Protectionism to Coexistence: Tracing India's Legal and Policy Pathways in Wildlife Conservation

From the Constitutional duties enshrined in the 42nd Constitutional Amendment of 1976, this article charts the development of the country's response to wildlife conservation. The constitutional basis for later laws and policies was established by Article 48A of the Constitution, which requires the State to protect forests and wildlife, and Article 51A(g) also places an equal obligation on citizens. These provisions were codified in the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, and subsequent court rulings have broadened their scope by interpreting environmental protection as a crucial component of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Flagship projects like Project Tiger and Project Elephant, Project Snow-leopard and Project Crocodile provide insight into the practical effects of this legal regime. Although Project Tiger has seen a remarkable increase in the population of tigers, from an estimated 1,800 tigers in the 1970s to 3,167 in 2022, it has also resulted in socioeconomic problems, such as the eviction of local communities without providing adequate compensation. Even though the government had identified 77 priority railway stretches to be addressed, Project Elephant suggests that habitat fragmentation pressures are becoming more severe, with at least 186 elephants dying in train collisions between 2009 and 2024. Project Snow Leopard, launched in 2009, was an attempt to save wildlife in high altitude regions that required scientific planning coupled with landscape-level governance. Project Crocodile was an example of captive breeding and channelised reintroduction of crocodiles to boost the aquatic ecosystem. The paper examines current community-based models, such as ecotourism and cooperative forest management, while acknowledging the drawbacks of exclusion-oriented conservation. The paper also aims to trace India’s legal and policy evolution in wildlife conservation and to assess whether the current transition toward participatory, technology-informed, climate-resilient governance offers a more sustainable future.