourism in sea turtle areas, and the development of infrastructure and facilities.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Sea Turtle Project

Indian Crocodile Conservation Project

• Crocodiles are large semi aquatic reptiles found in the tropics of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australia.
• According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, there are 23 known crocodile species, with 7 listed as Critically Endangered, 4 as Vulnerable, and 12 as Least Risk.
• The Indian Crocodile Conservation Project has brought once-threatened crocodilians back from the brink of extinction and put them on the road to recovery.
• The Project has not only produced a large number of crocodiles, but it has also contributed to conservation in a variety of related fields.
• This scheme focuses on the gharial, saltwater crocodile, and mugger.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Indian Crocodile Conservation Project

Project Hangul

• Project Hangul is a conservation and protection project for the critically endangered Kashmir Stag or Hangul.
• In the 1970s, the Jammu and Kashmir government prepared a project to protect Hangul and its habitat with the help of the IUCN and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
• Project Hangul was the name given to this ambitious project for the conservation and protection of Kashmir stags.
• As a result, by 1980, the population of this species had increased to 340. According to the IUCN Red List, Hangul is a Critically Endangered species.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Hangul

Captive Breeding

• Captive breeding is the practice of capturing wild individuals of a species, breeding them, and raising them in a specialized facility under the supervision of wildlife biologists and other experts.
• In the following circumstances, keeping an animal in captivity might be the final opportunity to keep the species alive in the wild:
  • Captive breeding can increase populations when they are in danger of declining too much.
  • Young born in captivity may occasionally be released into areas of the wild where populations have declined or vanished but where appropriate habitat still exists to maintain them.
  • When all of the available habitats are of poor quality or when other environmental issues arise, a captive population can be kept alive until the issues are resolved or until the animal can be found in a different suitable habitat in the wild.
  • Captive breeding and management practices may be the only means of survival when the available environment is fragmented because they allow for genetic mixing.
• Programs for captive breeding and release can assist birds in expanding their range when they are behaviorally locked and remain in a single region of damaged habitat.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Captive Breeding

Project Dolphin

• Project Dolphin is a conservation effort for Ganges river dolphins and the riverine ecosystem.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in India is funding this project.
• It entails conducting systematic status assessments of target species and potential threats in order to develop and implement a conservation action plan.
• It aims to address existing conservation concerns while also empowering stakeholders to participate in dolphin conservation.
• Dolphins serve as an umbrella species, and their conservation will benefit associated habitat and biodiversity, including humans.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Project Dolphin

Government Measures to Prevent Menace of Wild Animal’s Entry into Human Habitats

• Under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Project Tiger, and Project Elephant, financial support is given to the State Governments for the improvement of forest and wildlife areas like national parks and sanctuaries to increase food and water availability in forests, which can reduce animal migration from forests to habitations.
• Building defenses such as boundary walls and solar-powered electric fences around sensitive regions to fend off attacks from wild animals.
• Construction of the infrastructure and support facilities required for the tranquilization of the identified problem animals, their relocation to their native environment, or their rehabilitation in rescue facilities.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 gives the Chief Wildlife Wardens of the States and Union Territories the authority to approve the hunting of troublesome species.
• Programs are started to educate people on what to do and what not to do in the event of wild animal attacks and scares.
• Eco-development initiatives are carried out in the communities surrounding protected areas to gain their cooperation in managing them, including measures to address people's complaints about conflicts between people and animals.

*To know more about the topic, click this link Government Measures to Prevent the Menace Of Wild Animal’s Entry into Human Habitats

India adopts SAWEN

• The South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) was formed with major assistance from TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce) in uniting the South Asian nations.
• In accordance with the Convention, SAWEN supports regional cooperation in "wildlife conservation and countering illegal trading in wildlife and bioresources."
• In January 2011, the Royal Government of Bhutan hosted an intergovernmental gathering in Paro (a town in Bhutan) when SAWEN was formally created.
• This initiative's major goal is to have the nations work together and cooperate against wildlife crime in the area.

*To know more about the topic, click this link South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network SAWEN

Conclusion

People started supporting private sector conservation efforts in the late 1980s as a result of popular discontent with government environmental conservation initiatives, which included numerous non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Since 1990, funding allocated for protecting the environment and its natural resources have attracted the attention of environmental conservation NGOs more and more. Besides, protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment and its natural resources became a "priority" to "avoid international tensions" following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the War on Terror.

FAQs

Q1: What is the main objective of wildlife conservation efforts in India?

Q2: What are the key wildlife conservation laws in India?

Q3: What are some key government initiatives for wildlife conservation in India?

Q4: What role do national parks and wildlife sanctuaries play in conservation?

Q5: How does wildlife conservation contribute to biodiversity?

