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ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY CURRENT AFFAIRS
(2014 2015)
1. What is the difference between a national
park, protected area, sanctuary and biosphere
reserve?
Due to enormous pressure of the exploding human population,
the area of the forests is shrinking and many of the flora
and fauna are on the verge of extinction. Accordingly, efficient
in-situ conservation strategy has been organized to conserve
ecologically important areas by regulating human intervention
and thus efforts have established a protected area network.
National park is an area with enough ecological,
geomorphological and natural significance with rich fauna
and flora, which is designed to protect and to develop wildlife
or its environment. The rights of the people living inside this
Category 2 type of protected areas are tightly regulated and
activities like grazing, hunting, forestry or cultivation,
encroachment, destruction of habitats and other activities
are strictly prohibited. But most national parks provide
outdoor recreation, camping opportunities and are designed
to educate the public on the importance of conservation
activities.
Protected areas are at the core of efforts towards biodiversity
conservation, providing habitat and protection from hunting
for threatened and endangered species and are key to
buffering unpredictable impacts of impeding climate change.
Thus, protected areas are geographical space, recognized,
dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective
means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature and
cultural values. In protected areas human occupation and
exploitation of resources is limited.
Wildlife Sanctuaries or wildlife refuges are home to various
endangered species of wild animals and these animals are safe
from hunting, predation or competition and safeguarded from
extinction in their natural habitat.
Wildlife sanctuaries and national parks attract millions of
tourists and nature lovers. In Wildlife sanctuaries harvesting
timbers, cultivation, a n d c o l l e c t i o n of forest
products are allowed with permission.
Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal
ecosystems which are internationally recognized within the
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framework of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme
of the UNESCO and are not formed according to the
guidelines of the Wildlife (protection) Act, 1972 and may
have one or more national parks or wildlife sanctuaries in it.
Under the MAB programme there is a World Network of
Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) and within this network,
exchange of information, experience and personnel is allowed.
2. Sri Lankan flying snake sighted for the first time
outside Sri Lanka in Seshachalam Biosphere
Reserve, A.P.
Flying snake or Chrysopelea taprobanica
Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve, A.P.
Evidence of continental drift theory
Sri Lankan flying snake or Chrysopelea taprobanica,
considered endemic to the dry and intermediate zones of the
island nation, has been sighted in Andhra Pradeshs
Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve.
This significantly expands the known area of presence of this
species, indicating its probable movement between the dry
zones of peninsular India and Sri Lanka, which remained
connected around 17,000 years ago.
3. Maharashtra gets State butterfly -
Blue Mormon butterfly
Maharashtra has become the first State in the country
to have a State butterfly.
Maharashtra government has declared the Blue Mormon
(Papilio polymnestor) as the State butterfly.
The Blue Mormon is a large, swallowtail butterfly found
primarily in Sri Lanka and India, mainly restricted to the
Western Ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts.
It may occasionally be spotted in the Maharashtrian mainland
between Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra.
It is reportedly the second largest butterfly found in India,
just smaller than the southern birdwing.
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No State in India has ever declared a State butterfly and the

species has been one of the most neglected.
Easily identifiable, the Blue Mormon boasts exquisite velvet-
like black wings with bright blue spots.

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4. Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary of West Bengal has
the most Asian open- billed storks in the country
The Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengals Uttar
Dinajpur district has the most Asian open-billed storks in the
country.
Other important habitats of open-billed storks includes -
Danapur Military Cantonment in Bihar,
Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh and
Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary in Karnataka
(But their number was not as high as it is in
Raiganj)
5. Gorumara National Park, West Bengal, one
of the smallest national parks in India
Gorumara National Park has turned out to be a safe haven
for butterflies as evident by recent studies that have recorded
more than 330 species of butterflies in the park.
The Bicolour Cupid and Malayan Nawab species are
among the most threatened.
The Bicolour Cupid and Malayan Nawab are placed in Schedule
I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Witch and the
Branded Young Fly are in Schedule II of the Act.
Animals and insects who are most threatened are slotted
in Schedule I of the Act.
Apart from being home to animals like elephants,
rhinoceros, gaur, leopard and different kinds of deer, the
National Park has a huge collection of lesser known but
interesting species of butterflies.
6. New butterfly species spotted in West
Bengal Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary -
Malayan Green-banded Peacock.
In a significant addition to the butterfly species in
India, wildlife enthusiasts have found the Malayan Green
Banded Peacock (Papilio palinurus), a beautiful specimen
found in South East Asia, for the first time in India.
The butterfly with a dusty green base having a bluish
green band spread over both wings in the shape of an arc is
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found in southern Myanmar and peninsular Thailand south-
eastward into Borneo and the Philippines.
It was spotted in Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary in West
Bengals South 24 Parganas on a few occasions but it was
unable to confirm because it could not be photographed.
Referred to as the flagship species, butterflies are not
only pollinators of flowering plants, but also useful in
monitoring environmental changes.
While there are about 600 known species of butterflies in
West Bengal, India is home to about
1,500 species of butterflies.
With this new find, there has been an addition to different
peacock butterflies which are characterised by their powdery
green pigments.
West Bengal is probably the only State which is home
to a wide variety of peacock butterflies such as the
rare Krishna Peacock, Blue Peacock, the relatively
common Paris Peacock, Common Peacock and
Common Banded Peacock. The only other Peacock
butterfly found in the country is Buddha Peacock or
Malabar Banded Peacock, which is endemic to south
India.
7. India home to 48 species of bumblebees
India is home to 48 of the 250 known species of
bumblebees, the only pollinators of vegetation in high-
altitude regions.
Mostly characterised by black, yellow and reddish body hair,
and often striped, bumblebees are generally found on
altitudes of 2,000- 15,000 feet along the entire Himalayas,
from Jammu & Kashmir to Nagaland.
Bumblebees are important to the ecosystem, as without
them seed setting and fruiting will not take place in many
plants. They pollinate vegetables, fruit trees, cash crops and
even ornamental and medicinal plants high in the Himalayas
Like the honeybees, bumblebees are social insects and live in
colonies the size of which depends on the species.
Aluminium: new factor in decline of bees?
Very high amounts of aluminium have been found in bees,
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raising the question of whether aluminium-induced
cognitive dysfunction is playing a role in the decline of
bumblebee populations.
More than half the people in some developing countries
could become newly at risk for malnutrition if crop-
pollinating animals continue to decline, according to a new
study.
8. Rhino numbers rise in West Bengal Jaldapara
National Park and Gorumara National Park
West Bengal is now home to the second highest population of
the one-horned rhinoceros in the country after Assam, with
the number growing to 250 in the State.
A State Forest Department survey has revealed that the
Jaldapara National Park in the State has nearly 200 of these
endangered animals and the Gorumara National Park, 50.
Jaldapara now has the second highest population of them
after the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, which has over
2,000.
Jaldapara recorded 186 in the previous survey in 2013 and
Gorumara 46 in 2014. The State had just 20 of these animals in
1990.
Admitting to incidents of poaching, the West Bengal
government had set up a new body involving personnel of
forces such as the Border Security Force and the Shashatra
Seema Bal. (Since the rhino habitat is on Indias borders with
Nepal and Bhutan)
Reports showed at least five incidents of poaching in north
Bengal in the past year. The State Wildlife Board has suggested
that forest guards be issued shoot-at-sight orders, but the
government has so far not agreed to it.
Experts point out that the rhino population has a skewed male-
female ratio 2:1.4 in Gorumara. Rationalising the ratio is the
next step to ensure a sustainable population.
9. Number of rhinos up in Kaziranga National
Park, Assam: Census
The number of world famous one-horned rhinos in Assams
Kaziranga National Park has increased to over 2,400,
according to a latest census.
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The census, conducted by Assams forest department in
association with several wildlife NGOs, counted 2,401 rhinos,
which indicated increase of 71 rhinos in the park in the past
two years.
The census is conducted every three years. Although the last
census was carried out in 2012, the State government
conducted a special census of the rhinos in 2013 after a
large number of rhinos had been poached in the park.
While the 2012 census confirmed 2,290 rhinos in the park,
the special census next in 2013 confirmed that there
were 2,329 rhinos in the park.
10. NGT adds armour for protection of rhinos in
Assams Kaziranga
The National Green Tribunal has issued notices to 71 hotels,
dhabas and resorts for encroaching into the national park after
CAG's damning report.
After shocking revelations of the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India about the dire state of management of
Kaziranga National Park, home to one-horned rhinoceros,
the National Green Tribunal has issued notices to
71 hotels, resorts and dhabas which have encroached into the
eco-sensitive zone of the Park.
The CAG report titled Performance audit of Kaziranga
National Park Issues and Challenges revealed how 71
resorts, hotels, dhabas and other commercial ventures such as
eco-camps and even residential houses have come up within
one to three kilometers of the boundary of the KNP thereby
endangering wildlife, which is already at risk of unchecked
poaching.
The report points at rampant construction and parking on vast
stretches of contentious National Highway 37 passing through
KNP which figures on the world heritage list and harbours
world's largest population of one-horned Rhinoceros.
Interestingly, the Park authorities seem unaware of these
illegal commercial ventures on the highland used by animals
for shelter during floods.
Non declaration of the ESZ for such a long period of time had
a direct bearing on such activities detrimental to the well
being of animals. The dangerous trend, if not checked
immediately and permanently could lead to an irreversible
impact on conservation and protection of wildlife with the
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potential threat that in case of a major flood, majority of the
internationally acclaimed species one horned rhinos would
be wiped out forever, the CAG report said.
