India has set up 106 National Parks, 325 bio-reserves and 567 sanctuaries (as of January 2023) to protect and preserve its wildlife. This proliferation of protected areas stemmed from the establishment of Project Tiger and Wildlife Protected Laws in the 1970s, led by a foreword thinking Indira Gandhi. Unsurprisingly, this has led to the conservation of various species in India, including tigers, lions, elephants, and even various bird species.
However, in recent years, there has been a raging debate about the value of Protected Areas for conservation. This is particularly the case with many megafauna species, including striped hyenas and gray wolves existing almost completely outside protected areas.
What exactly is a Protected Area?
According to the definition provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Protected Areas are those in which human occupation or at least the exploitation of resources is limited. The term “protected area” also includes Marine Protected Areas, the boundaries of which includes some areas of ocean and Transboundary Protected Areas that overlap multiple countries.
How are Protected Areas conserved in India?
- National Parks,
- Wildlife Sanctuaries
- Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves
What about Marine Protected areas?
A Marine Protected Area (MPA) is an intertidal or sub-tidal area with its overlaying water and associated flora, fauna, historical and cultural features. It has 3 sub divisions:
- Category-I: This covers National Parks and Sanctuaries and has entire areas in intertidal/subtidal or mangroves, coral reefs, creeks, seagrass beds, algal beds, estuaries, lagoons.
- Category-II: This includes Islands, which have major parts in marine ecosystem and some part in terrestrial ecosystem.
- Category-IIIA: This includes sandy beaches beyond the intertidal line but occasionally interacting with the seawater.
- Category-IIIB: This includes evergreen or semi evergreen forests of Islands.
Implications of these Classifications
National Parks enjoy a greater degree of protection than sanctuaries. Only an approved person can enter into a national park. Visitors can only observe the park inside a government vehicle that routes through defined trails. Photography and tourism is allowed in certain areas but research work requires permission from authorities.
People living inside the limits of a Wildlife Sanctuary have more rights than their counterparts within a National Park. The Chief Wildlife Warden can allow the continuation of certain rights of people inside a Sanctuary but not in a National Park.
Conservation Reserves, on public land, and Community Reserves on private land are established mainly on the basis of approved management plans. They act as buffer zones or connectors to wildlife corridors.
What benefits do Protected Areas provide?
Conservation of endangered species
Protected areas have played an important role in achieving India’s conservation goals. More than 85% of the world’s one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) and more than 70% of the world’s tigers live in India, largely a consequence of the efficient functioning of India’s Tiger Reserves. The three Gyps vulture species are found inside national parks.
Provision of ecosystem services
The ecosystem services provided by the protected areas benefit those dependent on forest greatly. They include:
- Soil formation,
- Nutrients cycling
- Seed dispersion
- Pest control
- Disease control
- Food security
- Pollination services for bees
- Water storage
- Medicinal resources
- Carbon sequestration
- Air and water purification
Ecotourism, Education and Research
Ecotourism helps in elevating socio-economic status of local communities and provide peaceful and calm environment amidst nature for tourists to relax. Scientific and ecological research is carried out in PA’s helps in determining taxonomy, endangered status and management of the wildlife harbored. A proportion of reserves are set up specifically for research purposes which are strictly protected in terms of access.
What are modern-day threats to protected areas?
Despite their legal protected status, PAs face significant threats. The major ones are listed below:
Climate Change
The cornerstone of conservation is the establishment of protected areas with a goal to preserve the conditions in which species and biological communities can thrive.
Over the period of the last 200 years, the distribution and population dynamics of various species have changed in response to land-use change, pollution, the arrival of invasive species, climate change, and other anthropogenic factors( Thomas C.2015).
For example, some butterfly species have expanded their range while others have declined in response to climate change.
Species have been shown to flee uphill and/or towards poles or denser vegetation to avoid higher temperatures that are outside their tolerable range (Suggitt et al, 2011).
Large, mountainous PAs allow species to take advantage of cooler conditions at higher elevations. Many mid-elevation bird species breed in the highlands of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica. Most species of geometriod moth migrated to Mount Kinabalu National Park in Borneo( Chen et al 2009).Similarly, many amphibian and reptile species have migrated to higher altitudes from the Tsaratanana Reserve in Madagascar(Raxworthy et al., 2008). The same is true in temperate regions like Yosemite National Park, USA where small mammals and bird species have shifted elevation.
Shrinking of habitats due to encroachment
Habitat fragmentation is a major threat currently. Anthropogenic activities such as construction of roads, railways, mining, logging, conversion of forest land to agricultural land, and hydroelectric projects cause fragmented habitats, which affect the movement of wildlife. Risk of genetic isolation also increases.
According to Reddy et al. (2013), India is losing forest area at the rate of 0.2% per year.
Based on global studies, estimates of bird species loss suggest that isolated tropical fragments 10 square kilometres in area will lose their first species within 7 years, while one the size of 500 square kilometres will lose its first species within 40 years (Newmark et al., 2017).
In India, there is historically a 50% chance of losing dholes (Cuon alpinus) in an area of less than 700 square kilometres and a 50% chance of losing a tiger in an area of less than 135 square kilometres(Woodroffe and Ginsberg, 1998). Recent examples are the disappearance of tigers in Sariska National Park (270 km2 in 2005) and Panna National Park (540 square kilometres in 2008); (Chundawat et al. 2016; Gopal et al., 2010;).
Since then, these two parks have been repopulated with translocated tigers. Six parks smaller than 5000 km2 in Ghana have lost at least 25% of their large mammalian biodiversity in 30 years (Brashares et al., 2001).
