Flora and Fauna in India

Narak! My Lord, you are the creator of music

If you look around, you will be able to find
in the world of Lepchas
that there are some animals and plants which
Oh Narak! My Lord, let me dedicate are unique in your area. In fact, India is
myself to you one of the world’s richest countries in terms
Let me gather your music from the of its vast array of biological diversity. This
springs, the rivers, the mountains, the forests, is possibly twice or thrice the number yet
the insects and the animals to be discovered. You have already studied
Let me gather your music from the sweet in detail about the extent and variety of
breeze and offer it to you forest and wildlife resources in India. You
may have realised the importance of
Source: Lepcha folk song from northern part of
these resources in our daily life. These
West Bengal diverse flora and fauna are so well
integrated in our daily life that we take
these for granted. But, lately, they are
We share this planet with millions of other under great stress mainy due to insensitivity
living beings, starting from micro-organisms to our environment.
and bacteria, lichens to banyan trees,
elephants and blue whales. This entire
habitat that we live in has immense Find out stories prevalent in your region
biodiversity. We humans along with all living which are about the harmonious relationship
organisms form a complex web of ecological between human beings and nature.
system in which we are only a part and
very much dependent on this system for
our own existence. For example, the plants, Some estimates suggest that at least
animals and micro-organisms re-create the 10 per cent of India’s recorded wild flora
quality of the air we breathe, the water we and 20 per cent of its mammals are on
drink and the soil that produces our food the threatened list. Many of these would
without which we cannot survive. Forests now be categorised as ‘critical’, that is on
play a key role in the ecological system as the verge of extinction like the cheetah,
these are also the primary producers on pink-headed duck, mountain quail, forest
which all other living beings depend. spotted owlet, and plants like madhuca
insignis (a wild variety of mahua) and
h u b b a r d i a h e p t a n e u r o n, ( a s p e c i e s o f
grass). In fact, no one can say how many
Biodiversity or Biological Diversity is species may have already been lost. Today,
immensely rich in wildlife and cultivated we only talk of the larger and more visible
species, diverse in form and function but animals and plants that have become
closely integrated in a system through extinct but what about smaller animals
multiple network of interdependencies. like insects and plants?

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 Vulnerable Species: These are species
Vanishing Forests
whose population has declined to levels from
The dimensions of deforestation in India are where it is likely to move into the endangered
staggering. The forest and tree cover in the category in the near future if the negative
country is estimated at 807276 sq km which factors continue to operate. The examples
is 24.56 per cent of the total geographical area of such species are blue sheep, Asiatic
(dense forest 12.4 per cent; open forest 9.26 elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.
per cent; and mangrove 0.15 per cent).
According to the State of Forest Report Rare Species: Species with small
(2019), the dense forest cover has increased population may move into the endangered
by 3,976 sq km since 2017. However, this or vulnerable category if the negative factors
apparent increase in the forest cover is due affecting them continue to operate. The
to conservation measures, management examples of such species are the Himalayan
interventions and plantation, etc., by brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox
different agencies. and hornbill, etc.
Endemic Species: These are species which
are only found in some particular areas
usually isolated by natural or geographical
barriers. Examples of such species are the
A ndaman teal, Nicobar pigeon, A ndaman
wild pig, mithun in A runachal Pradesh.
Extinct Species: These are species which
are not found after searches of known or
likely areas where they may occur. A species
may be extinct from a local area, region,
country, continent or the entire earth.
Examples of such species are the Asiatic
Fig. 2.1
cheetah, pink head duck.

L et us now understand the different Asiatic Cheetah: where did they go?
categories of existing plants and animal The world’s fastest land mammal, the
species. Based on the International Union cheetah (Acinonyx jubantus), is a unique and
for Conservation of Nature and Natural specialised member of the cat family and
Resources (I U CN ), we can classify as can move at the speed of 112 km./hr. The
follows – cheetah is often mistaken for a leopard. Its
distinguishing marks are the long teardrop-
Normal Species: Species whose population shaped lines on each side of the nose from
levels are considered to be normal for the corner of its eyes to its mouth. Prior to
their survival, such as cattle, sal, pine, the 20th century, cheetahs were widely
rodents, etc. distributed throughout Africa and Asia.
Endangered Species: These are species Today, the Asian cheetah is nearly extinct
which are in danger of extinction. The due to a decline of available habitat and
survival of such species is difficult if the prey. The species was declared extinct in
negative factors that have led to a decline India long back in 1952.
in their population continue to operate. The
What are the negative factors that cause such
examples of such species are black buck,
fearful depletion of the flora and fauna?
crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, lion
tailed macaque, sangai (brow anter deer in If you look around, you will be able to
Manipur), etc. find out how we have transformed nature into
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 Fig. 2.2: A few extinct, rare and endangered species