The Bench also noted that the Assam government had failed to
utilize funds released towards Kaziranga tiger reserve and
directed it to release the same in two weeks.
The audit report highlighted that From the results of physical
verification, interactions with wildlife authorities/ villagers and
scrutiny of various correspondences, it would appear that
uncontrolled and ever increasing construction/human
settlements with urbanisation at places, commercial activities/
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mining had contributed to blocking majority of stretch of NH
37 including designated animal corridors...
There is a complete inaction by the State of Assam so far
as protection of rhinos is concerned. The CAG report should
have been a wakeup call for the government to take
urgent action, however the same apathy continues and
government seems to be happy with increase in rhino
population without considering the warning signs of the
impending doom, says Ritwick Dutta, a noted Environmental
Lawyer.
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11. Elusive partridge photographed for the
first time by Bengaluru shutterbug
Chestnut- breasted Partridge
The Wikipedia page shows only a sketch for an image. The
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which
categorises the bird as vulnerable, has only a colourful
painting at least two decades old as reference.
The Chestnut-breasted Partridge (Arborophila mandellii),
endemic to the Eastern Himalayas, had eluded shutterbugs,
until immense patience and a stroke of luck granted
Bengaluru-based wildlife photographer Gururaj Moorching a
two-minute encounter with the rare bird.
There are nearly 45 different species of partridges, of which the
Chestnut-breasted Partridge which gets its scientific name
from an Italian naturalist is classified as a hill partridge.
IUCN estimates that about 2,500 Chestnut- breasted
Partridges live in Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan and Lower
Tibet along the Himalayas.
12. Grey Hypocolius sighted in Narara Marine
National Park, Gujarat
(Finding to be published by Bombay Natural History
Society)
Two Mumbai-based professionals and keen amateur birders
have recently sighted and photographed a rare bird, Grey
Hypocolius, at the Narara Marine National Park near Jamnagar
in Gujarat.
The two amateur birders spotted three specimens perched on
the bushes of Pilu trees at the Narara Marine National Park.
A slender, long tailed bird the size of Bulbul (about 19-
21 cms), Grey Hypocolius is a migratory bird found in
northern Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and western India
(central Asian countries).
The bird was spotted in Kihim in Alibag district near
umbai in 1930 by Salim Ali.
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13. New spider takes new States name
(Telangana crab spider)
Telangana now has a spider named after it
Telangana crab spider (Thomisus telanganensis).
Two wildlife and taxonomy researchers from the Zoology
Department of Osmania University chanced upon a female of
the species while they were on an expedition at Nagnur in
Karimnagar district.
The results of the discovery have been published in the
recent issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, an
International Journal of Conservation and Taxonomy.
The spiders of the Thomisidae family
structurally resemble crabs and are hence called crab
spiders.
The Telangana variety has a tendency to walk sideways
like crabs. They are also known as flower spiders as
they lie in wait for prey on flowering plants, the
researchers said.
The expedition was routine until they stumbled upon the
spider. The species closely resembles Thomisus labefactus,
well known in Japan. They want to dedicate this species to
the scores of students and the public who had sacrificed their
lives for the cause of Telangana.
Unlike traditional spiders, Telangana crab spiders do not
weave webs. They attack prey all of a sudden and immobilize
them with venom.
Eats insects
They are important to the ecosystem as they act as bio-
controlling agents to keep the insect population under
control. They are between 3 mm and 23 mm in size with their
colour varying from bright and colourful to dull. They are
usually found in plants, shrubs, grasses, flowering plants, leaf
litter and sometimes under stones.
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The researchers said the spider had been found only at
Nagnur so far. The study was supported by grants from the
Science and Engineering Research Board, Union Department
of Science and Technology, and the University Grants
Commission.
14. New species of gecko found - World
Heritage Site of Hampi in Karnataka
A new species of the day gecko, a type of lizard
usually found in warm climates, has been spotted at the ruins
of the World Heritage Site of Hampi in Karnataka.
The gecko has been named Cnemaspis adii after a young
herpetology researcher from Hyderabad, Aditya Srinivasulu.
This is the first time that day geckos have been
found in the central regions of peninsular India.
The discovery of the gecko and its name were published in
the journal Zootaxa this month by researchers Chelmala
Srinivasulu, G. Chethan Kumar and Bhargavi Srinivasulu from
the zoology wing of Osmania University in Hyderabad.
The lizard belongs to the family of day geckos characterized
by round pupils unlike regular geckos which have vertical
pupils.
The zoologists say Hampi and surrounding areas are
potentially rich in biodiversity and not much research has
been done to identify new species of smaller vertebrate and
invertebrates.
The discovery is significant because other species of day
geckos have been, so far, reported only from the
Western Ghats and southern Eastern Ghats in peninsular
India. This is the first time that day geckos have been found in
the central regions of peninsular India between Eastern and
Western Ghats.
15. Lion-tailed macaque sighted near
Kottiyam - Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary
Mystery shrouds the sighting of an adult lion tailed macaque
on the Thazhuthala Maha Ganapathy Temple premises,
near Kottiyam, on the outskirts of Kollam city.
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The macaque was found comfortably perched on the canopy
of a huge peepal tree. The animal attracted a curious crowd
on Monday and several people photographed it.
Though the lion-tailed macaque is protected under Schedule
1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, the Forest Department
appears to have ignored the entry of the endangered monkey
into human habitat, which it normally avoids.
People who saw the macaque said it appeared to be used to
human presence.
Found only in Silent Valley
Lion-tailed macaques are reported to be found only
in the Silent Valley area.
But forest officers have records of their presence in the
Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollam. In December last,
a pair was spotted near the Thenmala dam site.
But it remains a mystery how the lion-tailed macaque
could reach Kottiyam more than 70 km away from the
Shendurney sanctuary skipping the gaze of people through
thickly populated areas. There are rumours that the
animal could have been secretly kept as a pet by
someone not far away from where it was spotted.
A couple of years ago, a spotted deer was seen on a rubber
estate near Chathannur, which is close to Kottiyam.
Forests south of the Periyar river are not natural
habitats for the spotted deer
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16. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,
1960 - Two baby orangutans rescued in A.P.
Andhra Pradesh police nabbed three persons for
allegedly transporting two caged baby orangutans in a car.
The car with the animals entered Andhra Pradesh through the
Odisha border and passed through a toll gate near
Visakhapatnam. The car is registered in the name of
Mohammed Abdul Gaffar of Hyderabad.
The police, who have since sent detectives to Kolkata to
make more arrests, are investigating the possibility that an
international wildlife trafficking racket is spreading its wings
in the southern States via Kolkata and Odisha. The two
animals rescued are believed to have been smuggled across
international borders.
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Native to Indonesia
Orangutans, native to Indonesia, have not been bred
in India. We do not have orangutan breeding centres in
India. The species do not have a record of breeding in Indian
conditions, G. Ramalingam, curator of the Visakhapatnam
zoo, said.
Recent incidents indicate that an international wildlife
smuggling gang is based in Kolkata. Last year, Customs
personnel in that city arrested a gang of 55 smugglers with
several chimpanzees, marmosets, capuchin monkeys and
many exotic birds.
Kolkata has been identified as a major hub for
wildlife trafficking, says the Wildlife Crime Control
Bureau of the Union Environment, Forests and
Climate Change Ministry.
West Bengals porous borders with Nepal,
Bhutan and
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Bangladesh are said to be aiding wildlife smuggling.
Animals are mostly transported by road in private
vehicles to South Indian States, the bureau says.
Import, trading and possession of exotic species
are illegal under the Indian Customs Act, 1960, and
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Sumatran and Bornean orangutan falls under
Schedule 1 of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species.
17. Migratory birds visiting Rajasthan
decling - Lesser Flamingos
The number of Lesser Flamingos visiting the Sambhar Lake and
adjoining water bodies in Rajasthan has declined.
The bird has already been declared an endangered species and
put on the IUCN-Red List, the most comprehensive inventory
of the global conservation status of biological species.
The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC), conducted at the Sambhar
Lake and adjoining Water bodies shown an increase in the
diversity of migratory birds and a jump in the population of
other waterbirds.
Sambhar is the largest inland saline lake in the country
and the largest Ramsar site in Rajasthan.
A similar survey was conducted at the
Keoladeo Ghana National Park.
The threatened species spotted include Lesser Flamingo,
Eurasian Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit. Among the major
migratory species with larger populations are Bar-headed
Geese, Graylag Geese, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Coot,
Gadwal and Common Teal, and among the resident
species with a large population are Lesser Whistling
Duck and Indian Moorhen.
While the other migratory species found are Bar- headed
Geese, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Coot, Northern Pintail,
Pied Avocet, Common Teal, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck,
Gadwal and Tuff.
Other concerns: Kite flying in Rajastan killing rock pigeons,
rose-ringed parakeets, spotted owlets and barn owls.
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18. Uttarakhand spring festival beckons
birdwatchers
Migratory water birds at Asan Barrage in
Uttarakhand.
To promote Uttarakhand as a birdwatching
destination, the second spring bird festival will be organised
in the State in February
2015.
Forest Department data say the State has an amazing bird
diversity with 687 species representing more than half the
avifaunal diversity of India. The State government organized
the first festival at the Asan Conservation Reserve this
year.
The 2015 venue is the Pawalgarh Conservation Reserve,
in the Ramnagar Forest Division of Kumaon, with over 350
species.
Great slaty woodpecker, great hornbill, rufous bellied eagle,
white-bellied erpornis, little pied flycatcher, bluebearded
bee-eater and Nepal wren-babbler are among the
attractions.
