Wildlife Protection Act

Environment Protection Act

Forest conservation Act

SUBMITTED BY : PRIYANKA ROY

B.SC INTERIOR DESIGN
GUWAHATI COLLEGE OF
ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
 Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

This Act provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds, and plant species, in order to ensure
environmental and ecological security. Among other things, the Act lays down restrictions on hunting many animal species.
The Act was last amended in the year 2006. An Amendment bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2013 and referred to
a Standing Committee, but it was withdrawn in 2015.
Constitutional Provisions for the Wildlife Act
Article 48A of the Constitution of India directs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard wildlife
and forests. This article was added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.
Article 51A imposes certain fundamental duties for the people of India. One of them is to protect and improve the natural
environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.
History of wildlife protection legislation in India
• The first such law was passed by the British Indian Government in 1887 called the Wild Birds Protection Act, 1887. The
law sought to prohibit the possession and sale of specified wild birds that were either killed or captured during a
breeding session.
• A second law was enacted in 1912 called the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act. This was amended in 1935 when
the Wild Birds and Animals Protection (Amendment) Act 1935 was passed.
• During the British Raj, wildlife protection was not accorded a priority. It was only in 1960 that the issue of protection of
wildlife and the prevention of certain species from becoming extinct came into the fore.
Need for the Wildlife Protection Act
Wildlife is a part of ‘forests’ and this was a state subject until the Parliament passed this law in 1972. Now it is
Concurrent List. Reasons for a nationwide law in the domain of environment particularly wildlife include the following:
• India is a treasure-trove of varied flora and fauna. Many species were seeing a rapid decline in numbers. For instance,
it was mentioned by Edward Pritchard Gee (A naturalist), that at the turn of the 20th century, India was home to
close to 40000 tigers. But, a census in 1972 showed this number drastically reduced to about 1827.
• A drastic decrease in the flora and fauna can cause ecological imbalance, which affects many aspects of climate and
the ecosystem.
• The most recent Act passed during the British era in this regard was the Wild Birds and Animals Protection, 1935. This
needed to be upgraded as the punishments awarded to poachers and traders of wildlife products were
disproportionate to the huge financial benefits that accrue to them.
• There were only five national parks in India prior to the enactment of this Act.

Salient Features of Wildlife Protection Act

• This Act provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds, and plants, and also for the establishment of
a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
• The Act provides for the formation of wildlife advisory boards, wildlife wardens, specifies their powers and duties,
etc.
• It helped India become a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES).
• CITES is a multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting endangered animals and plants.
• It is also known as the Washington Convention and was adopted as a result of a meeting of IUCN members.
•The Act provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife species.
•It provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc.
•Its provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo Authority. This is the central body
responsible for the oversight of zoos in India. It was established in 1992.
•The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of flora and fauna.
• Schedule I and Schedule II (Part II) get absolute protection, and offences under these
schedules attract the maximum penalties.
• The schedules also include species that may be hunted.

•The National Board for Wildlife was constituted as a statutory organization under the provisions of
this Act.
• This is an advisory board that offers advice to the central government on issues of wildlife
conservation in India.
• It is also the apex body to review and approve all matters related to wildlife, projects of national
parks, sanctuaries, etc.
• The chief function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and
forests.
• It is chaired by the Prime Minister.
•The Act also provided for the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. 
• It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with an
overall supervisory and coordination part, performing capacities as given in the Act.
• Its mandate is to strengthen tiger conservation in India.
• It gives statutory authority to Project Tiger which was launched in 1973 and has put the
endangered tiger on a guaranteed path of revival by protecting it from extinction.

Protected Areas under the Wildlife Protection Act

There are five types of protected areas as provided under the Act. They are described below.
1. Sanctuaries: “Sanctuary is a place of refuge where injured, abandoned, and abused wildlife is allowed to live in
peace in their natural environment without any human intervention.” 
•They are naturally-occurring areas where endangered species are protected from poaching, hunting, and
predation.
•Here, animals are not bred for commercial exploitation.
•The species are protected from any sort of disturbance.
•Animals are not allowed to be captured or killed inside the sanctuaries.
•A wildlife sanctuary is declared by the State government by a Notification. Boundaries can be altered by
a Resolution of the State Legislature.
•Human activities such as timber harvesting, collecting minor forest products, and private ownership rights
are permitted as long as they do not interfere with the animals’ well-being. Limited human activity is
permitted.
 2. National Parks: “National Parks are the areas that are set by the government to conserve the natural
environment.”
1. A national park has more restrictions as compared to a wildlife sanctuary.
2. National parks can be declared by the State government by Notification. No alteration of the
boundaries of a national park shall be made except on a resolution passed by the State Legislature.
3. The main objective of a national park is to protect the natural environment of the area and biodiversity
conservation.
•The landscape, fauna, and flora are present in their natural state in national parks.
•Their boundaries are fixed and defined.
•Here, no human activity is allowed.