Increasing anthropogenic activities around Protected Areas affect movement of wildlife. Big cats such as tigers, lions and leopards are often seen out of Protected Areas. These animals along with wolves, elephants, hyenas often wander close to human settlements and become a center of human- wildlife conflict.
Hunting and Poaching
Hunting of wildlife is banned in India and many countries of the world. Still the law enforcement is often weak in protected areas. Tribals and indigenous communities still hunt for food, medicine, customs, recreation and income.
Illegal wildlife trade continues to threaten globally endangered species inspite of international laws. Effective monitoring and awareness programmes with locals are required to curb the threat of poaching.
For example, In Arunachal Pradesh, innovative efforts have enabled tribal people to become protectors of endangered hornbills, birds that have suffered from hunting and forest loss. In Nagaland and Meghalaya, community reserves and initiatives protect migratory Amur falcons and other wildlife as well as remnant forests.
Threat of Denotification
Many protected areas have recently suffered from “downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement”, which have hampered long term conservation goals (Bhagwat 2018).
Development projects threaten to denotify or degrade the Protected Areas in India. The Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Maharashtra was degraded from 8496 km to 347.6 km.( Rithe et al 2010). Similarly 14.12 ha of Radhanagari Sanctuary was denotified to pave way for an irrigation project.
Threat of Invasive Species
Invasive species such as Lantana spp, have spread their roots throughout many PA’s of India. Not only it is threatening native plants by competing for natural resources, but also draining the economy for its uprooting.
Bighead and silver carp are two large species of fish that escaped from fish farms in the 1990s and are now common in the Missouri River of North America.They are now aggressively competing with the native paddle fish for plankton.
Water hyacinth, a plant native to South America has become an invasive species in many parts of the world. The plant spreads over water quickly choking the native marine flora and fauna.
Threats to marine biodiversity
Increasing global temperatures are already having a huge impact on our oceans. Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to warming oceans, which cause them to bleach and eventually die. 75% of the world’s reefs are threatened. Ocean acidification, caused by increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is dissolving shells of animals such as oysters, shrimp and lobsters.
Similarly marine pollution with plastic is adding to the woes of an already fragile ecosystem. Commercial fishing uses large nets and traps and marine animals from whales, dolphins, and seals to turtles and seabirds often get caught and tangled in them.
Development of coastal roads, overfishing and noise pollution are also threatening marine biodiversity.
Other Threats
There are numerous other minor threats faced by protected areas. This includes the illegal conversion of forested areas into specially protected natural areas for agricultural purposes. Moreover, increased antropogenic disturbances increases the risk disease outbreaks in the fauna due to interactions with humans and free ranging dogs. Additionally, while forest fires play a crucial role in the maintenance of ecosystems, antropogenic fires to create pastures in protected areas can prove costly!
As portrayed by the movie “Puspha”, illegal logging and mining is highly prevalent in India’s protected areas. While local villagers practice illegal logging for firewood, the timber mafia also looms large. Furthermore, villagers also depend on forests for non-timber products, such as the mahua flower, which often leads to increased human wildlife conflict. Illegal grazing of cattle in forests also proves costly for wildlife and villager alike!
How to strengthen the efficacy of Protected areas?
Protected areas play a critical role in biodiversity conservation and should be a major focus of every government.
Effective Legislation
Strong enforcement of laws is necessary for stronger protection. However an empathetic implementation of laws by the authorities is also needed. To protect wildlife from further decline, India had set up the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. 50 years later, many amendments carried out by the governments have weakened the actual purpose of the law.
Adequate funding and investment from the Government
Effective management of protected areas is closely correlated to funding availability. Environmental services provided by protected areas (such as access to clean drinking water, air and water purification) should be recognized and paid for; State funding for Protected areas must be strengthened.
Recognise the threats to Protected Areas
Most surveys conducted mention poaching, logging and encroachment as the most important threats to protected areas. Often such threats are a by-product of poorly planned development. In areas where biodiversity is rapidly being lost due to habitat conversion for other uses (agriculture, grazing and forestry), it is necessary to stop the conversion.
Although research has not identified this as a significant immediate threat to protected areas, climate change is beginning to show its effects, particularly on vulnerable habitats such as mountain peaks and coral reefs. It is imperative to recognize climate change as a major global threat to the integrity of protected areas and provide guidance on climate adaptation measures in the planning and day-to-day practice and management of protected area systems.
Support Local Communities
There remains a persistent problem in managing relations with local communities and indigenous people. Government-facilitated resettlement of communities is core of protected area policy. At least 100,000 people were relocated between 1970 and 2008 in India. People living on the edges of bio reserves think the reserves belong to the government. This tolerance is severely tested when animals stray out of protected areas and encounter humans and settlements on the edge. Tigers, leopards, elephants, and bears often inflict considerable costs on nearby inhabitants.
Development of ecotourism and nature based economic benefits must be facilitated in such regions to enlist support of local communities in conservation and benefit them economically.
Education and Awareness
Good environmental education, community outreach programs, and public participation are needed for the conservation of protected areas. Awareness regarding major threats and the importance of Protected Areas should be emphasized on all citizens.
To conclude, worldwide threats to Protected Areas are on rise, thanks to ever-increasing human interventions. The need of the hour is to protect biodiversity from further decline. Effective management of Protected Areas through global collaboration and policies enacted after a thorough assessment of vulnerable areas will help to fight the current and the future threats.
Conclusion
Globally, there has been a massive commitment to restore and protect large areas of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. While initiatives like 30 by 30 is obviously great, governments, organizations and individuals must invest in the delicacies of protecting natural ecosystems. Without nuanced restoration and protection, efforts will not prove fruitfall!
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Written by: Dr. Nupur Sawant