Fisheries Administration and Lagislation

Unit 6 - Laws and policies related to the environment

6.7. Legislations Related to Protected Area Management
Indian Forest Act, 1927
The Indian Forest Act, 1927 provides for the conversion of reserved forests into Village Forests (VFs) if the local communities ask for the same and fulfil certain requirements as per the act. The concerned communities are then vested the powers of the Forest Department for the management of VFs. Many communities conserving forest ecosystems could apply for their Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) to be declared VFs. This could be one of the best legal supports for the forest CCAs as this leaves the institutional arrangements, rules and regulations largely to the local communities as long as the objective of effective management and protection is fulfilled. This act is a colonial legislation aimed more to secure a permanent supply of timber and technically facilitate control and custodianship of forests in the present context. The focus is not on forest biodiversity but on controlling and regulating the timber trade. The relevance of this Act to fisheries would be primarily in terms of habitat, and it would be applicable more to coastal fisheries than operations in the EEZ. Some of the coastal states such as Gujarat and Orissa among others have also used this Act to declare certain mangrove forests as reserve forests and this has direct implication on coastal fisheries as well as aquaculture. Some of these areas are then automatically considered to be the highly protected CRZ I areas.

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, amended in 1983, 1986 and 1991, 1993, 2002, 2006
Two new categories of Protected Areas (Pas), namely Community Reserves and Conservation Reserves have been added. Community Reserves can be declared on privately owned or community lands (the definition of which is not clear). Conservation Reserves can be declared by the government on government owned lands in consultation with the local people. Community Reserves can provide legal support to CCAs on private or community lands. Conservation reserves, for the first time in Indian wildlife conservation history, provide a space for consultation with local people declaration of a reserve, and to seek their inputs in management. The Wildlife (Protection) Act provides for the protection of wild plants and animals and regulates hunting, trade and collection of specific forest products. Certain tribes are however, allowed to pick, collect or possess specified plants for their personal use. The revised Act also provides a licensing system to regulate cultivation and trade of specified plants in a pattern similar to the trade in fauna. Licensees are required to declare their stocks and follow prescribed procedures.
Ten species of shark, Rays, seahorses, sea cucumbers, giant grouper and some mollusc species have been listed in Schedule I of the Act, which prohibits hunting and trading in these species. There are some more endangered species such as Sperm Whale and others which are given equal protection as Scheduled I under the Wildlife Act. Then there are other marine species including Sponges some sea snakes, other types of Molluscs given a lesser degree of protection under Schedule III or IV of the Wildlife Protection Act. The Act adopts a two- pronged conservation approach: specified endangered species are protected regardless of location, and all species are protected in designated areas, called sanctuaries and national parks. There are two more protected areas category called Conservation and Community Reserves. The declaration and management of conservation reserves is also aimed at protecting seascapes.
However, most importantly any area comprised within any part of the territorial waters which is considered by the state government to be of adequate ecological, faunal, flora, geomorphologic, natural or zoological significance for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment, is to be included in a sanctuary or a national park, the State Government can create such a sanctuary or a national park by issuing a notification specifying the limits of the area which shall be comprised within the sanctuary or national park. There are three conditions to creation of such sanctuaries or national parks. First, the prior concurrence of the Central Government is necessary to be obtained by the State Government and secondly, when the limits of the area of the territorial waters is to be included in the sanctuary or national park it shall be determined in consultation with the Chief Naval Hydrographer of the Central Government and finally due care and adequate measures to be taken to protect the occupational interests of the local fishermen. Another important development is the fact that the Wildlife Act is being revised under a sixteen member committee with a focus on criminal provisions and trade aspects of wild fauna and flora. Further, the criteria for scheduling species and the species covered under the schedules are all been revised by another group of experts. This will have a direct bearing on coastal and marine habitats both in terms of species protection and habitat protection.

Wild Life Protection Amendment Act 2006 (WLPA 2006)
This set up a National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and provides a process for notifying tiger reserves. Some provisions (such as the creation of Foundations with multiple stakeholder participation for each tiger reserve) could help initiate peoples participation in wildlife management. Coexistence strategies in areas other than those to be made inviolate would also need to be explored, and relocation would only be under consent. The amendment is too recent to see any impacts on ground.

National Wildlife Action Plan, 2002-2016 (NWAP)
This plan deals with policy imperatives and strategic actions to conserve wildlife in and outside PAs, to manage these PAs, to prevent illegal trade on endangered species, to ensure peoples participation in the conservation of Wildlife, to promote ecotourism in PAs, among others.
The plan envisages the involvement of local communities residing in and around PAs in the management of natural resources. Their participation is recognized as an effective tool for the management of PAs. According to this plan, local communities must participate in and benefit from ecotourism developments in wildlife areas. Community initiatives in conservation are also to be supported.

Marine national park and sanctuary
India's first Marine Sanctuary and National park is found in the Gulf of Kutch, Jamnagar District in Gujarat. The Marine sanctuary and the park located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch were established in 1980 and 1982 respectively under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 for the protection of threatened marine flora and fauna in the area. Besides Mangroves, the major flora include sea grass and sea weeds, Saag, Sesam , Kheru, Limda etc. and the major Fauna are Coral lichen, Coral sponge, Green sponge, Puffer Fish, turtles, dolphins, crabs, Prawns, Sea anemones, Jelly Fishes, Starfishes, octopus etc. In all, the area supports 37 species of hard and soft corals, 70 species of sponges, 150-200 species of fishes, 27 species of prawns, 30 species of crabs, more than 200 species of molluscs, 3 species of endangered sea turtles, 3 species of sea snakes, 3 species of sea mammal, 94 species of water birds, 78 species of terrestrial birds and 108 species of brown, green and red algae. Some of the sea grass species 1qupport unique fauna like the endangered herbivorous marine mammal dugong and the sea horse. Migratory sea turtle also depend on sea grass. Green Turtles from as far as Brazil come and breed along the coast of Gulf of Kutch and on the sea shore of Saurashtra. Besides Green sea turtle, Olive ridley turtle and Leather back turtle are also found visiting Gulf of Kutch. The Marine National Park is maintaining a hatchery at Madhupur near Porbandar and also some temporary hatcheries on islands near Okha and Dwarka.