HUMAN IMPACT ON WILDLIFE

NIT Calicut A Presentation By-

N. Priyanka Sweta Jamgade S. Naga Sailesh

Trideep Nayan Deka

What Is Wildlife?

"Wildlife" is a term that refers to animals that are not normally domesticated. They are a living resource that will die and be replaced by others of their kind. Individual animals cannot be kept beyond their life span. But if managed carefully, populations of wildlife can be conserved practically forever.

Wildlife is a symbol of national pride and cultural heritage.

Over 100 years ago, there were over 1 lakh tigers across Asia whereas today this number is below 5000 worldwide.

Wildlife is renewable source of a large variety of commercial products like food, leathers, honey, herbal medicines, timber etc.

Scientists and medical researchers use wildlife animals as research materials on which trial experiments are performed before there actual application to human beings ( Eg. Xenotransplantation).

Project Tiger and Gir Lion Project have been launched by the government of India to protect the tiger and lion population in country.

Benefits of Wildlife

• Wildlife is an essential component of various food chains, food webs, biogeochemical cycles and energy flow through various trophic levels.

• Preserves vitality and health of environment and provides stability to various ecosystems

Five Basic Values of Wildlife• Aesthetic value• the enjoying of wildlife’s beauty and pleasure

• Scientific value• studying and research of wildlife for their use in medications,

integrated pest management, etc…

• Ecological Value• the interaction of wildlife in nature

• Commercial• using wildlife to earn money

• Game Value• the enjoyment value gained through hunting and fishing

Threats to wildlifeWildlife everywhere on the earth is under threat of extinction and struggling hard for survival.

1. Habitat loss :Population growth, fast industrialisation , urbanisation and modernisation

have all contributed to a large-scale destruction of natural habitat of plants and animals.

2. Pollution: Air, water, soil and noise pollution of the magnitude and toxicity never seen

before is the major factor.

Natural habitats have been destroyed or damaged by activities such as the indiscriminate use of synthetic materials, release of radiations and oil spills in the sea, generation of effluents and wastes of various kinds and toxicity, and their unscientific disposal.

3. Indiscriminate hunting: Indiscriminate killing and poaching of wild animals for food, horn, fur,

tusk etc. has resulted in reduction and even extinction of many wild species.

4. Introduction of exotic species: Many native species have known to disappear and their existence is

under threat because of the introduction of exotic and alien species.

WILDLIFEPRESERVING A VALUABLE

RESOURCE

Wildlife conservation• Wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting wild plant and

animal species and their habitats.• Among the goals of wildlife conservation are to ensure that nature will

be around for future generations to enjoy and to recognize the importance of wildlife and wilderness lands to humans.• Many nations have government agencies dedicated to wildlife

conservation, which help to implement policies designed to protect wildlife. Numerous independent non-profit organizations also promote various wildlife conservation causes.• Wildlife conservation has become an increasingly important practice

due to the negative effects of human activity on wildlife.

Parts of Wildlife Conservation• Education• learning how to conserve wildlife and its resources

•Research• using science to better understand the needs and requirements of

wildlife and its habitat• Law Enforcement• ensures that all laws related to wildlife are followed

•Wildlife Management• manipulation of wildlife to achieve a positive goal

Nat iona l parks

A national park is protected area of land in which a typical ecosystem with all its wild plants and animals are protected and preserved in natural surroundings.

• As of April 2012, there were 102 national parks.

• Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, established in 1936, was the first national park in India.

• All national park lands then encompassed a total 39,919 km2, comprising 1.21% of India's total surface area

• A total of 166 national parks have been authorized.

• Over 17 national parks and sanctuaries have been selected for Project Tiger to protect and increase tiger population in India.

IMPORTANT NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA

Wildlife Sanctuary

A sanctuary is a protected are of land, wetland or sea reserved for the conservation of wild animals, birds and plants.

• India has over 492 wildlife sanctuaries.• These cover over 3% of India’s total geographical area. • Hunting of any kind is prohibited in sanctuaries.• Private ownership rights over sanctuaries and limited human activities

may be granted provided they do not interfere with the normal activities(feeding, nesting, breeding of wildlife

Important nat iona l sanctuar ies of Ind ia

Biosphere reserves

• Biosphere reserves are a specific category of protected area of land and/or coastal area wherein tribal people native to the area are an integral part of the system.

• The concept of Biosphere Reserve was conceived by the UN and was launched in 1975 as a part of UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere” Programme.

