Steps taken to conserve wildlife in India?

Answer 1

Wildlife conservation projects and programs:

To promote wildlife awareness among the people, the Indian government has started various natural projects and programs such as Project Tiger, Nature Camps and Jungle Lodges. These projects not only help to preserve our natural heritage, but encourage eco-tourism as well. Project Tiger was formed in 1972 and launched on the 1st April 1973 at Corbett National Park. Till date, the project has been the most successful one in preserving the tiger population at Tiger Reserves in Bandhavgarh, Corbett, Pench, Ranthambhore,Kanha, Bandipur, Panna,

Dudhwa, Sunderbans, Manas and Sariska. All these reservesact as Conservation Centers for tigers in India.Besides, there is the Gir National Park, the only habitat for Asiatic lions in India. The Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary is Assam is renowned for protecting the endangered one-horned Rhinoceros. There's also

Dachigam National Park, which conserves the Hangulor Kashmiri Stag. Project Elephant, a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing states in India for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors. The Project, involving 25 Elephant Reserves across the country, is being implemented in 13 States and Union Territories in India, namely, Andhra pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka,Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The NGOs

There are also various NGOs working on wildlife conservation in India such as Wildlife Society of Orissa (Orissa), Rhino Foundation for Nature (Assam), Friends of Forests(Maharashtra), North Eastern Society for Preservation of Nature and Wildlife (West Bengal), Nature's Beckon (Assam), Nature Conservation Society Amravati(Maharashtra), The Friends of the Doon (Uttaranchal) and Bali Nature and Wild Life Conservation Society (West Bengal).

Summarization of the Wildlife Conservation work done by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI)

WPSI collaborates with state governments to monitor the illegal wildlife trade and provide them with hands-on training and support to combat poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

· They conduct Wildlife Law Enforcement Workshops for enforcement agencies. More than 4000 forest and police officers have received training in more than 63workshops which have been held in 16 states across India. They have also given specialist presentations to the National Police Academy, the Indian Institute of Criminology, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Customs and Excise, the Wildlife Institute of India, tiger reserve authorities, and enforcement training centres.

· The Wildlife Crime Database built by them has details of over 19,100 wildlife cases and is continuously updated with inputs from their countrywide network of investigators. This information plays a critical role in the development of new strategies to protect Indian wildlife.

· WPSI was the first organisation to expose the workings of the shahtoosh trade and its links with the trade in tiger parts. They uncovered this trade inthe mid-1990s, while investigating the smuggling of tiger bones, and produced a path-breaking report on the subject in 1997 - ³Fashioned for Extinction: An Expose of the Shahtoosh Trade´.

· Over the years, they have assisted in the arrests of over 375 wildlife criminals and seizures of massive amounts of illegal wildlife products, particularly tiger parts. Their Legal Programmesupported the prosecution of over 151 wildlife courtcases in 13 Indian states. These include poaching and trade cases that involvetiger and other endangered species. They also file petitions on important wildlife conservation issues, including encroachments in protected areas.

· They support Conservation Projects for species as varied as the tiger, otter and sea turtle in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

· They have now broadened the scope of their activities to deal with other critical issues such as human-animal conflict involving tigers, leopards and elephants. They also support research projects on issues as diverse as tiger census techniques, the ecological impact of forest resource extraction, and the plight of the snow leopard.

· The most important aspect of the job now is in constantly liaising with policymakers and international conservation agencies, particularly on issues concerning poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

· WPSI has been in the forefront of media campaigns to highlight the importance of wildlife protection.

In 2005 and 2006, WPSI and the UK- based Environmental Protection Agency(EIA) carried out a joint investigation into the tiger and leopard skin trade in theTibet Autonomous Region and other provinces in China. Their findings revealed a hitherto unknown scale of trade in Asian big cat skins that were being traded and worn as status symbols in Tibet. Our investigations were compiled in a report ± ³Skinning the Cat: Crime and Politics of the Big Cat Skin Trade´, published in2006. The results of the investigation and condemnation of the trade by the Dalai Lama have since sparked a massive movement by Tibetans to end the use of wild animal skins

Answer 2

Project Tiger

Project Rhino

Project Great Indian Bustard

Project Elephant

Answer 3

One of the steps taken to conserve wildlife is creation of awareness throughout the country. The government also enforces strict laws aimed at protecting wildlife.

Answer 4

To prevent the endangered species from becoming extint!

Preventing dwindling of rainforests can prevent changes in climate, destruction of habitats and reduce the number of floods...