a resource obtaining directly and indirectly through the ironically-termed “enrichment

from the forests and wildlife – wood, barks, plantation”, in which a single commercially
leaves, rubber, medicines, dyes, food, fuel, valuable species was extensively planted
fodder, manure, etc. So it is we ourselves who and other species eliminated. For instance,
have depleted our forests and wildlife. The teak monoculture has damaged the natural
greatest damage inflicted on Indian forests forest in South India and Chir Pine (Pinus
was during the colonial period due to the roxburghii) plantations in the Himalayas
expansion of the railways, agriculture, have replaced the Himalayan oak (Quercius
commercial and scientific forestry and mining spp.) and Rhododendron forests.
activities. Even after I ndependence,
agricultural expansion continues to be one of
the major causes of depletion of forest Large-scale development projects have also
resources. Between 1951 and 1980, according
contributed significantly to the loss of forests.
to the Forest Survey of India, over 26,200 sq.
Since 1951, over 5,000 sq km of forest was
km. of forest area was converted into
cleared for river valley projects. Clearing of
agricultural land all over India. Substantial
parts of the tribal belts, especially in the north- forests is still continuing with projects like
eastern and central India, have been deforested the Narmada Sagar Project in Madhya
or degraded by shifting cultivation (jhum), a Pradesh, which would inundate 40,000
type of ‘slash and burn’ agriculture. hectares of forest. Mining is another important
factor behind deforestation. The Buxa Tiger
Are colonial forest policies Reserve in West Bengal is seriously threatened
to be blamed? by the ongoing dolomite mining. It has
Some of our environmental activists say that disturbed the natural habitat of many species
the promotion of a few favoured species, in and blocked the migration route of several
many parts of India, has been carried others, including the great Indian elephant.
16 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

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 Many foresters and environmentalists hold used to treat some cancers – the drug is now
the view that the greatest degrading factors the biggest selling anti-cancer drug in the
behind the depletion of forest resources are world. The species is under great threat due
grazing and fuel-wood collection. Though, to over-exploitation. In the last one decade,
there may be some substance in their thousands of yew trees have dried up in
argument, yet, the fact remains that a various parts of Himachal Pradesh and
substantial part of the fuel-fodder demand is Arunachal Pradesh.
met by lopping rather than by felling entire
trees. The forest ecosystems are repositories
Habitat destruction, hunting, poaching,
of some of the country’s most valuable forest
over-exploitation, environmental pollution,
products, minerals and other resources that
poisoning and forest fires are factors, which
meet the demands of the rapidly expanding
have led to the decline in India’s biodiversity.
industrial-urban economy. These protected
Other important causes of environmental
areas, thus mean different things to different
destruction are unequal access, inequitable
people, and therein lies the fertile ground
consumption of resources and differential
for conflicts.
sharing of responsibility for environmental
well-being. Over-population in third world
The Himalayan Yew in trouble countries is often cited as the cause of
The Himalayan Yew (Taxus wallachiana) is environmental degradation. However, an
a medicinal plant found in various parts of average American consumes 40 times more
Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. resources than an average Somalian. Similarly,
A chemical compound called ‘taxol’ is the richest five per cent of Indian society
extracted from the bark, needles, twigs and probably cause more ecological damage
roots of this tree, and it has been successfully because of the amount they consume than