19. Migratory Birds visit Chilka Lake, Odhisha
A flock of flamingos take flight at the Chilka lake in
Odishas Khorda district. More than 7 lakh migratory birds of
different species visited the lake this season.
20. Forest owlet sighted in M.P.
Wildlife Research and Conservation Society (WRCS), Pune
reported that the forest owlet (Athene blewitti), a critically
endangered species, has been sighted in Madhya Pradeshs
Betul district.
The owlet, endemic to Central Indian forests was said to
be extinct in the wild when it was recently rediscovered
in 1997.
Survey carried out in winter may have been the reason for the
successful sighting.
While it has been seen mainly at the Melghat Tiger
Reserve in Amravati district, the bird was also previously
spotted in 2004 in Toranmal in Maharashtras Nandurbar
district.
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The owlet, endemic to Central Indian forests was said to
be extinct in the wild when it was recently rediscovered
in 1997.
Survey carried out in winter may have been the reason for the
successful sighting.
While it has been seen mainly at the Melghat Tiger
Reserve in Amravati district, the bird was also previously
spotted in 2004 in Toranmal in Maharashtras Nandurbar
district.
21. Windmills spell doom for Great Indian
Bustard Desert National Park
The number of Great Indian Bustards, the State Bird
of Rajasthan, is down to less than 50 according to the last
official census conducted in
2014.
The world population of GIB, or Gudavan as it is locally known
as, is said to be 150 with India, particularly Rajasthan, and
comprising 70 per cent of this species.
A couple of birds have been spotted in Maharashtra, Gujarat,
and Andhra Pradesh. At some point, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
also had Bustards but have now lost them all.
In a survey conducted by the State Forest
Department last year, there were approximately
103 Bustards (plus-minus 69) as compared to 83 in the winter
of 2013 and 34 in the summer which is the breeding season.
Similarly, the year before that 94 were sighted in winter and
60 in summer.
The desert landscape was divided into 18 grids of
12x12 sq kilomteres and the bird count
undertaken, including the Desert National Park spread across
Jaisalmer and Barmer districts.
Over 90,000 Chinkaras (State animal) and
8,000 Desert Fox were also counted in the
census.
Thar Desert is the only landscape in the world that
provides viable breeding population to GIBs, and it
was with this in mind that over 3,100 sq km of
areas was notified as Protected Area and declared
a sanctuary in the 1980s.
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Though the area is known as the Desert National
Park (DNP), legally it is only a sanctuary.
The GIBs have been vanishing over the years due to
shrinking habitat.
While changing lifestyle in the desert, and unregulated
human activities have endangered the species, thousands
of windmills around the park are posing a serious threat to
the GIB which has been categorised as critically
endangered.
The status of the remaining area of the DNP (notified
sanctuary) is still revenue land and not yet mutated in the
name of Forest Department.
There are 73 villages and 300 dhanis (hamlets) living within
the DNP who are living without any basic amenities like
water, electricity, communication lines and schools despite
relaxation granted by the Supreme Court in allowing these
facilities inside the protected area.
Shortage of forest guards is also another issue plaguing the
DNP.
(In the male-dominated society of Rajasthan, where sex
selective abortions, female infanticide and child marriages
are common in rural areas, Sukhpali and her husband stand
out.
She is the only woman forest guard in the State working
on the field. She guards a portion of the Desert National Park
(DNP) in the Thar Desert. She belonged to the second batch
of women guards hired by the Forest Department in 2013)
According to anecdotal estimates, the largest population of
this bird was in Rajasthan, while it was also found in Gujarat
and Karnataka.
52,000 to save the bustard
Pramod Patil, a citybased ornithologist, plans to help
conserve the great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) with
52,000 (about Rs. 50 lakh).
While the 35,000 prize money he got with the Whitley Award
for his work to save the critically endangered bird has gone
into the corpus, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
of the U.K. has promised him 17,000 for his conservation
efforts in the Thar desert.
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The money will be channeled through BirdLife International,
an international non-governmental organization involved in
conserving birds and their habitats.
Echoing the urgency to protect the rapidly declining
numbers of the species, Dr. Patil proposes to spend
much of the money in the desert, which hosts the largest
surviving population of the bird.
Thar desert projects
The bulk of the funds will have to be devoted to
projects in the Thar desert as it is one of the last refuges of
this great bird. But other areas that serve as a habitat for
the bustard will certainly be covered, if and when that
need arises, says Dr. Patil, whose experience while visiting
London to receive the Green Oscar (as the Whitley Awards
are popularly known) confirmed his views of landscape-level
conservation.
Ruing the fact that the great Indian bustard, once abundantly
found in grasslands across the Indian subcontinent, had been
driven out of its habitat, Dr. Patil said poor planning and
failure to involve the local community sounded the death
knell for the bustard, which has been disappearing from
several protected areas.
Solution
The focus is on decentralization as a solution to
conservation, disbursing funds and decision- making at the
local-level instead of merely vesting authority with the
government, he said.
An optimistic sign, though only slightly so, on the horizon was
the recent sighting of three birds at the Great Indian Bustard
Sanctuary, Nannaj, in the semi-arid district of Solapur of
Maharashtra.
Despite being an important haunt of bustards, the sanctuary
has seen a decline in numbers of the bird.
22. In news:
Sultanpur National Park, Gurgaon
1. Bird flu killing coots (seed eating birds)
2. Probably seeds sprayed with pesticides (bio-
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magnification)
Sukhna lake, Chandigarh
1. Avian Flu (H5N1)
23. DHANAURI, PARASAUL MAY BE
DECLARED WETLANDS
The National Green Tribunal directed Uttar
Pradesh to consider declaring Dhanauri and Parasaul in
Greater Noida as wetlands. The areas are breeding grounds
for State bird sarus crane.
The State government has also been directed to discharge its
responsibilities under the Wetland Rules, 2010, to identify
and submit the inventory of wetlands in U.P. within 90 days.
Till the process is completed, status quo has to be ensured by
the State government on Dhanauri and Parasaul. The State
had in 2009 wanted all wetlands to be listed, but nothing
materialized.
These two places are very important for birding and nesting
of sarus crane, the tallest flying bird in the world.
Environmentalists are also fighting to save the wetlands in
view of Dadri facing destruction by encroachers and builders.
24. Trees felled in Surajpur wetland
The wetlands in Uttar Pradesh continue to be in a
deplorable state. After the Dadri wetland, which has
become a victim of encroachment, trees in the Surajpur
wetland are purportedly being felled and sold off as timber.
Surajpur wetland has the protection status of a reserved
forest area. Falling under the jurisdiction of the Greater Noida
Development Authority, it is an urban wetland. Surajpur is
not only a wetland but also a reserved forest area. Any activity
inside
a reserved forest area requires permission from the Centre.
25. Lucknow zoo renamed after the last
Nawab
In a historic decision, the Samajwadi Party
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government has renamed the Lucknow Prani Udyan,
popularly known as Lucknow zoo, as Nawab Wajid Ali
Shah Prani Udyan, Lucknow, making it the first official
move-since Independence - to name a monument after a
Nawab of Oudh, or Avadh (roughly corresponding with
Central Uttar Pradesh ).
Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was the last Nawab of Oudh before the
province was annexed by the British under the policy of
Doctrine of Lapse in 1856. He was banished to Matia Burj in
Bengal.
Another first was the decision to rename the Nawabganj Bird
Sanctuary in Unnao district after revolutionary freedom
fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad.
The bird sanctuary will now be known as Shaheed
Chandra Shekhar Azad Pakshi Vihar, Nawabganj. Though
Chandra Shekhar Azad was born in Alirajpur district in
Madhya Pradesh (July
23, 1906), his father, Sitaram Tiwari, belonged to Badarka
village in Unnao district. It was on account of his parental
ties with Unnao district that the bird sanctuary has been
named after him.
The Lucknow Zoo was established in 1921 and was
named after Englands Prince of Wales as Prince of
Wales Zoological Gardens. It was renamed as Lucknow
Prani Udyan on June 4,
2001.
26. India richer by 349 new species
Bananas, jamun and orchids among new
discoveries
Scientists and taxonomists of the country have
discovered 349 new species of flora and fauna in the
past one year 173 species and genera of plants and 176
species of animals.
The list of new discoveries by the Botanical Survey of India
(BSI) and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), were released
on the World Environment Day on June 5.
Of the new plants, some of the significant findings
include nine new taxa of wild Musa (bananas), four species of
black plum (jamun), three species of wild gingibers and 10
species of orchids.
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Biodiversity hotspots
According to scientists of the BSI, the Western Ghats
accounted for 22 per cent of the new discoveries, while the
Eastern Himalayas and the north-eastern States each
accounted for 15 per cent of the species found. In
Arunachal Pradesh alone, 25 species of seed plants were
discovered.
At the ZSI, 176 new species were added to the list of animals
of India. These include 93 species of insects, seven species of
collembolans, 12 species each of arachnidan and
crustacean and one species of mollusca.
Reptiles too
Interestingly, two species of reptiles have also been
located for the first time in the country
one in Tamil Nadu and another in Madhya
Pradesh.
As in the previous year, insects outnumbered other animal
groups this year also. But surprisingly, a large number of
amphibians and fish made it to the list with 24 and 23 new
species respectively.
While most of the new species of amphibians were
discovered from the Western Ghats, majority of fish species
were from north-east India.
Scientists of both BSI and ZSI agree that the Western Ghats
and the northeast are biodiversity hotspots where most new
species were found. Apart from the new species, the BSI
has also added 105 new records and ZSI 61 new records.
Animals and plants that are found elsewhere in the world
but have been spotted in India for the first time are called new
records.
