THE WILD Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022, which seeks to to strengthen the protection of endangered species and enhance punishment for illegal wildlife trade, was passed in the Rajya Sabha.

• As India was a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora that required certain legislative actions to obligate the convention.

About Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

• The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides a legal framework for the protection of various species of wild animals and plants, management of their habitats, regulation and control of trade in wild animals, plants and products made from them.
• The act also lists schedules of plants and animals that are afforded various degrees of protection and monitoring by the government.

Proposed Amendments

• This amendment proposed a new schedule for species listed in the Appendices under CITES.
• Section 6 has been amended to constitute Standing Committee to exercise such powers and duties as may be delegated to it by the State Board for Wildlife.
• Section 43 of the act amended which permitted the use of elephants for ‘religious or any other purposes’.
• To enable the Central government to appoint a Management Authority Section 49E has been inserted.
• To allow the Central Government to appoint a Scientific Authority to provide guidance on matters relating to the impact on the survival of the specimens on being traded.
• The Bill also empowers Central government to regulate and stop the import, trade or possession of invasive plant or animal alien species.
• The Bill also enhances the penalties prescribed for violation of provisions of the Act.
• For ‘General violations’, maximum fine is increased from 25,000 to 1 lakh.
• In case of Specially protected animals, the minimum fine of Rs. 10,000 has been enhanced to Rs. 25,000.

The Concerns Associated with the Bill

• Phrase “any other purpose” is vague and has potential of encouraging commercial trade of elephants.
• Some important issues regarding Human-Wildlife conflict, Eco-sensitive zone rule, etc., has not been addressed.
• According to the report provided by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, species listed in all three schedules of the Bill are incomplete.
• The scientists, botanists, biologists are short in number and needed greater inclusion of them to accelerate the process of listing all existing species of wildlife.

About the Elephant Protection

• In 1897, the Elephants Preservation Act prohibited the killing or capture of wild elephants unless in self-defense or to protect property and crops, or under a license issued by the district collector.
• In 1927, the Indian Forest Act listed the elephant as ‘cattle’, prescribing the highest fine of Rs 10 for every impounded jumbo — in comparison, a cow attracted a fine of Re 1 and a camel of Rs 2.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA),1972 identified the elephant along with the bullock, camel, donkey, horse, and mule, as a “vehicle”. Given the highest legal protection in 1977, the elephant was the only animal in WLPA’s Schedule-I that can still be owned legally by means of inheritance or gift.
• In 2003, WLPA was amended to prohibit trade in all captive wildlife and any (non-commercial) transfer across state boundaries without permission from the concerned chief wildlife warden.
• Now, the Wildlife Protection Bill,2022 permits the transfer or transport of a captive elephant for a religious or any other purpose by a person having a valid certificate of ownership.

What are the objections to the present amendment? 

• The sweeping ambit of “any other purpose” in the present amendment will empower elephant traders, put wild populations at greater risk of capture and defeat the very purpose of WLPA. Instead, the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommended that it should be limited to temple elephants kept for religious purposes.
• However, there is also a counter view that prohibition on commercial transfer only drove the live elephant trade underground as traders switched to dressing up commercial deals as gift deeds to bypass the 2003 amendment.

What is the stand of the new Bill on Vermin Species?

• The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022 makes a significant amendment as it reduces the number of schedules from six to four. The Bill seeks to do away with Schedule V for vermin species entirely.
• This gives the Centre direct power to declare any species to be ‘vermin’ and make way for them to be freely hunted. Thus, declaring any species as vermin becomes easier.
• In recent years, however, the Centre has started using its powers under Section 62 to issue sweeping orders declaring species as vermin at even state levels, often without any credible scientific assessment.

• For example, Nilgais were declared as vermin across 20 districts in Bihar for a year in 2015.
• The Centre cited “large-scale destruction of agriculture” as the ground for declaring monkeys (Rhesus macaque) vermin in Shimla municipality in 2019.
• The issue has since entered the realm of centre-state politics. Since last year, Kerala’s requests for declaring wild boars as vermin have been turned down repeatedly by the Environment ministry.

Question: Discuss the key amendments introduced under The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022.