Till as recently as the middle of nineteenth century, 70% of the geographical area of Kerala was under dense forest cover. However, by the dawn of 20th Century this was reduced to less than 50%. In the pre ­independence era, no significant and unified enactment in the field of wildlife conservation was made in the princely states of Travancore and Cochin and the Madras Presidency because the focus was entirely on revenue oriented forest management. The appointment of S.C.H Robinson as the first Game Warden by the erstwhile Maharajah of Travancore in 1933 was a significant milestone in the history of Wildlife Conservation in the State. Based on his recommendations in 1934, Nellikkampetty was declared a Game Sanctuary, the first ever in the State, however to serve as the exclusive hunting preserve of the royalty. This was to be followed by the creation of an independent game department in 1940. More areas from the nearby Rattendon Valley and Mount Plateau were added to Periyar Lake Reserve to form the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950. More Protected Areas were to come up in the succeeding years.

There was a perceptible shift vis-à-vis wildlife conservation in the seventies starting with the increased number of Protected Areas being added consequent to the implementation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 in 1973 and formulation of Wildlife Rules in 1978.The "Save Silent Valley" campaign staged in the eighties was a watershed in the history of conservation. For the first time in the country, scientists, planners, politicians, littérateurs, activists and conservationists in India and abroad came together in a common platform to wage a protracted battle to save one of the last remaining contiguous stretch of pristine rain forests in Palakkad District where a proposed hydel project would have inundated large chunks of riparian ecosystem but for the timely intervention of people's justice. Incidentally, Silent Valley also triggered what could be called media activism in highlighting environmental issues in the succeeding years thus effectively rousing people's awareness. At the national level, the National Wildlife Strategy was mooted in 1983 followed by the National Forest Policy of 1988. The importance of ecological contiguity in having a Protected Area Network as stressed by Panwar and Rogeres (1988) are sought to be fulfilled in the State by the creation of a chain of PAs along similar and diverse habitats along the Western Ghats. A separate Wildlife Wing was created in 1985.Before 1956 if there was only Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 777 sq.km, now the total Protected Areas had increased to 20 with 15 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 5 National Parks. Special projects were initiated for the conservation of rare, endemic and endangered species like the Tiger and Elephants. Project Tiger launched in 1973 at the national level was implemented in Periyar in Kerala in 1978 and Project Elephant in 1991-92. Around this time a few other special projects for restoration of degraded habitats also have been launched outside Protected Areas.

The Kadalundi-Vallikkunnu Reserve, the first community reserve in India has been declared on 18-10-2007 for conserving the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the area with  people’s participation.

 WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES, NATIONAL PARKS, OTHER PROTECTED AREAS AND BIOSPHERE  RESERVES 

Protected Area

            A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.(IUCN definition)

Wildlife sanctuaries

Wildlife sanctuaries are mainly intended to ensure natural conditions necessary to protect nationally significant species, biotic communities or physical features of the environment where these require specific human manipulation for their perpetuation. Each sanctuary has separate management plan and the extent of the sanctuary has been divided into zones with specific management prescriptions. Buffer zone will have limited forestry activity, tourism zone will have tourist visit facilities and core zone will be the sanctum sanctorum and will not have activity except research and monitoring. The protection afforded to the sanctuaries has produced salutary effect on the increase of wild animal population.

National Parks

National Parks are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor opportunities.

Biosphere Reserve

Biosphere reserves are intended to provide in situ conservation of plants, animals and micro or­ganisms, not in isolation but in their totality as part of the wider ecosystem. The major functions of the biosphere are conser­vation as an open system, sustainable utilization of resources, research and assessment of the impact of research through monitoring, awareness and training of the people, and co­operation between the national and international network.

Tiger reserve

Tiger reserves are constituted for giving special protection to the highly endangered tiger species which once abounded the forests in the country. Since the population has started dwindling it was found necessary to afford special protection to this species. Accordingly many protected areas, where tiger population was found satisfactory, were brought under the 'Project Tiger’. In Kerala Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary and Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary has been selected and declared as 'Tiger Reserves’.

Community Reserve

            An area is declared as community reserve by the State Government for protecting flora and fauna, traditional or cultural heritage or values in the interests of an individual or society, in areas where there is no wildlife protection centre.