Current Status of Butterflies in Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972

Abstract Butterflies play a crucial role in maintenance of ecological balance as they are important bio-indicators and are pollinators for various plant species. They are also crucial components of food chain and nutrient recycling as they are food to different animals like lizards, spiders, ants, birds and wasps. They have significant importance in cultural as well as aesthetic aspects. Despite their contribution to many ecological services, they face serious anthropological threats like climate change, illegal trade, deforestation, overgrazing, urbanization and habitat destruction. The Indian Wildlife Protection Act (IWPA) was enacted in 1972 by Government of India as a legal framework to protect and conserve the wildlife. It lists different animals, birds and reptiles under six schedules and provides varying degree of protection levels, prohibiting the hunting, poaching and finally focusing on conservation of flora and fauna of India. But the representation of butterflies in this act still remains very minimal. The major focus of this paper is to inquire into the previous and current status of butterflies in Indian wildlife protection act-1972 and analyze the critical gaps hindering the research and conservation aspects related to the butterflies. This paper will also focus on providing the most recent list of all the butterflies which are included in different schedules of the act.