Forestry, Environment and Wildlife (Karnataka)
This section mixes national environmental law with Karnataka's protected areas, species and schemes. You need to know what is protected, under which Act, and roughly where it lies.
Legal frame
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: schedules, national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves.
- Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980: forest land cannot be diverted to non-forest use without central approval.
- Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Biological Diversity Act, 2002; Forest Rights Act, 2006; CAMPA funds compensatory afforestation.
Karnataka specifics
- Forest cover is roughly one-fifth of the state's geographical area, concentrated in Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar.
- National parks include Bandipur, Nagarahole (Rajiv Gandhi), Bannerghatta, Kudremukh and Kali (Anshi). Kali Tiger Reserve combines Anshi National Park with Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Tiger reserves: Bandipur, Nagarahole, Bhadra, Kali and BRT. Bandipur was among the first nine reserves notified in 1973–74.
- Bird sanctuaries: Ranganathittu, Kokkare Bellur, Gudavi, Mandagadde, Attiveri.
Worked example
Which Karnataka protected areas fall in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve? Reasoning: the Nilgiri BR, India's first, notified in 1986, covers the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu along the Western Ghats. In Karnataka its core includes Bandipur and Nagarahole, which adjoin Mudumalai, Wayanad and Mukurthi.
Traps
- Assuming notification numbers are fixed; they change.
- Treating Anshi and Dandeli as separate tiger reserves - they form Kali.
- Confusing the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) with the Forest Conservation Act (1980).