Lok Sabha Question No. 3875 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-09
Subject: Protected Species
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3875

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2016

## Protected Species

## 3875. DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)    the  number  and  names  of  protected  species  of  animals,  birds  and  plants  under  the  Wild Life Protection Act, 1972;
- (b)  the steps taken by the Government to protect all the said species;
- (c) whether it is a fact that several species of turtle and snake have been seized from different parts of the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the estimated value of the seized species and the action taken against the offenders?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a)  There  are  909  entries  of  taxa  (including  species,  genus,  families,  orders  and  classes)  of animals, birds and plants in the various Schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The names of protected species of animals, birds and plants in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 mentioned  at  Schedule  1  of  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  is  available  on  the  Ministry's website -www.moef.nic.in .
- (b)    Towards the protection of those species, the Govt. of India has established a country-wide protected  area  network  (730  Protected  Areas  including  103  National  Parks,  535  Wildlife Sanctuaries, 26 Community Reserves, and 66 Conservation Reserves in different bio-geographic regions), under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve wild animals and their habitats of threatened flora and fauna. Other steps taken by the Government to ensure protection of these species are as under:
- i. Legal  protection  has  been  provided  to  wild  animals  against  hunting  and  commercial exploitation under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- ii. Special programmes like 'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant' have been launched for

conservation of these endangered species and their habitats.

- iii. A specific component of 'Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and  habitats'  is  provided  in  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  'Integrated  Development  of Wildlife Habitats' for focused conservation action on selected critically endangered species.
- iv. Financial  and  technical  assistance  is  provided  to  the  State/  Union  Territory  (UT) Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes for providing better protection to wildlife including endangered species and improvement of its habitat.
- v. The  Central  Bureau  of  Investigation  (CBI)  has  been  empowered  under  the  Wild  Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders.
- vi. The  Wildlife  Crime  Control  Bureau  (WCCB)  has  been  set  up  to  ensure  co-ordination among various officers and State Governments in connection with the enforcement of law for control of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife and its products. In this endeavour WCCB has undertaken  a  number  of  steps  like  Intelligence  led  enforcement,  sensitization  on  smuggling wildlife articles to Border Guarding forces and Customs, Interagency coordination of enforcement,  inclusion  of  wildlife  smuggling  in  bilateral  and  multilateral  discussion  and spreading awareness and education campaigns for various stakeholders.
- vii. Biological Diversity Act, 2002, was inter-alia enacted to ensure protection of threatened species and their habitats.  Under the provisions of Section 38 of the National Biodiversity Act, 2002, the species which are on the verge of extinction or likely to become extinct in near future as threatened species, are notified. Ministry has already issued notifications for 16 states and 2 UTs to this effect.
- viii. Botanical  Survey  of  India  has  brought  a  number  of  endemic/threatened  plants  under cultivation  in  its  Acharya  Jagdish  Chandra  Bose  Indian  Botanic  Garden  in  Howrah,  Botanic Garden of Indian Republic, Noida and other associated botanic gardens of its regional centres for their ex-situ conservation,  thereby  complementing  the in-situ conservation  of  such  species  in protected areas established in different bio-geographical regions of the country.
7. (c) to (d) Yes, Sir. Several species of turtles and snakes have been seized from different parts of the country. As per the available records of the WCCB based on the information received from the State Forest and Police departments, the year wise details of the number of cases detected on the  seizure  of  turtle/tortoise  and  snake  during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year  are  as under:

| Year                    |   Turtle/Tortoise |   Snakes |
|-------------------------|-------------------|----------|
| 2013                    |                13 |       17 |
| 2014                    |                71 |       19 |
| 2015                    |                52 |       10 |
| 2016 (up-to 30.06.2016) |                 6 |        3 |

No  set  procedure  is  available  to  assign  monetary  value  to  the  seized  wildlife  species  in  the country. Moreover assigning value to the seized contraband may instigate more poaching/illegal trade of the species. Offences detected and offenders arrested for offences against the scheduled species  are  dealt  with  as  per  the  provisions  of  the  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  by  the concerned enforcement agencies.

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