The History of Wildlife Protection in India
India has always had a deep and sacred relationship with nature. Whether it’s with animals, plants, the different elements – there is scarcely any aspect of nature that India’s cultures haven’t revered. A firmly rooted connection to tradition and ancient knowledge has kept this relationship alive throughout the centuries of development, both scientific and otherwise, that the country has undergone. Perhaps one of India’s greatest characteristics is this ability to hold on to the past while opening itself to new possibilities, and this compassion has largely retained our closeness with all aspects of nature in the face of modernity’s rationalism and alienation.
While this closeness had ensured a healthy codependent relationship between humans and nature in the past, the effects of development, modernity, and urbanisation leading to overexploitation were inevitable with the onset of capitalism. Harmonious coexistence and the “take only as much as you need” mindset which regulated our consumption was especially unsustainable under imperialism as the policies and ideologies of colonisation were also enforced on India’s natural resources. The equal give-and-take was disrupted, and as this historical period set us on the path to modernity, the golden age of natural equilibrium as seen prior to it became a thing of the past. However, this does not diminish the efforts that the country has made to reverse the damage and conserve what is left of our resources. Wildlife and environmental activism may seem like a recent phenomenon brought on by alarming increases in the effects of climate change in the last few decades, but this concern for our natural world has been around since the devastation of the ecology first began.
India’s concern for wildlife conservation has been around since even before independence. Jim Corbett National Park, India’s first national park, was established in 1936, with the region being demarcated as a reserve forest with restricted felling much earlier in 1879. Named after the British naturalist and author Jim Corbett, the park hosts 488 species of plants and around 655 species of animals and birds.
Wildlife conservation was even a priority while drafting the Constitution. The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was the precursor to the various acts subsequently introduced to protect specific elements of nature. The act labeled certain areas as Protected Areas, like National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, and Community Reserves for wildlife. Hunting and illegal exploitation of natural resources was made illegal as well. Dwindling animal populations were attended to with projects aimed at restoring their numbers, such as Project Tiger introduced under the 1972 act to help repopulate Royal Bengal Tigers in the country. Safeguarding natural resources and caring for all living beings, including animals, with compassion is also ingrained in the Constitution, reflecting India’s age-old positive attitude towards all life forms and natural elements. A similar project, Project Elephant, was launched in 1992 to protect wild elephants from poaching, ensure the welfare of domesticated or captive elephants, and ensure clear migratory corridors for elephants. Project Snow Leopard, Project Sea Turtle, Project Dolphin, and the Crocodile Conservation Project are also some of the conservation initiatives undertaken in India.
The Government of India has also turned its attention to the dwindling abiotic reserves of the country, thereby introducing several acts to conserve these natural resources as well. Some of them include the Forest Conservation Act 1980, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, as well as the Environment Protection Act 1986.
Non-governmental Organisations have also played a major role in wildlife protection in India by ensuring the welfare of animals at local levels often inaccessible to governmental authorities and by aiding the government's efforts. Often established and fueled by the efforts of animal enthusiasts, these organisations have been motivated purely by the prospect of building a better and safer country for India’s wildlife and have even lobbied for more effective drafting and implementation of protective laws.
Even local city-based NGOs, like us here at PfA, have been effective in ensuring the proper execution of the government’s schemes and enforcement of animal welfare laws. Animal welfare requires in addition to rescue and veterinary aid an active section of the population concerned with the state of our country’s wildlife with a passion for making a change. Although uneven and often marginal, India’s positive trend of wildlife protection and increasingly positive attitudes towards the cause indicates the successful initiation of a long journey of animal activism ahead.
The mission to rebuild a harmonious relationship with nature by reversing the damage done is a long and laborious one that will take much more than acts and laws. It will require individual action and compassion from the citizens as a base upon which the next steps in conservation can be built. Though it may seem like an arduous task, a look back at what our country has already initiated and accomplished can act as a wonderful reminder of how slow efforts can lead to effective results. There is still much more to be done, and each rescued animal or effort to protect is a small part of another page of the history that we are writing each day.
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