Forest and Wildlife Resources — Practice

Question 1

Classify the following species under the correct IUCN category and give a reason: (a) Tiger, (b) Nilgiri tahr, (c) Asiatic cheetah in India.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — TIGER: ENDANGERED species. Tiger populations declined dramatically due to poaching and habitat loss. Fewer than 4,000 wild tigers remain globally — India has ~3,167 (2022 census). Project Tiger was launched specifically because the species faced extinction risk.

Step 2 — NILGIRI TAHR: ENDEMIC species. It is found ONLY in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats — not found anywhere else in the world. Its range is geographically restricted, making it endemic. (It may also be endangered, but the CBSE chapter primarily uses it as an endemic example.)

Step 3 — ASIATIC CHEETAH IN INDIA: EXTINCT (in India). The last confirmed sighting of Asiatic cheetahs in India was in 1947. They were hunted to extinction in India — a cautionary tale of unchecked poaching. (Note: A small population survives in Iran — so they are NOT globally extinct.)

✦ Answer: (a) Tiger = ENDANGERED (high extinction risk, habitat loss + poaching). (b) Nilgiri tahr = ENDEMIC (found only in Western Ghats). (c) Asiatic cheetah in India = EXTINCT in India (last seen 1947, hunted to extinction in India though ~50 survive in Iran).

Question 2

Distinguish between National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Biosphere Reserves. Which has the strictest protection?

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — NATIONAL PARKS: Strictly protected areas with NO human activity allowed (no grazing, logging, cultivation, or habitation). The entire area is reserved for wildlife. India has 106 National Parks. Example: Kaziranga (Assam), Jim Corbett (Uttarakhand), Gir (Gujarat).

Step 2 — WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES: Protected areas that allow LIMITED human activity — grazing by local communities may be permitted, some research and tourism allowed. Primary purpose is protecting specific species. India has 565+ Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Step 3 — BIOSPHERE RESERVES: Largest and most complex. UNESCO-designated zones with THREE concentric zones: (1) Core zone = strictly protected, no human activity; (2) Buffer zone = research/tourism allowed; (3) Transition zone = sustainable human use and settlements. India has 18 Biosphere Reserves. Example: Nilgiri (India's first), Sundarbans, Nanda Devi.

Step 4 — Strictest protection: NATIONAL PARKS have the strictest protection — absolutely no human activity inside the boundary.

✦ Answer: National Parks (106) = strictest, no human activity. Wildlife Sanctuaries (565+) = limited human use allowed. Biosphere Reserves (18) = three-zone system balancing conservation and sustainable human use. National Parks are the most strictly protected.

Question 3

Explain with TWO examples how communities in India have been more effective at forest conservation than government agencies alone.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — The argument: Government conservation (National Parks, wildlife acts, forest guards) is necessary but insufficient. Communities that live IN and AROUND forests are daily witnesses to encroachment, poaching, and degradation. When they have stakes, rights, and responsibilities, conservation succeeds.

Step 2 — EXAMPLE 1: BISHNOI COMMUNITY, Rajasthan (1730): Amrita Devi Bishnoi led 363 villagers who sacrificed their lives embracing khejri trees to stop royal soldiers from cutting them for a palace. The Bishnoi religious tradition forbids harming animals and trees — this religious principle acted as a centuries-long conservation law. Today, Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan are wildlife sanctuaries in everything but name — blackbucks walk freely, birds nest undisturbed. No government ranger achieves this.

Step 3 — EXAMPLE 2: CHIPKO MOVEMENT (1973, Garhwal, Uttarakhand): When contractors arrived to cut trees for sporting goods companies, women of Reni village (led by Gaura Devi) literally hugged the trees. Sunderlal Bahuguna championed the cause nationally. The movement forced the government to ban commercial tree felling in the Himalayas. The entire Chipko movement was community-driven — not government-initiated.

Step 4 — JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT (JFM, 1988): The government formally recognised community conservation by creating JFM: village Forest Protection Committees are empowered to protect and manage local forest patches in exchange for rights over forest produce (timber, fruits, firewood). Communities who benefit from forests have every incentive to protect them.

Step 5 — Why communities succeed where government fails: Local communities detect poaching and encroachment immediately. They live there 24/7. Government rangers cover vast areas inadequately. Cultural, religious, and economic ties to the forest create intrinsic motivation that no enforcement budget can replicate.

✦ Answer: Communities conserve forests through intrinsic motivation (cultural, religious, economic ties) that enforcement alone cannot create. Example 1: Bishnoi (1730) — 363 died protecting khejri trees; religious prohibition on harm = centuries of conservation. Example 2: Chipko (1973) — women hugged Himalayan trees stopping commercial felling; led to government logging ban. JFM (1988) formalised this principle: community rights + responsibilities = effective conservation.

Question 4

What are the major causes of biodiversity decline in India? Classify them as human-induced and natural.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — HUMAN-INDUCED CAUSES (dominant): (1) Habitat destruction and fragmentation — forest clearing for agriculture, urbanisation, industrial projects, dams (Sardar Sarovar project displaced wildlife in the Narmada valley). (2) Poaching and over-hunting — tiger skin, elephant ivory, rhino horn, traded in international black markets worth billions. (3) Over-exploitation of forest produce — unsustainable timber felling, collection of medicinal plants. (4) Introduction of alien/invasive species — water hyacinth (from South America) choked Indian water bodies; Lantana camara invaded forest understories. (5) Environmental pollution — pesticide bioaccumulation (caused vulture collapse in 1990s from diclofenac in cattle carcasses), water pollution kills fish and dolphins. (6) Colonial legacy — British reserved forests for timber export, disrupting traditional community conservation systems.

Step 2 — NATURAL CAUSES (minor): Disease outbreaks (avian influenza in birds). Natural habitat change (river course shifts, natural fires). These are minor compared to human pressure.

Step 3 — Scale: India loses approximately 1.5% of its forest cover per decade. 20% of India's plant species and 70%+ of its amphibian species are threatened.

✦ Answer: Major causes are human-induced: habitat destruction (agriculture, dams, urbanisation), poaching (tiger, rhino, elephant), over-exploitation of forest produce, invasive species (water hyacinth, Lantana), pollution (vulture collapse from diclofenac), and colonial legacy of reserved forests. Natural causes (disease, habitat change) are minor by comparison.

Practice — Forest and Wildlife Resources

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