Repeal the Wildlife Protection Act, disband the Forest Department, they fail to protect lives: Gadgil

Kasaragod: Eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who headed the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has renewed his call to repeal the "anti-people" Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 (WLPA). He said the Forest Department, "helpless in protecting human lives from wildlife", should be dismantled.

Gadgil was speaking at an online convention announcing the next phase of the Farmers' Swaraj Satyagraha in Kasaragod's Vellarikundu. Under the banner of the Farmers' Swaraj Satyagraha Samithi, local farmers have been protesting since Independence Day, raising the slogan: 'Not only wildlife, humans too must live'.

'Why the WLPA should go'
Gadgil said the WLPA prioritises wildlife over citizens' rights.

"It even stops people from defending themselves when wild animals attack. A person who kills a wild boar is treated as a criminal, but the law is silent when a wild boar kills a person," he said. According to him, this violates the Constitutional right to life and property and must therefore be repealed.

'Biological Diversity Act is the answer'
To address the failures of the Forest Department, Gadgil stressed the need to implement the Biological Diversity Act of 2002 (BDA) at the gram panchayat level with active public participation. The BDA, he explained, is about protecting India's biodiversity while empowering local communities to manage, conserve, and benefit from it.

Though the Act already envisages this participatory model, it largely remains on paper. Currently, most conservation decisions are taken by a forest department–dominated mechanism. Gadgil argued that this centralised system is ineffective, especially when people's lives and property are at risk.

"Comprehensive data must be collected, and local communities must have a greater role in managing wildlife. Even though populations of animals such as elephants have doubled in some areas, the Forest Department has no reliable data to guide its actions. When animals threaten people, they are often helpless," he said, adding that such a department should be dismantled.

Controlling aggressive wildlife
Gadgil also called for regulated measures to control dangerous wildlife.

"Aggressive animals must be contained. Citizens should be allowed to kill and consume wild boars, which should be officially classified as vermin. Wasting meat by destroying animals is senseless, especially in a country facing nutritional poverty," he said.

The Kerala Assembly recently passed the Wildlife Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeking to empower the state government to declare any animal listed in Schedule II of the Act -- including wild boars -- as vermin for specific periods.

However, the amendment will become law only if the President gives her assent, as it amends a central legislation under the Concurrent List.

Across India, many lives are lost every year to wildlife attacks. Victims deserve fair compensation, Gadgil said, but farmers and plantation workers -- who suffer immense crop losses -- are often ignored.

A recent study in Maharashtra estimated agricultural losses from wildlife attacks at Rs 40,000 crore, underscoring the need for a similar study in Kerala, he said.

The meeting was presided over by K V Biju, chairman of the Farmers' Swaraj Satyagraha Solidarity Committee.