Forest and Wildlife Resources

Lesson

Part 1 — how rich India's living world is, why it is shrinking, and what the law and the government have done to protect it.

In this lesson you will

Classify species by IUCN categories with Indian examples
Explain the factors causing depletion of forests and wildlife
Describe the Wildlife (Protection) Act and projects such as Project Tiger
Answer a case-based question and a 5-mark question the way examiners mark them

Part 1 at a glance

Concept

Why biodiversity matters

India holds nearly 8 per cent of the world's estimated 1.6 million species, making it one of the richest countries in biological diversity.

Diagram

IUCN categories with Indian examples

Table of IUCN categories: normal, such as cattle and sal; endangered, such as blackbuck and Indian rhino; vulnerable, such as the Gangetic dolphin; rare, such as the Himalayan brown bear; endemic, such as the Andaman teal and mithun; extinct, such as the Asiatic cheetah and pink-headed duck
Category	Meaning	Indian examples
Normal	Population safe for survival	Cattle, sal, pine, rodents
Endangered	In danger of extinction if threats continue	Blackbuck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion-tailed macaque, sangai
Vulnerable	Likely to become endangered soon	Blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin
Rare	Small populations at risk	Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox, hornbill
Endemic	Found only in one area cut off by natural barriers	Andaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, Andaman wild pig, mithun
Extinct	Missing despite searches of all known homes	Asiatic cheetah, pink-headed duck

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