Protection and conservation of forests and wildlife are essential to maintain the earth's health and environment. Forests play a key role in the maintenance of climate, rain-patterns, and water and soil conservation.

India has 16 percent of the world's population with only 2.4 percent of its land area, so there is much pressure on our natural resources including forests. Due to increasing consumerism and nature-hostile activities, the forest cover is being lost very fast. Thousands of snails, frogs, rats, earthworms, cockroaches and other animals are killed for dissection in schools, colleges and laboratories for experiments, which disturbs the ecological balance.

There is mindless destruction of forests for timber, firewood and fuel. Every year there is a loss of about 1.3 lakh hectares of forest area in India because of indiscriminate clearing of forests for cultivation, quarrying and large dams and irrigation projects. Over-grazing has also taken its toll.

The result is serious ecological imbalance and environmental degradation. Conservation of forests and wildlife is also important because they make life beautiful and colourful, and their proper protection means a continuous and adequate supply of food, fodder, medicines and timber.