The Government of India passed the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. Hunting has been completely banned, and National Parks, Sanctuaries and Biosphere Reserves have been set up by the government as steps towards conserving biodiversity. National parks These are protected areas reserved exclusively for preserving the flora and fauna, landscape and buildings, i.e., the entire ecosystem, and monuments of historic importance of an area. In these areas grazing and cultivation are not permitted. There are some 92 National Parks in our country. Wildlife sanctuaries These provide protection and suitable conditions for wild animals to flourish. These are areas where hunting is not allowed at all.
Animals which are on the verge of extinction are protected here. Private ownership rights are permitted only to such an extent. The animals are not harmed. There are about 492 wildlife sanctuaries in our country. Biosphere Reserves A Biosphere Reserve is a specified area in which multiple uses of land is permitted for preserving the biodiversity. The reserves also preserve traditional life of people. These reserves have been set up recently by “man and biosphere’ (MAB) programme of the UNESCO. There are 243 biosphere reserves in our country which mainly .conserve the biodiversity of the specific areas and provide protected areas for ecological and environmental research.