Last year, 614 new species of plants and animals 366
plants and 248 animals were discovered. It is natural that
with every passing year, the number of new discoveries will
decrease.
In India, 96,891 species of animals and 47,791 species of plants
have been recorded so far.
27. Capturing the life forces of Western
Ghats
Another film-maker from Chennai bagging an award at the
62nd national film awards has gone unnoticed.
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For engagingly revealing the rare and incredible biodiversity
of the Western Ghats, Nalla Muthu Subbiah has bagged
the Rajat Kamal award for the best exploratory film. Quite
fittingly, the film is titled Life Force Indias Western Ghats.
Interestingly, Mr. Subbiah began his career as a highspeed
cameraman filming rockets in the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) in the
1980s.
We used to film the flights of flamingos and pelicans in slow
motion. The inputs were used in rocket design, he recalls.
That is when he began blending his love for birds, science and
technology. Soon, he started working in the Indian Films
Division, but quit at the height of television boom to make
the series Living on the edge for Doordarshan.
Soon, he started his own production company and went into
the wild, growing fond of filming tigers. For Life Force, his
team filmed extensively in the Western Ghats, covering 10
endangered species like Lion-tailed Macaque, Great
Indian Hornbill, Slender Loris and Purple Frog.
Slender Loris, an elusive primate, is an astonishing species.
We have shot how they carry baby cubs, says Mr. Nalla
Muthu, still captivated by the images from the nightvision
cameras he used to capture this nocturnal species.
The team camped in makeshift machaans and hid itself on
trees at 200-feet height to capture the Great Indian Hornbill.
They waited for 40 days in the Silent Valley for the chick to
come out and fly for the first time. Mr. Subbiah has earlier
bagged the national award for best cinematography and best
environment film for his wildlife documentary
Tiger Dynasty, which followed the life of a tigress
translocated from Ranthambore to Sariska Tiger Reserve.
Now, he is following the life of world famous tigress
Machili of Ranthamhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan.
28. NCDC team in Goa to study Kyasanur
Forest Disease
A team from the National Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC), Delhi, is presently in Goa carrying out detailed
investigation of the outbreak Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
and also give expertise in prevention and control measures
in the affected areas. Already four persons have died of the
disease in north Goas Pali village in Valpoi taluk.
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KFD is caused by the Kyasanur Forest Disease Virus
(KFDV). The virus was identified in 1957 when it was
isolated from a sick monkey from the Kyasanur Forest in
Karnataka (formerly Mysore State).
Since then, between 400-500 humans cases per year have
been reported. Hard ticks (Hemaphysalis spinigera) are the
reservoir of the KFD virus and once infected, remain so for
life.
Rodents, shrews, and monkeys are common hosts for
KFDV after being bitten by an infected tick, KFDV can
cause epizootics with high fatality in primates.
Transmission to humans may occur after a tick bite or contact
with an infected animal, most importantly a sick or recently
dead monkey. No person-to-person transmission has been
described.
Disease as of now was stated to be
transmitted through monkeys.
Large animals such as goats, cows, and sheep may become
infected with KFD but play a limited role in the transmission
of the disease.
There is no evidence of disease transmission via the
unpasteurised milk of any of these animals.
29. Florida panther who helped ensure
species survival dies
A Florida panther whose birth 16 years ago helped ensure
the survival of her species has died.
The body of the big cat known as Panther 191 was found in
the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida, where
she lived .
30. Robin soars as Britains choice of
national bird
Robin, the pious bird with the scarlet breast
Chosen we know not how and why, but most countries have
an avian representative that becomes a cultural symbol.
Britain woke up to the idea rather late, and all thanks to
ornithologist, television presenter and blogger David Lindo.
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The red-chested avian, the bird whom Man loves best, was
initially part of a group of 10 common British birds selected
from a list of 60 in a preliminary vote.
The robin soared above other contenders taking 34 per
cent of the vote, followed by the barn owl and blackbird at 12
and 11 per cent. Robins sing at all times of the day and nearly
all year round, and despite their cute appearance ... are
aggressively territorial and are quick to drive away
intruders, says the entry in the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds.
In the social media wave created by this birds election
however can be heard the grumbles of those who think the
choice of an aggressive bully who looks good and speaks well
sends the wrong message about Britain.
Mr Lindos next task is to get the government to formally
recognise the little winner as the national bird.
31. Songbird may be eaten to extinction
A once abundant bird in Europe and Asia is being
hunted to near extinction because of Chinese eating habits,
according to a study.
The population of the yellow- breasted bunting has
plunged by 90 percent since 1980, all but disappearing from
Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia, said the study,
published in the Conservation Biology journal.
Following initial population declines, China in 1997 banned
the hunting of the species, known there as the rice bird.
However, millions of these songbirds were still being killed for
food and sold on the black market as late as 2013, said
the study.
It said consumption of these birds has increased as a result of
economic growth and prosperity in East Asia, with an
estimate in 2001 claiming one million buntings were
consumed in China's Guangdong province alone
32. Giant Pandas:
Giant pandas have not evolved to eat bamboo Despite
two million years of munching almost exclusively on
bamboo, the giant pandas gut has not adapted to eating
the plant putting the creatures in an evolutionary
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dilemma, scientists said.
The surprising study, reported by online US journal mBio,
examined 45 giant pandas over the course of a year and
found that the animals appeared to have a digestive system
entirely differentiated from other herbivores.
Instead, the pandas still retained the gut bacteria of the
omnivorous bears they evolved from, the reports summary
said.
Unlike other herbivores that have successfully evolved
anatomically specialized digestive systems to efficiently
deconstruct fibrous plant matter, the giant panda still retains a
gastrointestinal tract typical of carnivores. This, the report
said, may adversely influence the coevolutionary fitness of
this herbivore.
Giant pandas spend up to 14 hours a day eating 12.5
kg (27.5 pounds) of bamboo, but can digest only about
17 per cent of what they consume.
This result is unexpected and quite interesting, because it
implies the giant pandas gut microbiota may not have
well adapted to its unique diet, and places pandas at an
evolutionary dilemma, said study co-author Xiaoyan Pang
from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, according to Chinas
state-run Xinhua news agency.
Pandas, whose natural habitat lies in
mountainous southwestern China, have a notoriously low
reproductive rate and are under pressure from factors
such as habitat loss
33. Leopard Census
After a delay of seven years, the Uttarakhand forest
department, in collaboration with the Dehradun based
Wildlife Institute of India (WII), will conduct a fresh census
of leopards in the State this year.
A. Leopard deaths in accidents are increasing :
Waynad Wildlife Sanctuary
A five-year-old leopard was run over and killed by an
unidentified vehicle on the Kozhikode- Mysore National
Highway 212 inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS)
at Muthanga on the Kerala- Karnataka border.
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A male spotted deer was killed in another road accident on
the NH-212 at Arupathinalu near Moolamkavu under the
WWS.
A wild boar and a spotted deer were killed in similar accidents
a few weeks ago in the vicinity.
B. Leopard cub dies in road accident : Aravalli
forest
An eight-month-old female leopard was found dead
on Gurgaon-Faridabad road near the toll plaza.
One of the big reasons for the leopards to come on the
roads is the encroachments in the Aravalli forest. A large
number of farmhouses have come up in the den of wild
animals, proving to be a security threat for them. These
animals also come on the main road in search of water.
The Aravalli Range, the natural habitat of these big
cats, is the oldest fold mountains in India.
The northern end of the range continues as isolated hills
and rocky ridges into Haryana, ending in Delhi. The
undulating hills of Aravalli not only provide unbelievable
natural ambience, but also act as lungs for the whole
National Capital Region.
Beside support to human population, the range also
supports the important and already exhausted faunal
diversity (as established by wildlife census report 2012 which
found seven carnivores species on Aravalli Range).
According to wildlife observers, leopards are very shy and are
the most adaptable of the large cats and typify wildlife that
lives outside forests.
Leopards have always lived outside forests, be it tea gardens,
fringes of forests, in croplands and they have been reported
even from urban areas.
A ban on mining by the Supreme Court a few years ago in the
Aravalli area led to an improved habitat which is the primary
factor for leopard survival.
The importance of this area is also increased by the fact that
it is surrounded by Asolla Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary on Delhi
side and a continuous Aravalli chain in Rajasthan which
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extends up to Sariska National Park.
The Aravalli area, which has a good leopard habitat and is
rich in floral and faunal diversity, is also exploited by human
greed, mainly because of its proximity to Delhi.
C. Need to minimise human interference
As many as four roads, including two highways, pass
through the Aravalli range bifurcating the natural habitat of
the leopard. And two more roads Kundli-Manesar-Palwal
Expressway and Dedicated Freight Corridor passing
through the mountain range are in the pipeline. Neither the
departments concerned have provided safe passages to the
animals to cross these roads nor have signages been put for
the motorists to drive slow in this area. Ideally, barricades
should be put on both sides of roads at those points where the
possibility of these wild animals crossing the roads is more,
said a source in the forest department.
Though States such as Gujarat and Rajasthan have declared
national parks in the Aravalli Range to protect the wildlife,
wildlife activists demand for a sanctuary in Haryana has long
been overlooked.
Wildlife activists believe that certain measures can certainly be
taken to prevent and reduce future face-offs between humans
and wildlife. Shortage of staff is one of the most important
factors affecting the wildlife wing in Gurgaon district. In fact,
some districts have no staff to protect the wildlife.
