Try to envision a world without wildlife. Due to the number of animals becoming endangered because of killings, trading, loss of habitat, deforestation and disease, chances are this thought may turn into a reality. However, thanks to concrete steps undertaken by governmental bodies and various individual organizations, it has also become a possibility, like never before, to conserve wildlife and prevent mass extinction.

Wildlife Conservation Efforts in India

India is an enchanting country profuse with wildlife. With so many species of flora and fauna, it becomes imperative to protect endangered wildlife as this is the heritage of this incredible country. Not only does the diversity of wildlife enhance the natural splendor of nature, but if it becomes extinct, will be a great loss to India as they also play an important role in supporting its living systems.

The government and various NGO’s have devised various strategies and started many projects to shield endangered species:

• Project Tiger: The population of the tiger is certainly shrinking all over the world and with an objective to prevent the tigers from extinction; ‘Project Tiger’ was launched by the Indian government in the year 1973. The main idea behind launching such a project was to create the wildlife reserves in the various parts of the country where the tigers can be protected from the hunters and their numbers could be increased through breeding.
• Project Elephant: The numbers of the Asian elephant are decreasing alarmingly and taking this situation into the account, the Government of India and Ministry of Environment and Forests started ‘Project Elephant’ in the year 1992. The main objective of initiating this project is to offer the necessary technical and monetary help to the various states to protect and increase the population of the elephants.
• Wildlife Protection Act: The Wildlife Protection Act was formulated in the year 1972 and restricted hunting of the animals in the protected areas.

Creating National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries

Over the years, the government has created wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in India to conserve wildlife. The parks contain different species of flora and fauna that captivates the attention of the people. Some of the parks contain fencing that prevents poachers from entering and hunting the animals. Many tourists throng the sanctuaries to witness the wildlife playing and roaming freely without any fear. Some of the well-known parks and sanctuaries are as follows:

• Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan
• Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh
• Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh
• Kaziranga National Park, Assam
• Corbett National Park, Uttar Pradesh
• Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala

Therefore, best steps and plans must be employed to protect every species so that the next generation of Indians can cherish the natural heritage of their country in all its enchanting glory.

About the Author

Anshul is a wildlife enthusiast and blogger who likes to travel to different national parks and wildlife sanctuaries all over the globe.

If you’ve watched Animal Planet you know that odds are generally working against sea turtles.

From the moment an egg is deposited in a sandy nest on a tropical beach, to the first time a baby turtle touches the sea, to decades later when she returns as an adult to lay her own eggs on very same beach, life is an endless series of life-and-death challenges for a sea turtle.

Nature is stacked against survival, which is why a mother turtle lays thousands of eggs during her lifetime in order to simply replace herself. Predators include dozens of species of crabs, beetles, ants, birds, fish, and sharks. Jaguars, pigs, wild dogs, and raccoons are even on the list of turtle eaters.

For millions of years, sea turtles handled it all just fine.

Yet, when you add modern humans to the mix, the balance suddenly tipped towards oblivion. Over the past century all seven species of sea turtle and their eggs have been hunted, carved, and eaten to the point that many populations are considered vulnerable to extinction. Getting caught accidentally in fishing nets and on hooks just adds to their woes. Throw in plastic pollution, boat collisions, and runaway coastal development on their nesting beaches and you’ve got a situation requiring intervention on a global scale.

But this isn’t a bad news story. That’s because over the past several decades a massive global network of sea turtle scientists, advocates, conservationists, and even lawyers has evolved to work day and night to bring them back. These heroes have been literally working around the clock, saving one egg-—one baby turtle-—at a time. At other times they’ll invest months to rehabilitate a single adult animal before returning it to the ocean. Every turtle released into the ocean is a moment of joy for everyone involved. It never gets old.

Think about it—while you sleep tonight, thousands of scientists, technicians and volunteers are saving sea turtles on the beaches of the world.

These projects are run on “Turtle Time.” Slow, steady, and tenacious wins the race. It takes as long as twenty-five years for a turtle to reach maturity, and return on that turtle-y kind of investment can come slowly.

Turtle people are above all patient and hard working. Many projects have been steadily protecting turtles for more than thirty years. Their work is paying off. Some turtle populations are now on the rise after nose-diving to near extinction before that.

The Black Sea Turtle Project in Michoacan, Mexico celebrated its thirtieth anniversary this year and is experiencing its best season since its inception after watching the numbers of nesting female turtles bounce along the bottom of the graph for a decade.

Its sister project, Grupo Tortuguero, working to safeguard black turtles in feeding grounds a thousand miles away in Baja, is turning fifteen in January.

Turtle hunters and poachers in Mexico have had a change of heart and are now turtle protectors and guides. Everyone reports seeing more sea turtles in the ocean and on the beaches.

Now is not the time to let up, though. To get sea turtles back to their former abundance and to restore their ecological role in the ocean this is just half time.

We know exactly what to do. We just need to continue to execute the game plan.

Along with my friends Brad Nahill at SEEtheWILD and Fabien Cousteau at Plant a Fish, we came up with the idea of the Billion Baby Turtles, an initiative to help support groups working on the sea turtle front lines. To make a million more adult turtles we need a billion more baby turtles. It’s a one in a thousand situation out there, roughly speaking.

By creatively connecting individuals and small businesses with grassroots projects working to increase sea turtle production, we are helping overcome donor fatigue, burn out, and other second half challenges.

In the coming years we will collaborate widely to further expand the global sea turtle tribe, widen the base of donors through micro-philanthropy, and throw our support behind the men and women working for turtles on the front lines in their coastal communities around the world.

Forty years ago sea turtle pioneer, Dr. Archie Carr, described what it would take to save sea turtles.

“In the long run, marine turtles, like the seas themselves, will be saved only by wholehearted international cooperation at the government level. While waiting for it to materialize, the critical tactical needs seem to me to be three in number: more sanctuaries, more research, and a concerted effort by all impractical, visionary, starry-eyed, and anti-progressive organizations, all little old ladies in tennis shoes, and all persons able to see beyond the ends of their noses…”

That is almost legendary substance.

While high-level official negotiations continue, and the large agencies and organizations fight for pro-ocean and pro-turtle policies, why don’t we all do our small part for sea turtles?

A billion baby sea turtles?

Yes.

Why don’t YOU lead one to the water?