Geoinformatics for wildlife habitat characterisation
Table 3 Wetlands of India
| Wetland |
State |
Area in ha |
| *Chilka |
Orissa |
114,000 |
| *Harike |
Punjab |
4,100 |
| *Keoladeo Ghana |
Rajasthan |
2,873 |
| *Loktak |
Manipur |
27,600 |
| *Sambhar |
Rajasthan |
7,200 |
| *Wular |
Jammu & Kashmir |
18,900 |
| Ashtamudi |
Kerala |
3,200 |
| Bhoj |
Madhya Pradesh |
33,000 |
| Kabar |
Bihar |
6,738 |
| Kanji |
Punjab |
3,000 |
| Kolleru |
Andhra Pradesh |
90,000 |
| Nalsarovar |
Gujarat |
18,400 |
| Pichola |
Rajasthan |
1,000 |
| Renuka |
Himachal Pradesh |
670 |
| Sasthamkotta |
Kerala |
375 |
| Sukhana |
Chandigarh |
170 |
| Ujni |
Maharashtra |
35,700 |
“It is said in country after country that progress should become synonymous with an assault on nature. We who are part of nature and dependant on her for every need, speak constantly about “exploiting” nature …”.
Broadly, the National Wildlife Action Plan is a prospectus of action to be taken with regard to wildlife conservation in India and its main components are: (i) establishment of a representative network of protected areas, (ii) management of protected areas and habitat restoration, (iii) wildlife protection in multiple use areas, (iv) rehabilitation of endangered and threatened species, (v) captive breeding programme, (vi) wildlife education and interpretation, (vii) research and monitoring, (viii) domestic legislation and international conventions, (ix) national conservation strategy and (x) collaboration with voluntary bodies in the conservation effort.
Nature has endowed India with such abundant and varied flora and fauna that it compares favourably with that of any other region in the world. A scientific assessment of all the endangered and threatened species of wild fauna and flora on countrywide basis has not been carried out in India so far. However, a total of 253 species and sub-species of wild fauna (mammals, avies, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates) have been included in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 in order to afford total protection to these species. As regards flora, the subject has been under intensive study for the last few years and about 2000 species of flowering plants are reported to suffer from some kind of threat. An inventory of 135 threatened species and sub-species of rare and endangered plants has been prepared by Botanical Survey of India. Further scientific studies and explorations are desirable in this respect.
Although the first wildlife sanctuary was established in India at the turn of century, the progress up to 1970s was not substantial. By 1975, there were only 5 national parks and 126 sanctuaries, whose total area was only 25,000 sq.km. By 1983, the number of national parks was increased to 19 and sanctuaries to 210. Today we have a total of 85 national parks and 448 sanctuaries covering approximately 4.5 per cent of the total geographical area of the country. This works out to be 21.8 per cent of the total forest area in India (Table 4). In addition to that 12 large areas have been declared as biosphere reserves among national parks and sanctuaries. (Table 2) Five national parks have been declared as World Heritage Sites. India is also very richly endowed with a large number of wetlands of national and international importance (total number–17), of which 6 viz., Chilka, Harike, Keoladeo, Loktak, Sambar and Wular happen to be Ramsar sites. (Table 3) Project Tiger areas include 25 tiger reserves in 4 states of India (Anon., 1999). (Table 4) The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been revised recently and a new notification is awaited in near future.