Besides recruiting more staff, there is a need to minimise
human interference in the range. Hilly and adjacent areas of
Aravallis, rich in fauna, can be closed to any human
interference. Delineation of such an area is a time-consuming
exercise and can be completed with the active help of
some non-government organization of repute and
expert institutes. Further, the delineated area should be
acquired and declared as Protected Area. Wildlife
conservation was not possible without the active involvement
of the local population.
Four-five people from such selected villages, which are close
to Aravalli, should be hired and trained to deal wildlife
emergencies so that the situation can be dealt with promptly
and timely. They are also to be provided with some basic
material needed for such operations.
A rescue team with a veterinary doctor, two wildlife trained
people and a driver and a helper should be provided at each
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district headquarter.
34. Lions roar grows louder in Gir - Gir wildlife
sanctuary
There is more good news for wildlife enthusiasts in
India. After a tiger census earlier this year found a jump in
the numbers of the big cat, the population of Asiatic lions too
has been found to have increased considerably in the Gir
wildlife sanctuary from 411 during the last census in 2010
to 523 in 2015.
Gujarat government is taking all measures to conserve the
forests in Gir and ensure that the habitat of the pride of
Gujarat is undisturbed.
The Gir forest is the only place in the whole of
Asia where the Asiatic lion is now found.
The lion census, conducted by over 100 enumerators over
five days. The enumerators found 109 adult males 109,
201adult females, and
213 cubs and sub-adults distributed across four
districts Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, and
Bhavanagar.
Pat for Maldharis
Members of the Maldhari community living next to the
forest area had been of great assistance to the Forest
Department in their conservation efforts. Under a Satpura, Pachmari, Panna Tiger Res, & Kanha
government programme, some 300 Vanya prani saathis
(friends of the forest animals) had been recruited to ensure
that lions were not attacked if they strayed into any nearby
villages.
In order to avoid the danger of overestimation, new methods
were adopted. The enumerators were GPS enabled and only
recorded lions when they saw them physically and not through
pugmarks or any other signs like hearing a roar, the results
are accurate.
Recently, Member of Parliament Parimal Nathwani had raised
the question whether the lion would replace the tiger as the
national animal.
35. Tiger Census "Status of Tigers in India"
Tiger population increased (Recent tiger census,
2014 - Census once in 4yrs) published by MoE&F
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Points to remember
1. India has 70% of tiger population in the world
2. 2010-2014 = 30% increase (1706 --> 2226)
3. Largest increase = Western Ghats Landscape Complex
(Mudumalai, Bandipur, Nagarhole and Wayanad)
4. 18 states & 47 tiger reserves
5. Sunderbans = no increase; Odisha = fall in number;
Karnataka = highest population (absolute number)
6. Project Tiger, 1973
Other issues
1. National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA)
2. Double sampling; use of camera traps =
to estimate the assessment & distribution of tigers
3. Demand for Indian tigers in Laos &
Cambodia
4. ANTI-POACHING
A. PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE WINS NTCA AWARD
Camera traps are set up by the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, India
(WWF)
Simlipal Tiger Reserve - Mayurbanj, Odisha
National Park/Tiger Reserve - MP
4 Tiger Reserves of TN - Anamalai Tiger Reserve Kallakad -
Mundanturai Tiger Res. Sathyamangalam Tiger Res.
Madhumalai Tiger Res.
Fully grown tigress was reportedly found dead with its
tooth and nails missing in the buffer zone of the
Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradeshs Umeria
district.
Solutions-
1. Effective tackling of poaching
2. Positive attitude of wildlife services
3. For long term survival, movement of tigers are essential
(corridors between forests + landscape scale management)
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Periyar Tiger Res., Kerala won NTCA biennial award
For encouraging local pub participation in managing reserve
Tribal people dependent on eco- development programmes
Community based eco-tourism activities
+ night scouting programmes
Tourism was supplemented by pepper growing & marketing
SHGs were involved in honey processing
& other income-generating activities
B. Sariska Tiger Res in Rajasthan: Stress takes a
toll on tigers in Sariska
High stress levels in tigers, caused by human activity,
have affected their breeding in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in
Rajasthan, a study says.
Tigers were reintroduced in the Sariska and Panna tiger
reserves after poaching, habitat loss and prey depletion made
them extinct in those protected areas. As part a species
recovery programme, tigers were reintroduced between
2008 and 2010 in Sariska and 2009 and 2013 in Panna.
While the reintroduced tigers have given birth at regular
intervals in Panna, it is not so in Sariska, though the tigers
have been mating. This led to a study by scientists from the
Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species
(LaCONES) of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB); the Wildlife Institute of India (WII),
Dehradun; and the Endocrine Research Laboratory,
Department of Anatomy and Physiology, University of
Pretoria, South Africa.
Govindhaswamy Umapathy from LaCONES, in collaboration
with Kalyanasundaram Sankar of the WII, studied the stress
responses of the reintroduced tigers in relation to human
disturbance.
They used a non-invasive approach to study stress by
monitoring faecal glucocorticoid (fGCM) metabolite
concentrations in the tigers over 18 months and collected
120 samples. It was found that 80 per cent of the 881-sq.km
Sariska reserve had some kind of disturbance, such as
livestock movement, woodcutting and human and vehicular
movement, elevating fGCM concentrations in the monitored
tigers.
Dr. Umapathy says prolonged stress might have affected
reproduction. The study recommended regulation of
vehicular traffic, shifting of artificial waterholes away from
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tarred roads and relocation of eight villages from the core area
of the reserve. The relocation has been due since 1984. Once
that is done, an inviolate area of 300 sq.km will be
available for breeding, the study noted.
CCMB Director Ch. Mohan Rao says reproductive studies in
endangered species are immensely useful in developing
breeding protocols and creating stress-free habitats for tigers
and other wild animals.
C. NGT on illegal mining/quarrying in
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve
Over three dozen illegal quarries on the fringes of the
Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), which for years have
been the source of polluting stone dust and constant din,
will have to now close down operations.
The National Green Tribunals (NGT) Southern Bench has
ordered the closure of 39 quarries operating in Erode district
within the no development zone (10-km radius) of the
tiger reserve the largest in the State.
D. SC refuses to lift night ban - Bandipur
Tiger Reserve
The Supreme Court refused to lift the night ban on
vehicles plying through Bandipur Tiger Reserve, which links
Mysuru to parts of Kerala. National highways 212 and 67
(both passing through Bandipur National Park) will remain
closed in the night.
Evoking its 2013 ban on tourists taking the Andaman Nicobar
Trunk Road that passes through Jarawa tribe habitats, the
court had then stopped commercial and tourism activities
within 5 km of the tribal reserve in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands.
A study by the Wildlife Conservation Foundation had pointed
out that 65 per cent of wildlife road- kills were recorded in
the night.
E. NH 7 Pench and Kanha Tiger
Reserve
National Highway 7 slices crucial corridor forests between
Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserves in Central India.
In mountains, roads may lead to severe forest destruction,
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landslides, and erosion, as seen everyday during road
construction in many parts of the Himalayas and the Western
Ghats.
Power lines also kill unknown numbers of wildlife everyday.
Poachers draw live wires to kill animals such as rhino and deer,
while accidental electrocution kills many species from birds
such as Sarus cranes and flamingos to elephants and bison.
Railways, too, take their toll, gaining attention only when large
animals such as elephants are killed along the tracks. The daily
death of wildlife shows that linear projects are undertaken
with scant attention to conservation needs.
Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh: the playground for
Rudyard Kiplings man-cub Mowgli, the site for one of Indias
most impressive tiger landscapes in India, and the location for
the proposed expansion of a newer, wider, National Highway
(NH).
The National Highways Authority of India wants to widen NH
7 into a four lane highway in areas where it passes through
the Pench Tiger Reserve, and in the living corridor between the
Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserves. With sal forest cover
packed with tigers and their prey, this dense and enigmatic
forest complex is one of the most well known in the country.
Taking suo moto note of the poor condition of the road, the
Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court ordered tree-felling
for expanding and widening (not just repairing) the highway,
for which many trees have been cut. And this was done
without even requisite clearances.
Roads also bring with them ancillary threats such as more
cars, and light and air pollution. Last month, a rare animal, a
black leopard, was found dead on NH 4 in Khindwadi in Satara
district of Maharashtra.
Before this, in Jim Corbett National Park, barely seen animals
such as leopard cats were found dead on major roads.
For all their agility and velocity, cats are not good at averting
road collisions. Tigers freeze when light falls on them. Even in
daylight most animals are unable to estimate the speed and
the size of a car hurtling down the road. As a result, thousands
of animals die on the roads each year.
Animals move in herds and have deep bonds; they suffer
distress beyond just the death of a herd or family member.
For instance, in a recent case in Assam, elephants blocked a
highway after a young one was run over. Earlier, mother
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elephants died while desperately trying to save their calves
from a railway line in West Bengals Jalpaiguri; other
herd members, in attempting to save each other, also died.
In the case of NH 7, an alternative already exists in the form
of NH 69. Passing through Chhindwara and Nagpur, this
highway can be upgraded and lengthened to roughly 70
kilometres more.
Under its recent compilation of milestones, the MoEF lists
clearing projects, including construction and widening of NH
31 (in West Bengal) and NH 13 (Maharashtra) as
achievements.
F. Three new havens for tigers - Ratapani in
Madhya Pradesh, Sunabeda in Odisha and
Guru Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh
Centre is set to form three new tiger reserves. In-principle
approval has been accorded by the
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for
creation of reserves in Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh,
Sunabeda in Odisha and Guru Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh, Union
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed the Lok
Sabha
Odisha is among the States where the tiger population has
dwindled. The NTCA also accorded final approval to a
proposal to declare Kudremukh National Park in Karnataka
and Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand as tiger reserves.
