An Analysis of The Wild Life Protection Amendment Bill, 2021

Abstract

Environmental laws need not only be in consonance with environmental science but ensure democratic soundness as well as in line with international treaties that the formulating parliament of the country is signatory to. The paper is an evaluation of the recent Wild Life Protection Amendment Bill 2021, against these markers, and whether it will be able to support biodiversity in a world currently afflicted by the Covid 19 pandemic and prone to other zoonotic diseases arising out of harm to biodiversity. The major issues it shall take up is human wildlife conflicts, the controversial definition of ‘vermin’, the conflict between forest dwelling communities, biodiversity conservation and land acquisition ventures, whether Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is being properly implemented, among others. It ends with recommendations on how to make the amendment bill more democratic and aligned with the aims of the act.