Conservation: Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation
Levels and hotspots
Biodiversity operates at three levels: genetic, species and ecosystem. India has four global hotspots, and the Western Ghats - a UNESCO World Heritage site, including the Sahyadri - runs through Maharashtra. Protected-area categories are national park, wildlife sanctuary, conservation reserve and community reserve. In-situ conservation covers parks and sacred groves (devrai); ex-situ covers zoos, seed banks and botanical gardens.
Law and practice
The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 supplies the framework: scheduled species with graded protection, the Chief Wildlife Warden's powers, and penalties. Schedule I gives the highest protection. Related instruments: Biological Diversity Act 2002 (National Biodiversity Authority, People's Biodiversity Registers), Forest Rights Act 2006, CITES for trade, the CBD, and Ramsar for wetlands. Census methods include pugmark, camera trap, line transect and waterhole count. Project Tiger (1973, Melghat) and Project Elephant anchor large-mammal conservation.
Worked example
Why is a Schedule I listing stronger than a sanctuary notification? Schedule I prohibits capture and trade of that species anywhere, regardless of land ownership and with the heaviest penalties; a sanctuary protects habitat but allows regulated activities. Reasoning: species protection is ex-territory, habitat protection is place-based.
Traps
National park and sanctuary differ in the regulation of rights and grazing. Poaching is not the only threat - fragmentation and corridors matter. Not all Western Ghats biodiversity lies inside protected areas.