India is one of the twelve mega-biodiversity areas of the world with over 45,000 wild species of plants and 77,000 wild species of animals on record. Together they comprise about 6.5 per cent of the world's known wildlife. It has been estimated that at least 10 per cent of the country's recorded wild flora, and possibly its wild fauna, are on the threatened list, many of them on the verge of extinction. This is not surprising considering the fact that in the last few decades, at least 50 per cent of India's forests have been cut down, 70 per cent of its water bodies have been polluted, its grasslands cultivated and its coasts degraded. In addition, hunting, over exploitation, poisoning by pesticides, excessive botanical and zoological collection, displacement by exotic varieties and a host of other activities have taken a heavy toll of biodiversity.