Seeking to provide more protected spaces for the endangered
species, State governments have been asked to send
conservation proposals for the following areas: Suhelwa in
Uttar Pradesh, Mhadei in Goa, Srivilliputtur Grizzled Squirrel
Wildlife Sanctuary/ Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary/
Varushanadu Valley in Tamil Nadu, Dibang in Arunachal
Pradesh and Cauvery-MM Hills in Karnataka.
G. Ustad (man eating Tiger) escapes cage by a
whisker Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
Ustad or T-24, the man-eating tiger of Ranthambore,
escaped a caged life in a zoo by a whisker when the Supreme
Court decided that he would continue to stay in the Sajjangarh
Biological Park (Rescue Centre) at Udaipur in Rajasthan for
now.
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Ustad was branded a man-eater after he mauled to lot of oil content.

death a forest guard. Within days of the incident, he was
drugged and translocated 530 km from Ranthambore to the The fish has a thoracic adhesive apparatus that helps it
Udaipur park, considered a rescue centre. cling on to the rocky riverbed in mountains against strong
currents. All Glyptothorax-genus fish have this characteristic.
But for the tiger, now caught in transit between his natural
habitat and a zoo, a return to the Ranthambore forest, to his Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, an international
female companion and her cubs, is still a long way off. journal published from Germany, recorded the new species in
March, with Mr. Kosygin, Nongthombam Prema nanda and
36. Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project, mid- Bano Saidullah authoring the paper.
1970s
Scientists say the Northeast has a rich aquatic biodiversity,
Bhagabatpur, next to uninhabited Lothian
with 361 of the 816 fish species found in India present there.
Island, Sunderbans archipelago
Several important species of catfish, a diverse group of ray
Project is aimed at increasing the no. of salt water
finned fish with prominent barbells resembling cat whiskers,
crocodiles with the help of renowned experts in
are found there.
HERPETOLOGY
Manipur has a high diversity of aquatic fauna because of the
Salt Water Crocodiles, a Schedule I species under the
two important river drainage systems. The western half is
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
fed by the Barak- Brahmaputra drainage and the eastern
and central valleys are crisscrossed by the Chindwin river
Concerns-
drainage, and these account for the variety in the aquatic
1. Eggs to hatching ratio declined
fauna.
2. Habitat loss, habitat shrinkage
3. Over-exploitation of their prey base (mainly fish)
4. Global warming - increase of temp affecting hatching of eggs 39. Sperm whale washed ashore
& sex ratio of crocodiles
The carcass of a 50-feet long sperm whale was washed
37. Endangered tortoises prefer invasive plants ashore at Uyyali Kuppam village near Kalpakkam,
Kancheepuram district. This is the third whale to be washed
Introduced plants make up roughly half the diet of two ashore near the city in two days.
subspecies of endangered Galapagos tortoise. They seem to
prefer non- native to native plants, which may nourish them in Similarly, a dead dolphin (slender Spinner Dolphin) was
dry season. found at Semmancherry Kuppam. Environmentalists
attribute the death of the creatures to various reasons,
38. Manipurs Ngapang revealed to world as new including being hit by vessels on the Bay of Bengal.
catfish species
40. Online tool to protect blue whales
The fish has a thoracic adhesive apparatus that helps
Satellite data from NASA will be used in a new online tool
it cling on to the rocky riverbed in mountains against
to protect endangered blue whales.
strong currents.
The WhaleWatch tool, set to be released later this year by the
Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will
discovered a new species of catfish, Glyptothorax
help decrease whale mortality due to collisions with
senapatiensis, in the Chindwin river drainage in Senapati
shipping and fishing gear.
district of Manipur. The people of the region have been
having the six-cm- long freshwater fish as food for long,
calling it Ngapang. About a fourth of the roughly 12,000 blue whales in the world
It is a small but edible fish with high nutritional value and a today live in the Pacific Ocean. The tool will be used to address

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conflicts between humans and whales based on tagging data
of four whale species and satellite observations from NASA
and other agencies.
The real way to reduce the risk of a whale getting hit is to
reduce the overlap (of whales and vessels), said Monica 43. Critically
DeAngelis, marine mammal scientist at NOAA.
41. SC to decide on plea to ban elephants in
temples - Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,
1960
The petitioners are seeking a ban on the use of elephants at
religious functions, processions and other events.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which
makes it an offence to beat, torture, overload, chain
or tether with a heavy or short chain.
It said scant regard was paid to the Environment and Forest
Ministrys guidelines of 2008, which bans captive elephants
from being made to walk for more than 30 km a day and
not more than three hours at a stretch.
The petition pointed out that in States like Tamil Nadu,
temple festivals happen in the hottest months of the year
and it was common for elephant keepers to make their
elephants walk on the hot, tarred city roads during peak
summer days. This was in sheer violation of the Tamil Nadu
Captive Elephants (Management and
Maintenance) Rules, 2011.
The petition drew the court's attention to how even
'treats' given to temple elephants by devotees add to
their misery.
42. New drugs sought for tranquillising
elephants
Elephant darting experts have suggested the introduction of
new tranquillisers and involvement of a host of officials in
mob-control measures while restive animals are being darted.
The association said though several new drugs were used
worldwide for tranquillising wild animals, including elephants,
many of them were still not used or available in India. New
and safe drugs should be used. They should be purchased
and distributed by the Directorate of Animal Husbandry, it
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suggested.
Elephant squads should not be used as wildlife squads to
attend to free-ranging animals as it required separate skills.
endangered Vaquita
Marina, the worlds smallest porpoise
Mexico is planning to use drones to patrol the upper Sea of
Cortez to combat illegal fishing and save the critically
endangered vaquita marina, the worlds smallest porpoise.
Vaquitas habitat - Gulf of California, it is the only place
vaquitas are found.
The vaquita is threatened by illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba,
a large fish whose swim bladder is prized by chefs in China.
44. Back from the brink of extinction -
Corroboree frogs (Kosciuszko national park,
Australia)
There were only four Corroboree frogs in the world at one
point of time
Just four frogs two male, two female in Kosciuszko
national park in the southern part of New South Wales
If youre planning on scouring a vast Australian mountain
range looking for what is probably the rarest frog in the world,
scientists suggest a rudimentary approach works best.
Endangered southern Corroboree frog measures
just 3.5cm in length
The frogs the females are largest and pear- shaped when
carrying eggs are coloured by flashes of bright yellow as a
warning to predators of the toxins developed from the
gobbling up of ants. But the frogs arent fully visible unless you
stoop down for a close look.
Chytrid fungus has spread across six continents and has
been blamed for causing the decline or extinction of around
200 frog species since the 1970s. In Australia, six frog species
are thought to have been wiped out by the fungus, which is
carried in water and by other
The fungus causes a disease called chytridiomycosis on the
skin that fatally impairs frogs ability to maintain electrolyte,
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water and oxygen levels.
45. Critically endangered Pangolins
Pangolins (8 species in world; 4 in Asia) - Critically endangered
- Scaly Anteaters found in Vietnam
- World's most trafficked mammals on earth
- poaching is high (for eating, jewellery & medicine
- Chinese mkt)
- Anteaters = prehistoric looking mammals
46. Outreach on social media against illegal
trade of lesser-known species
(Pangolins, monitor lizards, tokay gecko, turtles and
tortoises, lorises, birds, corals, sea cucumbers are some of the
endangered species)
A digital media campaign on illegal trade in lesser-known
and non-charismatic wildlife species including
pangolins, owls and mongooses claims to have
reached out to nearly 1.4 million people on Facebook,
Twitter and Google.
The campaign, Preserving the Future: Stop Illegal Wildlife
Trade was jointly run by TRAFFIC, WWF- India and the
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a nodal agency for
curbing wildlife crime in India.
The growing demand for wildlife from India that threatens
the existence of the tiger, elephant, rhino and various
other flagship species has been well publicised. However,
illegal trade in non- charismatic or lesser known species like
pangolins, monitor lizards, tokay gecko, turtles and tortoises,
lorises, birds, corals, sea cucumbers and others has
remained largely unreported, said a release issued by
TRAFFIC (India), which is a wildlife trade monitoring network.
The campaign was launched in New Delhi on the social media
platforms of TRAFFICs India Office and WWF-India, and
as Google Adverts in February 2015, noted TRAFFIC
India head Shekhar Kumar Niraj.
Dr. Niraj added that hundreds of pangolins, lizards and
tortoises are poached each year in India; nearly 7,00,000
birds illegally trapped, and several tonnes of sea cucumbers
caught, yet the levels of exploitation of these species are
rarely reported.
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This large-scale exploitation, along with minimal information
about their population status, poaching and smuggling
trends, places the future of these lesser-known species in
jeopardy, he said.
47. Saving the shoreline of Puducherry
The beautiful beaches and shoreline of Puducherry
are facing threats of erosion owing to natural disasters,
pollution, exploitation and anthropogenic activities.
To check such threats, the establishment of artificial reef
structure in the seawater is under the active consideration
of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and the territorial
administration.
The Puducherry government has been taking several
efforts to restore the beach. The National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT) submitted a status report on Management
of Coastal Erosion along Puducherry Coast to the
Puducherry and Tamil Nadu governments. The Marine
Biology Regional Centre, Chennai, also submitted a
proposal to the Department of Forests and Wildlife,
Puducherry, for the establishment of artificial reef
structures.
48. Great Barrier Reef: Australia
The Australian Greens party and 350.org and other
organisations have called for an immediate moratorium on the
Adani Groups proposal to dredge the Great Barrier Reef for a
controversial coal port expansion at Abbot Point in
Queensland, Australia.
