Kishen, I doubt that the policy can be influenced in India, at least in the manner that I would like to. So I am not thinking of changing the policy yet. But what I am working on is compiling and generating information on Indian butterflies that can be used by policy makers when they are ready for change. I have been working on this for some time and will come up with an extensive analysis similar to what was published a few years ago for the Western Ghats butterflies:
Kunte, K. 2008. The Wildlife (Protection) Act and conservation prioritization of butterflies of the Western Ghats, southwestern India. Current Science, 94:729-735. As mentioned by Peter, many species need to be taken off the list, but some need to be added. We need information and a proper analysis to do this, which is the stage at which I am working right now. There should also be provision for review and update of the scheduled species on a regular basis. We will see how things shape up in the next 10 years. Krushnamegh. ________________________________ From: Peter Smetacek <[email protected]> Reply-To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:03:59 -0400 To: butterflyindia <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] IUCN status and Wildlife Protection Act No, been working in quite the opposite direction. Some species need to be taken off, eg. Hypolimnas misippus, Euchrysops cnejus, Lampides boeticus, etc. The long term effect of the Schedules of the WPA have been demonstrably negative for the butterfly species included, especially before the advent of digital photography. Prashanth Mohanraj has given a very balanced view in an old issue of Current Science. Personally, I think the habitats should be protected, not the individual, since insects are so short lived and have such an "attrition" rate in nature that by not collecting them when there is a need for that, one is losing opportunity to understand them better rather than make any valid contribution to their long term survival. On Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:20:46 +0530 wrote > Does any of you have the information about IUCN status and�Schedules of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for Indian butterflies ? Also, are there any recent updates in this regard ? Has any of you working towards influencing policy makers to add more species ? � Thanks in advance for any assistance, Kishen Das <http://sigads.rediff.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.rediffmail.com/signatureline.htm@Middle?> Treat yourself at a restaurant, spa, resort and much more with Rediff Deal ho jaye! <http://track.rediff.com/click?url=___http://dealhojaye.rediff.com?sc_cid=mailsignature___&cmp=signature&lnk=rediffmailsignature&newservice=deals> -- Enjoy
