The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 is an Act of the Indian Parliament that amends the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. It received the President's assent on December 19, 2022, and is considered one of the most significant amendments to the principal Act in 50 years. The primary purpose of the amendment is to align India's domestic wildlife laws with the requirements of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international agreement ensuring that trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
The amendment works by introducing several key changes to the 1972 Act. It rationalizes the original six Schedules of protected species into four: Schedule I and II for animals, Schedule III for plants, and a new Schedule IV specifically for specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES. This change extends protection to numerous foreign species for the first time under domestic law. To implement CITES, the Act mandates the Central Government to designate a Management Authority and a Scientific Authority to regulate the import and export of listed specimens.
A crucial new provision is the addition of Section 62A, which empowers the Central Government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession, or proliferation of invasive alien species—non-native species whose spread may adversely impact Indian wildlife or its habitat. The amendment also broadens the scope of the principal Act's long title from mere "protection" to "conservation, protection and management of wild life". Furthermore, it increases the penalties for general violations of the Act, raising the maximum fine from ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh. A controversial change is the amendment to Section 43, which allows the transfer or transport of a captive elephant for "religious or any other purpose" by a person with a valid ownership certificate, subject to Central Government conditions.