Adani Enterprises bought the Abbot Point terminal for about $2
billion in May 2011.
Great Barrier Reefs faces threat
- Corals are eating small plastic debris in the ocean
- Great Barrier Reef is a World- Heritage Site
- Plastic, CC, poor water quality from land based run-offs,
coastal developments & fishing
Solution
A new technique involves injecting gas into the stratosphere,
forming microscopic particles which reflect some of the
sun's energy and so help limit rising sea surface temperatures,
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saving corals.
49. Australia lobbying to stop Great
Barrier Reef making in danger list
Australia has embarked on a whole of government
diplomatic and ministerial lobbying campaign to correct
misinformation and prevent the Great Barrier Reef from
being placed on the UNESCO world heritage committees in
danger list, a Senate committee has been told.
A total of 21 countries provide representatives to UNESCOs
World Heritage committee, and the group is set to gather
in Bonn in June to decide, among other things, whether the
reef should be put on the endangered list.
The 21 countries include India, Jamaica, Japan, Portugal and
Germany.
50. Chile: forest fire threatens historic port city
Chile declared a state of emergency and ordered the
evacuation of up to 16,000 people as a raging forest fire led
to at least one death and threatened the historic port city of
Valparaiso.
The fire started in an area of grassland and pine forest near a
major thoroughfare connecting Valparaiso a UNESCO
world heritage site once dubbed the jewel of the Pacific
with several villages.
51. Migratory spotting throws up an
Adelie surprise
The Adelie penguin is one of the most easily
identifiable penguin species with its blue black back and
white chest and belly. It is the smallest penguin found
in the Southern Ocean.
During winter, the birds migrate north only to return in
summer months, Dr. Balan said.
The CMLRE had earlier surveyed the ice-free areas of the
Indian Ocean sector of the Ocean during the austral ummer of
2004. Researchers had then identified Antarctic minke whales
(Balaenoptera bonaerensis), fin whales (B. physalus), sei
whales (B. borealis) and blue whales (B. musculus).
Adelies are a highly migratory species. After breeding, they do
not return to their colonies until the next spring. They feed on
krill and fish. Little is known about the non-breeding
distribution of this species. Records on the migration of
Adelies, commonly sighted in the Antarctic coast, into the
Southern Ocean almost 5 degree North are significant, said M.
Sudhakar, director CMLRE, who led the first Indian expedition
to SO in 2004.
The Southern Ocean accounts for about 10 per cent of the
worlds oceans and supports more than 50 per cent of the
worlds marine mammal biomass, including six species of
pinnipeds, eight species of baleen whales, and at least
seven species of odontocete whales.
The seas around Antarctica are home to a rich and diverse
group of species that have evolved some unique ways of
coping with the cold and hence represent a unique polar
marine ecosystem.

Explorations in the Southern Ocean (SO) have yielded a

pleasant surprise to marine scientists. A young marine
scientist from the Centre for Marine Living Resources and
Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, has sighted Adelie penguins
(Pygoscelis adeliae) nearly 500 km away from Les Kerguelen
Island in the Southern Ocean, on their its migratory route.

Anoop Balan, the scientist who studied the marine mammals

of the Southern Ocean, spotted juveniles and adult
swimming and feeding during the expedition.

International experts have communicated that there are very

few pelagic records of the birds in this region, this far
north. Observations were made on board Ocean Research
Vessel Sagar Nidhi, he said.

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PLANTS
1. Neela Kurinji found in W.Ghats
Plant Harmones/florigens
Gibberellins
IAA
Cytokinins
Ethylene
Neela Kurinji in W.Ghats blooms once in 12yrs (certain
Bamboos bloom once in hundred years)
(The period between each flowering season is called the
Oscillatory period)
Neela Kurinji is found in Shola forests, W.Ghats & Nilgiri Hills,
S.India
Gregarious flowering plants = dies immediately after producing
seeds.
Phytochromes (receptors present in leaves)
2. New species highlight Palakkads
plant diversity
A team of scientists from four research institutions in Kerala
has reported the discovery of a rare species of plant from the
Palakkad gap region of the Western Ghats, highlighting the
floral diversity in the region and triggering the demand for
strict curbs on quarrying in biodiversity pockets.
The team came across the plant in a quarry during an
exploration of the Nenmara region south of Palakkad in the
valley of the Nelliyampathy hills.
Detailed studies established it as a new species. Named
Oldenlandia dineshi, the plant is a shrub with long linear
tapering leaves and dark blue flowers.
The flowering period is from July to September and fruiting
from September to October.
Based on IUCN criteria, the researchers have classified
Oldenlandia dineshii as an endangered species.
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3. Camphor-scented leaves found in
Western Ghats
A new tree species that gives out strong smell of
camphor when its leaves and stem are crushed has been
reported from southern Western Ghats.
The species, which is endemic to the Ghats region of Kerala,
was named as Cinnamomum agasthyamalayanum after the
type locality, Agasthyamala hills, from where it was reported.
The find attains significance as this is considered the only
endemic species that gives out the smell of camphor. Now,
the challenge is to find out whether camphor can be
distilled from the plant at commercially viable level. While
natural camphor is extracted by distilling the leaves and bark
of Cinnamomum camphora, a native to China, Taiwan,
southern parts of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, it is also
synthetically produced.
Camphor oil is extracted by steam from the chipped
wood, root stumps and branches of the camphor tree. It is
then rectified under vacuum and filter pressed, explained
scientists.
Camphor has a wide range of medicinal applications
especially in Ayurveda. Camphor has pain-relieving effect. It
is an ingredient in a few externally applied oils to relieve
muscle spasm. It also has mild mucolitic property and can
reduce bronchospasm. It is also used in mild dosage in
internal medicines.
Cinnamomum agasthyamalayanum was found distributed
between Attayar and Chemungi of Agasthyamala in
Thiruvananthapuram. Isolated populations were also
recorded from Rosemala in Kollam district of Kerala. The
finding was recently published in the International Journal of
Advanced Research. Though Cinnamomum camphora would
grow in Indian climatic conditions, it need not yield
camphor at commercially viable levels.
The new species can grow up to 8 metres in the dense wet
evergreen forests of the Ghats at an altitude between 500m
and 1400m, said scientists. It was found distributed in the
windward evergreen forests of Agasthyamalai
phytogeographical region of southern Western Ghats. The
population was found to be very low in all regions which were
surveyed.
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4. Plant genus named after Sir David
Attenborough
Grasshoppers, shrimps, spiders and other creatures have all
been named after Sir David Attenborough, but now a whole
genus of endangered plants will bear the naturalists name.
Identified by a team of researchers in Gabon, a renowned
botanical hot spot, the Sirdavidia flowering plants are believed
to be the first plant genus named after the broadcaster (Life
on Earth).
5. How do non-green coloured leaves in a plant
photosynthesise?
We all know that most plants are green. This green colour is
caused by the presence of green chlorophyll pigments
found in the leaves which are involved in photosynthesis.
These pigments capture light energy from the sun which is
used to fuel photosynthesis. Plants need photosynthesis to
make energy in the form of sugars. Even the green leaves
often contain non- green pigments, such as carotenoids and
xamthophylls, in addition to green chlorophylls in the plastids
of their cells. There are many plants with non-green leaves in
which anthocyanins the purple cytoplasmic pigments that are
present in such large amount which can mask the green colour
of the chlorophyll and make the plant appear purple. But the
photosynthesis is still happening underneath. This is because
of the presence of chlorophyll pigments.
Even in chlorophyll there are different kinds based on
molecular structure and wavelength absorption. Only those
plants which have Chlorophyll-a (Ch-a) can do photosynthesis
as only Ch-a in the reaction centre of photo-system is
involved in the transfer of light energy into chemical energy,
the essential process of light reaction of photosynthesis.
Carotenoids and xanthophylls have only accessory and
protective functions: they help harvest the light energy and
pass it to Chlorophyll-a, they help dissipate the excess
light and they quench reactive oxygen species and hence they
have antioxidant, protective function.
This is the case found in non-green algae which synthesis
their food by doing photosynthesis. In addition to the
principle pigments, the non-green algae contain Chlorophyll-
as in their chromatophores.
There are a few hundred parasitic plant species that lack
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chlorophyll so their stems are usually white or yellow. They
either lack leaves or have rudimentary leaves. Examples
include dodder and Rafflesia.
6. Light pollution shown to affect plant growth
Artificial night time light from sources
such as street lamps affects the growth and flowering of
plants and even the number of insects that depend on those
plants for food, a study confirms.
Wetlands & Mangroves
1. Haryana to mark 500-metre buffer zone for
Mangar Bani: sacred grove
After nearly seven years of debate, the Mangar Bani
forest area of Faridabad has finally got the protection it
rightly deserves. The National Capital Region Planning Board
(NCRPB) approved a buffer zone of 500 metres around the
sacred grove against the earlier proposed restriction of just
60 metres.
Environmentalists called it a major decision towards
preserving the last virgin forest, but at the same time
remained wary of the concept of urbanisable areas which
they fear is blanket exclusion for defining Natural
Conservation Zones (NCZs).
Haryana Chief Minister decided to stick to the 500 metre No
Construction Zone after he did a three-hour long aerial
inspection in his chopper.
After looking at the dense green cover from Mangar Bani to
the Western Ridge of the Aravalis, he acknowledged the dense
forests in the entire stretch.
2. Drying Okhla wetlands
Environmentalists have cautioned against the drying up of
wetlands at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. Ecologists warn
that Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department's bid to replace
Okhla Barrage sluice gate is harming the natural habitat of the
birds.
