Forest and Wildlife Resources — Notes

India is among the world's richest countries in biodiversity, with nearly 8 per cent of the world's estimated 1.6 million species. Ecosystems give people water, air, soil, food crops, fodder and medicines, so conserving them protects human well-being too.

At least 10 per cent of India's recorded wild flora and 20 per cent of its mammals are threatened. Species lost from India include the cheetah (declared extinct in India in 1952), the pink-headed duck, the mountain quail and the forest spotted owlet, and plants such as wild mahua (Madhuca insignis) and the grass Hubbardia heptaneuron.

IUCN categories (with Indian examples)

• Normal: population safe — cattle, sal, pine, rodents.
• Endangered: in danger of extinction if threats continue — blackbuck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion-tailed macaque, sangai (brow-antlered deer of Manipur).
• 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 (Arunachal Pradesh).
• Extinct: not found despite searching all known and likely homes — Asiatic cheetah, pink-headed duck.

• Colonial period: expansion of railways, agriculture, commercial and scientific forestry and mining cleared vast forests.
• After 1951: agricultural expansion continued; according to the Forest Survey of India, over 26,200 sq km of forest was converted to farmland between 1951 and 1980.
• Shifting cultivation (jhum): cleared or thinned large areas of forest in the tribal belts of the north-east and central India.
• Enrichment plantation: mixed forests replaced by a single commercial species — teak in south India, chir pine in the Himalayas — reducing biodiversity.
• Development projects: since 1951 over 5,000 sq km of forest cleared for river valley projects; the Narmada Sagar Project would submerge about 40,000 hectares.
• Mining: e.g. dolomite mining in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal) disturbed habitats and blocked migration routes of animals such as the elephant.
• Everyday pressures: many experts see grazing and fuelwood collection as the biggest degrading factors; also poaching, over-exploitation (the Himalayan yew, stripped for the anti-cancer drug taxol), pollution, poisoning and forest fires.
• Unequal use: the richest 5 per cent probably cause more ecological damage than the poorest 25 per cent. Forest loss erodes cultural diversity and livelihoods, and burdens women, who may walk long distances for fuel, fodder and water; it also worsens droughts and floods.

• The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act was implemented in 1972: an all-India list of protected species, a ban on hunting them, legal protection of their habitats and restrictions on wildlife trade.
• The central and many state governments set up national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• Species projects: the tiger, one-horned rhinoceros, Kashmir stag (hangul), three types of crocodile (freshwater, saltwater, gharial) and the Asiatic lion. More recently the Indian elephant, blackbuck (chinkara), great Indian bustard (godawan) and snow leopard received full or partial protection.
• Project Tiger (1973): tiger numbers had fallen from an estimated 55,000 around 1900 to 1,827 in 1973. Threats: poaching for skins and bones (used in traditional medicines in some Asian countries), shrinking habitat, loss of prey, and growing human population. Reserves include Corbett (Uttarakhand), Sunderbans (West Bengal), Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh), Sariska (Rajasthan), Manas (Assam) and Periyar (Kerala).
• Wider focus: under the Act, several hundred butterflies, moths, beetles and one dragonfly were protected in 1980 and 1986; in 1991 plants were added for the first time, starting with six species. Conservation shifted from a few animals to biodiversity as a whole.

• Reserved forests: more than half of the total forest land; regarded as the most valuable for conserving forests and wildlife.
• Protected forests: about one-third of the forest area; protected from further depletion.
• Unclassed forests: other forests and wastelands belonging to the government, private individuals and communities.
• Reserved and protected forests are the permanent forest estates, maintained for timber, other forest produce and protective reasons.

Distribution: Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests (about 75 per cent of its forest area). Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra have large shares of reserved forests; Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan have most of their forests protected. All the north-eastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high share of unclassed forests, managed by local communities.

• Sariska Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan): villagers used the Wildlife Protection Act to challenge mining.
• Alwar district (Rajasthan): five villages declared 1,200 hectares of forest the Bhairodev Dakav "Sonchuri", laying down their own rules: no hunting, and no outsiders encroaching on the wildlife.
• Chipko movement (Himalayas): stopped felling in several places and proved that villagers planting native trees can restore forests.
• Beej Bachao Andolan (Tehri) and Navdanya: prove that farms growing many kinds of crops, without chemical fertilisers or pesticides, can feed families and make a living.
• Joint Forest Management (JFM): first resolution passed by Odisha in 1988. A village committee looks after a patch of run-down forest that remains under the forest department; in return its members collect non-timber produce and receive a share of the timber once the forest has recovered.
• Nature worship: sacred groves (forests of gods and goddesses) survive in a near-virgin state. The Mundas and Santhals of Chota Nagpur revere mahua and kadamba; tribal people of Odisha and Bihar worship tamarind and mango trees at weddings; peepal and banyan are widely sacred. In Bishnoi villages of Rajasthan, blackbuck, nilgai and peacocks are protected; monkeys and langurs are fed at many temples.