3. Conservation Reserves: The State government may declare an area (particularly those adjacent to sanctuaries or
parks) as conservation reserves after consulting with local communities. 
4. Community Reserves: The State government may declare any private or community land as a community reserve
after consultation with the local community or an individual who has volunteered to conserve the wildlife.
5. Tiger Reserves: These areas are reserved for the protection and conservation of tigers in India. They are declared
on the recommendations of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The amended Wildlife Act doesn’t allow any commercial exploitation of forest produce in both wildlife sanctuaries
and national parks, and local communities are allowed to collect forest produce only for their bona fide
requirements.
 Environment Protection Act, 1986

The Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in the year 1986. It was enacted with the main objective to provide the
protection and improvement of the environment and for matters connected therewith.

India’s original Constitution did not contain any provision for the protection of the natural environment. However, the
Fundamental Duties, which were added by the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution, prescribed the protection of the
environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife as a duty of the citizens of the country.

This amendment also added new Directive Principles of State Policy, one of which was Article 48A, which
directed the State to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife.
These developments were a result of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, held in Stockholm
in 1972. First, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 was enacted. Then, the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974 was passed, followed by the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981. Then in
1986, the EPA was passed by the Parliament, in the wake of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, which occurred on
Dec 2, 1984 (Know more about the tragedy in the link).

Aims and Objectives of the EPA

The chief aims and objectives of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 are listed below.
1.Implementing the decisions made at the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm.
2.Creation of a government authority to regulate industry that can issue direct orders including closure orders.
3.Coordinating activities of different agencies that are operating under the existing laws.
• Enacting regular laws for the protection of the environment.
• Imposing punishments and penalties on those who endanger the environment, safety and health. For each failure or
contravention, the punishment includes a prison term of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh, or both. This
can also be extended for up to seven years in cases.
• Engaging in the sustainable development of the environment.
• Attaining protection of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution

Main Provisions of Environment Protection Act

The EPA empowers the Centre to “take all such measures as it deems necessary” in the domain of environmental
protection.
•Under the law, it can coordinate and execute nationwide programmes and plans to further environmental protection.
•It can mandate environmental quality standards, particularly those concerning the emission or discharge of
environmental pollutants.
•This law can impose restrictions on the location of industries.
•The law gives the government the power of entry for examination, testing of equipment and other purposes and
power to analyse the sample of air, water, soil or any other substance from any place.
•The EPA explicitly bars the discharge of environmental pollutants in excess of prescribed regulatory standards.
•There is also in place a specific provision for handling hazardous substances, which is prohibited unless in compliance
with regulatory requirements.
•The Act empowers any person, apart from authorised government officers, to file a complaint in a court regarding any
contravention of the provisions of the Act.
 Forest Protection Act, 1980

• The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 (FCA, 1980) is an act by the Parliament of India which ensures
conservation of forest and its resources.
• It was enacted by the Parliament of India in order to control the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India. It
came into force on October 25, 1980 containing five sections.
• Amid news reports mentioning future amendments to the FCA 1980 by the Environment Ministry, the act and its
provisions become important from the current affairs perspective.

Need for Forest Conservation Act, 1980

• Forests are an important resource that nature can bestow upon mankind. Therefore, it is the duty of every
citizen to preserve the ecosystems of forests. But due to rapid deforestation, the cycle of nature is itself being
disrupted. Therefore, the need to bring about a law to ensure the preservation of forest was needed.
• One of the first legal drafts to protect forest tracts was the Indian Forest Act, 1865 replaced by a 1927 version
of the same act. However, it was more geared towards protecting the commercial interests of the
British Empire in India.
• The act gave authority to the British to restrict tribal activities by levying taxes on timber and forest services. In
other words, it mainly regulated the cutting of timber and flow of raw materials rather than protecting forests.
• Upon independence, the President of India enforced the Forest (Conservation) Ordinance in 1980 which was
later repealed by virtue of Section 5 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Under the 1980 Act, the restriction
was made on the use of the forests for non-forest purposes.
Objectives of the Forest Conservation Act 1980
The aim of the Forest is to preserve the forest ecosystem of India by fulfilling the following objectives:
1.Protect the forest along with its flora, fauna and other diverse ecological components while preserving the integrity
and territory of the forests.
2.Arrest the loss of forest biodiversity
3.Prevent forest lands being converted into agricultural, grazing or for any other commercial purposes and intentions.

Features of the Forest Conservation Act 1980

The Forest Conservation Act of 1980 come with the following features:
4.The Act restricts the state government and other authorities to take decisions first without permission from the
central government.
5.The Forest Conservation Act gives complete authority to the Central government to carry out the objectives of the
act.
6. The Act levies penalties in case of violations of the provisions of FCA.
7.The Forest Conservation Act will have an advisory committee which will help the Central government with regard to
forest conservation.

Important Sections of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980

Section 1: Title and scope
The law applies to the whole of India except for Jammu and Kashmir. However, when Article 370 was removed, it
meant all laws at the central level became applicable. But only 37 laws apply to Jammu and Kashmir at the moment
and the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 is not one of them
Section 2: Restriction of forests being used for non-forest purposes.
The section lists restrictions where state authorities cannot make laws regarding forest without the permissions of the
Central Government. The emphasis is on ‘non forest purposes’ which means that clearing forest land for the planting of:
1.Tea
2.Coffee
3.Spices
4.Rubber
5.Palms
6.Oil-bearing
7.Medicinal plants

Section 3: Advisory committee

As per Section 3 of this Act, the Central government has the power to constitute an advisory committee to advice on
matters related to advising the central government on the preservation of forests
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