Tribal girls using bamboo saplings in a

nursery at Mukhali near Silent Valley

Tribal women selling minor forest produce Leaf litter collection by women folk

Fig. 2.3

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the poorest 25 per cent. The former shares subcontinent. It is imperative to adapt to
minimum responsibilities for environmental sound forest and wildlife conservation
well-being. The question is: who is consuming strategies.
what, from where and how much?
Conservation of Forest and Wildlife in
India
Do you know that over half of India’s Conservation in the background of rapid
natural forests are gone, one-third of its decline in wildlife population and forestry has
wetlands drained out, 70 per cent of its become essential. But why do we need to
surface water bodies polluted, 40 per conserve our forests and wildlife?
cent of its mangroves wiped out, and Conservation preserves the ecological diversity
with continued hunting and trade of wild and our life support systems – water, air and
animals and commercially valuable soil. It also preserves the genetic diversity of
plants, thousands of plant and animal plants and animals for better growth of species
species are heading towards extinction? and breeding. For example, in agriculture,
we are still dependent on traditional crop
varieties. Fisheries too are heavily dependent
on the maintenance of aquatic biodiversity.
Have you noticed any activity which leads In the 1960s and 1970s, conservationists
to the loss of biodiversity around you? Write demanded a national wildlife protection
a note on it and suggest some measures to programme. The Indian Wildlife (Protection)
prevent it. Act was implemented in 1972, with various
provisions for protecting habitats. A n all-
The destruction of forests and wildlife is India list of protected species was also
not just a biological issue. The biological loss published. The thrust of the programme was
is strongly correlated with the loss of cultural towards protecting the remaining population
diversity. Such losses have increasingly of certain endangered species by banning
marginalised and impoverished many hunting, giving legal protection to their
indigenous and other forest-dependent habitats, and restricting trade in wildlife.
communities, who directly depend on various Subsequently, central and many state
components of the forest and wildlife for food, governments established national parks and
drink, medicine, culture, spirituality, etc. wildlife sanctuaries about which you have
Within the poor, women are affected more already studied. The central government also
than men. In many societies, women bear announced several projects for protecting
the major responsibility of collection of fuel, specific animals, which were gravely
fodder, water and other basic subsistence threatened, including the tiger, the one-
needs. As these resources are depleted, the horned rhinoceros, the Kashmir stag or
drudgery of women increases and sometimes hangul, three types of crocodiles – fresh
they have to walk for more than 10 km to water crocodile, saltwater crocodile and the
collect these resources. This causes serious Gharial, the Asiatic lion, and others. Most
health problems for women and negligence recently, the Indian elephant, black buck
of home and children because of the increased (chinkara), the great Indian bustard
hours of work, which often has serious social (godawan) and the snow leopard, etc. have
implications. The indirect impact of been given full or partial legal protection
degradation such as severe drought or against hunting and trade throughout India.
deforestation-induced floods, etc. also hits the
poor the hardest. Poverty in these cases is a Project Tiger
direct outcome of environmental destruction. Tiger is one of the key wildlife species in
Therefore, forest and wildlife, are vital to the the faunal web. In 1973, the authorities
quality of life and environment in the realised that the tiger population had
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 Fig. 2.4: Rhino and deer in Kaziranga National Park

dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated beginning to find a place in conservation

55,000 at the turn of the century. The major planning. In the notification under Wildlife
threats to tiger population are numerous, Act of 1980 and 1986, several hundred
such as poaching for trade, shrinking butterflies, moths, beetles, and one dragonfly
habitat, depletion of prey base species, have been added to the list of protected
growing human population, etc. The trade species. In 1991, for the first time plants were
of tiger skins and the use of their bones in also added to the list, starting with six species.
traditional medicines, especially in the
Asian countries left the tiger population on
the verge of extinction. Since India and Collect more information on the wildlife
Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds sanctuaries and national parks of India and
of the surviving tiger population in the cite their locations on the map of India.
world, these two nations became prime
targets for poaching and illegal trading. Types and Distribution of Forest and
“Project Tiger”, one of the well- Wildlife Resources
publicised wildlife campaigns in the world, Even if we want to conserve our vast forest
was launched in 1973. Tiger conservation and wildlife resources, it is rather difficult to
has been viewed not only as an effort to manage, control and regulate them. In India,
save an endangered species, but with much of its forest and wildlife resources are
equal importance as a means of either owned or managed by the government
preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude. through the Forest Department or other
Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, government departments. These are classified
Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal, under the following categories.
Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya
Pradesh, Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in (i) Reserved Forests: More than half of the
Rajasthan, Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam total forest land has been declared
and Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala are reserved forests. Reserved forests are
some of the tiger reserves of India. regarded as the most valuable as far as
the conservation of forest and wildlife
resources are concerned.
The conservation projects are now (ii) Protected Forests: Almost one-third of
focusing on biodiversity rather than on a few the total forest area is protected forest, as
of its components. There is now a more declared by the Forest Department. This
intensive search for different conservation forest land are protected from any further
measures. Increasingly, even insects are depletion.
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 Can you find out the reasons for the above mentioned problems?