MCQs

1. Which of the following acts provides the legal framework for wildlife protection in India?

a) Environment Protection Act, 1986

b) Forest Conservation Act, 1980

c) Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

d) Biodiversity Act, 2002

2. Which project was launched in 1973 to protect the tiger population in India?

a) Project Rhino

b) Project Tiger

c) Project Elephant

d) Project Crocodile

3. What is the main objective of creating biosphere reserves in India?

a) To promote tourism

b) To conserve biodiversity

c) To develop agriculture

d) To regulate industrial growth

4. Which of the following is NOT a protected area for wildlife conservation in India?

a) National park

b) Wildlife sanctuary

c) Biosphere reserve

d) Industrial zone

5. Project Elephant was launched in which year?

a) 1980

b) 1992

c) 2000

d) 2010

GS Mains Questions and Model Answers

Q1. Discuss the significance of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in conserving India's biodiversity.

Answer: The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 is one of the most significant legal frameworks for biodiversity conservation in India. It provides for the protection of endangered species, regulates hunting and poaching, and establishes national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and biosphere reserves. The act also created a list of protected species under Schedules I-V, with Schedule I species receiving the highest level of protection.
The Act has been instrumental in the success of conservation projects like Project Tiger and Project Elephant, which have significantly contributed to the recovery of endangered species. By regulating activities that threaten wildlife, such as poaching and habitat destruction, the Act ensures that India’s rich biodiversity is preserved for future generations. However, enforcement remains a challenge due to limited resources and human-wildlife conflicts, highlighting the need for further strengthening of wildlife conservation efforts.

Q2. Evaluate the role of protected areas such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the conservation of endangered species in India.

Answer: National parks and wildlife sanctuaries play a vital role in the conservation of endangered species in India by providing secure habitats where wildlife is protected from human encroachment, hunting, and poaching. These protected areas serve as refuges for many species, such as the Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian elephant, and rhinoceros, all of which are vulnerable to extinction due to habitat loss and illegal hunting.
For instance, Project Tiger, implemented through national parks like Corbett and Kanha, has contributed significantly to the stabilization of tiger populations in India. Similarly, Kaziranga National Park has been pivotal in the conservation of the Indian rhinoceros. However, challenges such as poaching, illegal logging, and human-wildlife conflicts persist, requiring stronger enforcement and better management strategies. Overall, protected areas are essential for maintaining biodiversity, but they must be supported by robust policies and community involvement.

Q3. Analyze the challenges faced in wildlife conservation in India and suggest measures to overcome them.

Answer: Wildlife conservation in India faces several challenges, including habitat destruction, poaching, human-wildlife conflict, and limited funding. Rapid urbanization and deforestation have resulted in the fragmentation of wildlife habitats, forcing animals into human settlements, which in turn increases the likelihood of conflict. Poaching for illegal trade in wildlife products also threatens species such as tigers, rhinos, and elephants.
To overcome these challenges, several measures can be taken. First, stronger enforcement of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and harsher penalties for poaching are necessary. Second, expanding and effectively managing protected areas and establishing wildlife corridors can reduce habitat fragmentation. Additionally, promoting community involvement in conservation efforts and providing local populations with alternative livelihoods can help mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Lastly, increased government funding and international cooperation in tackling wildlife crime can further strengthen conservation efforts in India.

Previous Year Questions on Conservation Efforts

1. UPSC CSE Mains 2019

Question. How has Project Tiger contributed to wildlife conservation in India? Discuss its impact on the ecosystem.

Answer: Project Tiger, launched in 1973, has been one of the most successful conservation programs in India, significantly contributing to the recovery of the endangered Bengal tiger population. The project focuses on the protection of tiger habitats through the establishment of tiger reserves across the country, where tigers are safeguarded from poaching, habitat destruction, and other threats.
The project has also had a positive impact on the ecosystem as tigers are considered a keystone species. Their protection ensures the conservation of the entire ecosystem they inhabit, benefiting not only tigers but also other species and flora in the region. The successful implementation of Project Tiger in reserves like Corbett National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park has led to a steady increase in the tiger population over the decades. However, ongoing threats such as poaching and human-wildlife conflict require continuous monitoring and management.

2. UPSC CSE Mains 2017

Question. What are the major challenges in implementing wildlife conservation laws in India? Suggest measures to improve their effectiveness.

Answer: Implementing wildlife conservation laws in India, such as the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, faces several challenges. One of the primary issues is the lack of adequate enforcement due to limited resources, manpower, and training for forest officials. Poaching and illegal wildlife trade remain rampant, with offenders often evading prosecution due to weak law enforcement and corruption.
Another challenge is human-wildlife conflict, where growing human populations and expanding agricultural activities encroach on wildlife habitats, leading to confrontations between humans and animals. In many cases, communities living near protected areas do not receive adequate support, leading to resistance to conservation efforts.
To improve the effectiveness of wildlife conservation laws, there needs to be increased funding for enforcement agencies, better training for wildlife officials, and strengthening penalties for poachers. Additionally, involving local communities in conservation efforts through eco-tourism and alternative livelihoods can reduce conflicts. Expanding public awareness campaigns can also promote the importance of wildlife conservation.