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Endangered Plant Protection Laws

India has one of the oldest, richest and most diverse cultural tradition deeply associated with
the use of various parts of medicinal plant for curing several diseases. Due to growing
demand of medicinal plant produce at national and international level made the availability
of many species of wild medicinal plant under threshold of extinction. The adverse effect of
various anthropogenic activities likes destruction and loss of forest habitat; over exploitation
of forests for commercial purposes and illegal trade in precious medicinal plant produce
made the present position very alarming.
Although, there is legislation enacted for the protection of plant species available in India,
but very few people are aware of it. In "wild life protection act 1972" itself there is a separate
provision enlisted in schedule VI for plant species by Govt. of India. Besides the above there
are many laws in India for protection of wild flora out of which convention on international
trade in endangered species of wild flora & fauna (CITES); Foreign Trade (Development and
Regulation) Act 1992; Export Import Policy; Plant Fruit and seeds (regulation of import into
India) order 1989 and convention on Biological diversity (CBD) are the main laws.
1.
Wild life (Protection) Act 1972
Chapter IIIA of the above act deals with the wild flora. Some of the salient provisions are as follows Chapter IIIA: Protection of specified plants

Section 17A: Prohibition of picking, uprooting etc. of specified plants.
Save as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall
a)
Willfully pick, uproot, damage, destroy, acquire or collect any specified plant from forest land and area specified by notification by the central government. Possess, sell, offer for sale, or transfer by way of gift or otherwise, or transport specified plant, whether alive or dead, or part of derivative there of.
Section 17C: Cultivation of specified plants without license prohibited.
1)
No person shall cultivate a specified plant except under and in accordance with a license granted by chief wild life warden or any other officer authorized by state government in this behalf.
Section 17D: Dealing in specified plants without license prohibited.
No person shall, except under and in accordance with a license granted by the chief wild life
warden or any other officer authorized by state government in this behalf, commence or carry
on business or occupation as a dealer in a specified plant or part or derivative there of.
2.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and

All CITES App I & App II plant species obtained from the wild is prohibited for export from
India. Only cultivated/ artificially propagated plant species listed under App. II is allowed for
export under cover of CITES export permit and Legal Procurement Certificate (L. P. C.) or certificate of cultivation from the designated authorities. Export of following endangered and vulnerable plant species requires ‘certificate of cultivation' or Legal Procurement Certificate' from the designated authorities of the Forest Department as per MOEF circular dt. 4.10.2000 30 Craterostigma 36 Diptreocarpus 57 Hellotrophium 67 Kingiodendron Kuth (Saussurea lappa) Ladies slipper orchid 71 Lamprachaenium 78 Niligirianthus Podophyllum hexandrum Panax pseudo ginseng Piper barberi gamble 108 Trichosanthes 3. Export and Import Policy 1997-2002
Schedule 2-Appendix 2 i) The export of under mentioned 29 plants, plant portions and their derivatives and extracts as such obtained from the wild except the formulations made there from, is prohibited:- 1. Beddomes cycade (cycas beddomei) 2. Blue vanda (vanda coerulea) 3. Saussurea costus 4. Ladies slipper orchid (paphiopedilium species) 5. Pitcher plant (Nepenthes khasiana) 6. Red vanda (Renanthera imschootiana) 7. Rauwolfia serpentina (Sarpagandha) 8. Ceropegia species 9. Frerea indica (Shindal mankundi) 10. Podophyllum hexandurm (emodi) (Indian Podophyllum) 11. Cyatheaceae species (Tree ferns) 12. Cycadacea species (Cycads) 13. Dioscorea deltoidea (Elephant's foot) 14. Euphorbia species (Euphorbias) 15. Orchidaceae species (Orchids) 16. Pterocarpus santalinus (Redsanders) 17. Taxus wallichiana (Common Yew or Birmi leaves) 18. Aquilaria malaccensis (Agarwood) 19. Aconitum species) 20. Coptis teeta 21. Coscinium fenestrum (Calumba wood) 22. Dactylorhiza hatogirea 23. Gentiana kurroo (Kuru, kutki) 24. Gnetum species 25. Kampheria galenga 26. Nardostachys grandiflora 27. panax pseudoginseng 28. Picrorhiza kurrooa 29. Swertia chirata (chirayatah) Plant and plant portions, derivative and extracts of the cultivated varieties of the above plant species (excluding Sl. No. 16) will be allowed for export subject to production of a certificate of utilization from Regional Deputy director (Wild life), or Chief conservator of forest (CCF) of Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) of the State Government concerned from where these plants and plant portions have been procured, however in respect of the cultivated varieties of the species as covered by Appendix I(Sl. Nos. 1 to 6 of paragraph 2 (i) above and Appendix 2 (Sl. No. 7 to 18 and Sl. Nos. 26 & 28) of para 2 (i) above, of CITES, a CITES permit for export will also be required. The value added formulations, as defined under sub-para (i) of paragraph 2 above, made out of imported species of plants and plant portions as specified in sub-para (i) of paragraph 2 above will be allowed to be exported freely without any restriction subject to furnishing of an affidavit to the customs authorities at the time of export that only the imported plant species as above have been used for the manufacture of value added formulations being exported. In the event of affidavit proving to be false, on the basis of random sample tests, action would be initiated against the firm under the foreign trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 All formulations, herbal/Ayurvedic medicines, where the label does not mention any ingredients extracted from these prohibited plants shall be freely exportable without the requirement of any certification from any authorities whatsoever. Exports allowed only through the ports of Mumbai, Kolkata, Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Tuticorin and Amritsar.

Source: http://jharenvis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CMS/CBSE635137230453614079_Wild%20life%20Protection%20Act%201972.pdf