(iii) Unclassed Forests: These are other Community and Conservation

forests and wastelands belonging to Conservation strategies are not new in our
both government and private individuals country. We often ignore that in India, forests
and communities. are also home to some of the traditional
Reserved and protected forests are also communities. In some areas of India, local
referred to as permanent forest estates communities are struggling to conserve these
maintained for the purpose of producing habitats along with government officials,
timber and other forest produce, and for recognising that only this will secure their
protective reasons. Madhya Pradesh has the own long-term livelihood. In Sariska Tiger
largest area under permanent forests,
Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers have fought
constituting 75 per cent of its total forest area.
against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection
Jammu and Kashmir, A ndhra Pradesh,
Act. In many areas, villagers themselves are
Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal, and Maharashtra have large protecting habitats and explicitly rejecting
percentages of reserved forests of its total forest government involvement. The inhabitants of
area whereas Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, five villages in the Alwar district of Rajasthan
Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan have declared 1,200 hectares of forest as the
have a bulk of it under protected forests. All Bhairodev Dakav ‘Sonchuri’, declaring their
North-eastern states and parts of Gujarat have own set of rules and regulations which do
a very high percentage of their forests as not allow hunting, and are protecting the
unclassed forests managed by local wildlife against any outside encroachments.
communities.

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 Sacred groves - a wealth of diverse The famous Chipko movement in the
and rare species Himalayas has not only successfully resisted
Nature worship is an age old tribal belief deforestation in several areas but has also
based on the premise that all creations of shown that community afforestation with
nature have to be protected. Such beliefs indigenous species can be enormously
have preserved several virgin forests in successful. Attempts to revive the traditional
pristine form called Sacred Groves (the conservation methods or developing new
forests of God and Goddesses). These methods of ecological farming are now
patches of forest or parts of large forests have widespread. Farmers and citizen’s groups like
been left untouched by the local people and the Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and
any interference with them is banned. Navdanya have shown that adequate levels
Certain societies revere a particular tree of diversified crop production without the use
which they have preserved from time of synthetic chemicals are possible and
immemorial. The Mundas and the Santhal of economically viable.
Chota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia In India joint forest management (JFM)
latifolia) and kadamba (Anthocaphalus programme furnishes a good example for
cadamba) trees, and the tribals of Odisha and involving local communities in the
Bihar worship the tamarind (Tamarindus management and restoration of degraded
indica) and mango (Mangifera indica) trees forests. The programme has been in formal
during weddings. To many of us, peepal and existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha
banyan trees are considered sacred. passed the first resolution for joint forest
Indian society comprises several management. JFM depends on the formation
cultures, each with its own set of traditional of local (village) institutions that undertake
methods of conserving nature and its protection activities mostly on degraded forest
creations. Sacred qualities are often land managed by the forest department. In
ascribed to springs, mountain peaks, plants return, the members of these communities
and animals which are closely protected. You are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-
will find troops of macaques and langurs timber forest produces and share in the timber
around many temples. They are fed daily harvested by ‘successful protection’.
and treated as a part of temple devotees. In
The clear lesson from the dynamics of
and around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan,
both environmental destruction and
herds of blackbuck, (chinkara), nilgai and
reconstruction in India is that local
peacocks can be seen as an integral part of
communities everywhere have to be involved
the community and nobody harms them.
in some kind of natural resource
management. But there is still a long way to
go before local communities are at the centre-
Write a short essay on any practices which
stage in decision-making. Accept only those
you may have observed and practised in
economic or developmental activities, that are
your everyday lives that conserve and protect
people centric, environment-friendly and
the environment around you.
economically rewarding.

“The tree is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence and

makes no demand for its sustenance, and extends generously the products of its
life activity. It affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axemen
who destroy it”.
Gautama Buddha (487 B.C.)

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 EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES

1 . Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which of these statements is not a valid reason for the depletion of flora
and fauna?
(a) Agricultural expansion.
(b) Large scale developmental projects.
(c) Grazing and fuel wood collection.
(d) Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
(ii) Which of the following conservation strategies do not directly involve
community participation?
(a) Joint forest management (c) Chipko Movement
(b) Beej Bachao Andolan (d) Demarcation of Wildlife sanctuaries

2 . Match the following animals with their category of existence.

Animals/Plants Category of existence

Black buck Extinct

Asiatic elephant Rare
A ndaman wild pig Endangered
Himalayan brown bear Vulnerable
Pink head duck Endemic

3 . Match the following.

Reserved forests other forests and wastelands belonging to both

government and private individuals and
communities
Protected forests forests are regarded as most valuable as far as the
conservation of forest and wildlife resources
Unclassed forests forest lands are protected from any further
depletion

4 . Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) What is biodiversity? Why is biodiversity important for human lives?
(ii) How have human activities affected the depletion of flora and fauna? Explain.

5 . Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

(i) Describe how communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife
in India?
(ii) Write a note on good practices towards conserving forest and wildlife.

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