• In bioreserves various uses of land are permitted by dividing it into 3 distinct zones viz, Core Zone, Buffer Zone and Transition Zone.

• The government of India has established 18 biosphere reserves.

• There are approximately 610 biosphere reserves located in 117 countries of the world.

• There are 18 biosphere reserves zones in India.

• Nine of the Eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list

Biosphere Reserves of India

Conservation measures

• The conservation strategies should include the following programmes and policies:

Protection of threatened/useful plants and animals species living in natural habitats, zoological and botanical gardens, seed gene, tissue culture and DNA banks.

Preservation of critical habitats of animal and plant species plus the management of life supporting systems in the surrounding habitats.

Hunting and international trade in wild animals and plants products should be regulated and a strict vigil should be maintained upon these actions.

Role of government and NGOs in spreading awareness programmes among common people about values of wildlife and it’s conservation.

IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organisation dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges".

• The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species.

• It works for the enlistment and preservation of endangered species of plants and animals.

• Now known as the World Conservation Union, it aims to impart information about the distribution and status of threatened species, develop awareness about the importance of threatened biodiversity and guide their conservation programmes and actions.

The union has identified and documented endangered species of plants and animals and has placed them into eight “Red List” categories. The red list categories can be regrouped into four main categories as follows:

• EXTINCT SPECIES

• ENDANGERD SPECIES

• VULNERNABLE SPECIES

• RARE SPECIES

Other measures taken for Wildlife conservation

• Breeding programmes for endangered species

• Prevention of poaching, hunting and biopiracy

Enforcement of legal provisions• Some important legal provisions related to wildlife protection and

conservation:Forest conservation act, 1980

National forest policy, 1988

Wildlife protection act, 1972( amended 1991, 2002 )

Forest conservation act, 1980• India is one among a few countries in the world which has a Forest Act since 1927.• The act was reformulated in 1980 and later amended in 1988. The Act empowered the government and the forest department

• To create and manage reserved forests, protected forests and village forests.

• To protect non-governmental forests and forest land.

• To control movement of forest produce.

• To control and regulate cattle grazing.

National forest policy, 1988• In the year 1952, India formulated her first forest policy which laid

more emphasis on revenue generation than on sustainability of forests and their natural functions.

• The new forest policy emphasises conservation of forests as a natural heritage and ensures environmental stability and maintenance of ecological balance including atmospheric equilibrium which is so vital for life and growth of all life forms including wildlife.

Wildlife protection act, 1972 (Amended 1991, 2002)

The act was passed by the Parliament of India to protect India’s wildlife.

Before 1972,India only had five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established schedules of protected plant and animal species; hunting or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.

The main objective of the Act are as follows:

Prohibition on hunting of specified plants and/or animals.

Setting up and management of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

Control of trade and commerce in wildlife, and wildlife products.

Setting up of wildlife advisory board from state level to block and panchayat levels and empowering zoo authorities with control and management of zoos and for captive breeding.

The amendment to this Act in 2002 brought in the concept of Community Reserves and made the provision of the Act more stringent by altering several definitions in the previous Act.

International rules and lawsMany nations have reached bilateral/multilateral agreements and have framed rules and regulations for protection and conservation of wildlife.

Some of these are:

AFRICAN CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES, 1968.

CONVENTION OF WETLANDS OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE (RAMSAR CONVENTION), 1971

CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURE AND NATIONAL HERITAGE ACT, 1972

SURVEYS THROUGHOUT INDIAPopulation of Asiatic Elephants in the last decade:

2002 2005 20110

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Elephants In KeralaElephants in India

One Horned Rhinos in KNP

19661972

19781984

19861989

19911993

19951999

20052013

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Leopards- Poaching for skinSloth Bears- Circus TrainingAsiatic Buffalo- Habitat LossAsiatic Lion- Hunting and Poaching

Leopards(NT) Sloth Bears(VU) Asiatic Buffalo(EN) Asiatic Lion(EN)0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1970s20002010

A WAKE UP CALL?

BROWN- Decrease in Tiger numbers.

BLUE- Population if no action is taken.

ORANGE- Targeted increase in population.

A Survey in the WWS

Survey of Birds in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary this year, 2014

Wayanad a renowned wildlife sanctuary of Kerala is famous for its rich flora and fauna.

Recent bird survey carried out in WWS reveals the presence of 189 species of birds.

13 of which are new bird species found in the region this year.

five species are of eagles while eight were wet land birds.

THE END