The authorities move to replace the sluice gates of Okhla
Barrage is drying up the wetlands which is causing habitat
destruction and forcing migratory birds as well resident birds
to leave.
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The temporary marshland attracted few wader species like the As much as 1,607 hectares of the eroded area had vegetation,
pied avocet, marsh sandpiper, blackt tailed godwit and says the study comparing satellite data from February of 2003
ruff. Mixed flocks of winter migratory ducks like northern and 2014.
shoveler, common pochard, Eurasian wigeon, black-headed
gull, garganey, common teal, ruddy shelduck, bar- headed During the 10 years, 216 hectares of landmass had been
geese and greater flamingo which usually stay till end of March added, of which 121 hectares has green vegetation.
or mid April have already left.
Environmentalists say that from April onward breeding season The Eastern Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal, which
starts for the resident water birds (spot billed duck, is hearing a case of environmental violations in the
purple swamp hen, little grebe, purple heron, common Sunderbans, directed holding the study.
moorhen, white-breasted water hen, black-crowned night
heron, oriental darter, black-winged stilts) as well few Indian The study shows that about 95.14 per cent of the green cover
migratory birds (lesser whistling duck, streaked weaver) has not undergone gone any change, while fresh vegetation
in the sanctuary. has come up in 1.1 per cent of the entire area.

This drying process will completely disturb them and also The satellite mapping, which has not gone into the details of
force these birds to abandon the sanctuary skipping their the reason for loss of green cover, says the depletion may be
annual breeding, Mr. Roy said. He added that similar due to natural and anthropogenic (human intervention)
disturbance happened earlier during winter migratory season processes.
of 2010.
The 9,600-sq.km Indian Sunderbans is highly susceptible to
coastal erosion and coastal land dynamics. A recent World
3. Sunderbans facing population Bank report pointed out that the carrying capacity of the
pressure: report landmass had exceeded with the population density of
over 1,000 a sq.km. The ISRO study once again
The carrying capacity of the Indian Sunderbans has highlighted that the Sunderbans was a very fragile and
been exceeded, and the increased population is exerting dynamic landscape.
pressure on the fragile and richest ecosystem of the world, a
World Bank report has said. 5. Millions at risk from sea rise in
Report name - Building resilience for sustainable
Sundarbans
evelopment of the Sunderbans
Seas are rising more than twice as fast as the global average
Sunderbans Concerns in the Sundarbans, where some 13 million Indians and
1. Encroachment of forestland & unauthorised Bangladeshis live. Much of the Sundarbans could be
constructions underwater in 15-25 years.
2. Violations of the Coastal Regulation Zone
3. Conversion of mangrove forestland for fisheries & other Satellite images reveal ocean acidification
unauthorised structures The use of satellites orbiting the Earth some 700 km above to
4. 15 depts are in charge of Sunderbans but there is no monitor ocean acidification is set to revolutionize the way
coordination among them Solution NGT directed Govt of West that marine biologists and climate scientists study the ocean.
Bengal to constitute a committee to oversee the issue
6. Impact of climate change to be
4. Sunderbans losing green cover and land examined in Sunderbans
mass, says ISRO study
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has proposed to
The Indian Sunderbans has lost 3.71 per cent of its mangrove set up long-term permanent monitoring plots in Sunderbans,
and other forest cover, while losing 9,990 hectares of its a world heritage site, having maximum mangrove cover in
landmass to erosion in one decade, according to a satellite the world to study the impacts of climate change on its
analysis conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation. flora and fauna.

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The purpose of setting up the long-term permanent
monitoring plots in Sunderbans is to come up with a
strategic action plan for Sunderban Mangroves, along
with finding out ways to mitigate the effect of climate
change.
The ZSI has set up a similar long-term permanent monitoring
system in Andaman Nicobar islands along with Malvan
coast in Maharashtra to study the impacts of climate change
of coral reefs.
7. Phenology
The ZSI is collaborating with the Botanical Survey of
India (BSI) to study phenology (periodic life cycle events of
plants influenced by variations of climate) of the flora of the
Sunderbans.
Scientists at the ZSI said that research is in tune with the
policies of the Government of India. Recently the Ministry of
Environment of Forest has changed its name to Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change with a mandate to
study the climate change and mitigate its effects.
8. Indias forest cover up by 5,871 sq km
Of the 5,871 sq km increase in the forest cover of
India, West Bengal accounts for nearly 64 per cent of this
rise, reveals the latest report of Forest Survey of India.
A study conducted by the Forest Survey of India
West Bengals forest cover has increased by 3,810 sq km,
which is followed by Odisha where increase in forest
cover has been 1,444 km and Kerala where the increase has
been about 622 sq km.
West Bengal, a state with high population density, has only
18.93 percent forest cover. States from northeast like
Nagaland, Arunanchal Pradesh, Tripura and Manipur, whose
forest cover comprises over 75 percent of the States
area, have shown a decrease in forest cover. The main reason
for this is attributed to the biotic pressure and shifting
cultivation in the region
In Andhra Pradesh, a State with 16.77 percent of its area
covered by forest, there has been a decrease of 273 km of
forest area.
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While the forest cover has decreased by 176 sq km in Madhya
Pradesh and 53 km in Chhattishgarh, it has increased by 496
sq km in Jharkhand and 446 sq km in Bihar.
There has been an increase of 31 sq km of very dense forest
cover moderately dense forest has decreased by 1,991 sq
km while open forests have increased by 7,891 sq km,
putting the overall increase at 5,871 sq km.
Naming of Cyclones (water/wind or lightening,
flowers/birds/precious stones)
1. First cyclone was named in 2004
2. The system of naming cyclones was formalised in 2000 by
WMO & ESCAP
3. Aila, 2009 - Maldives (fire); Phailin, 2013 - Thailand
(Saphire); Hud Hud, 2014 - Oman (Bird);
Nilofar - Pakistan (Water lily/lotus)
9. Mission Mangroves in Sri Lanka
More than half the worlds mangroves have been
lost over the last century, but all of those surviving in Sri
Lanka, one of their most important havens, are now to be
protected in an unprecedented operation. The organizer of
the project, the biggest of its kind, sees the role of women as
the key to its success.
Mangroves are an important protection against
climate change as they sequester up to five times more
carbon than other forests, area for area.
They protect coastlines against flooding and tsunamis, and
provide a vital habitat for marine animals, especially crabs,
shrimp and juvenile fish.
In an initiative designed to prevent any more being cut
down in Sri Lanka and to boost some of the poorest
communities in the world, women will be offered small loans
and training to start businesses. In return for the
microloans, the
15,000 women, including thousands of widows from the civil
war, will be expected to stop using the trees for firewood
and to guard the forests near their homes.
Conservationists behind the scheme, which is backed by the
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Sri Lankan government, believe the focus on women will
bring huge benefits to living standards in coastal
communities.
The 2.2-m initiative announced is designed to save
mangroves covering 21,782 acres (8,815 ha) in 48 lagoon
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systems and involves women from
1,500 communities. Women involved in the
scheme will protect mangroves by ensuring no one in their
communities, or from outside, cuts down the trees.
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NGT & RIVER CLEANING
1. NGT plan for Maili se Nirmal Yamuna
Revitalisation Plan (by 2017)
Quick Bits:
1. Spot fine of 5000rs (for dumping religious &
other wastes)
2. fine of 50,000rs for dumping industrial/construction wastes
on basis of polluter pay principle
3. Flood Plain monitoring for every 25yrs (Globally
100years)
4. All industrial units must have effluent treatment plant +
decentralised Sewage Treatment Plants
5. Role of Yamuna jiye Abhiyan NGO
Even though the National Green Tribunal wanted the
Yamuna cleaned by 2017 through its Maile se Nirmal
Yamuna Revitalisation Project,
2017, government agencies involved in the work seem to be
doing nothing at the ground level.
It also made clear that the responsibility of implementing the
NGT order rests not only with the Delhi Government, but also
with the Centre.
2. NGT cant settle issues on climate change, says
MoEF
The Ministry of Environment & Forests has said
the National Green Tribunal cannot settle the issue or any
application on climate change as it is a subject of
international conventions and protocols.
Section 14 of the NGT Act deals with the jurisdiction and
powers of the Tribunal to settle disputes. It grants the
Tribunal the jurisdiction over all civil cases where a
substantial question relating to environment is involved.
Such questions arise out of implementation of enactments
specified in Schedule 1 of the Act.
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The seven enactments specified in Schedule 1 to the
NGT Act are The Water Act, The Water Cess Act,
The Forest (Conservation) Act, The Air (Prevention and
Control of Pollution Act) and The Environment
Protection Act. It also lists The Public Liability Insurance
Act and The Biological Diversity Act.
3. NGT bans decade-old diesel vehicles in Delhi,
NCR
Also cracks the whip on rampant unchecked construction in
Noida Extension and Gurgaon, tells dust adds to pollution
Stop construction if green norms not in place: NGT
Builders asked to pay compensation of Rs. 50,000
Aggrieved over the rise in air pollution due the dust
emanating from constructing and mining work, the National
Green Tribunal cracked the whip on construction companies/
builders/owners asking them to pay a compensation of
Rs. 50,000 for not following environmental norms.
This fine will be levied on construction companies under the
Polluter Pays principle. Also, the violator would be liable to
pay Rs. 5,000 for each violation during transportation of
construction material, debris by trucks or other vehicles. It
also directed the Delhi government to enhance the capacity
of its plant for reutilisation and recycling of construction
waste.
4. Green clearances ignored for Patel statue
project: activists (Sardar Patel Statue on
Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada)
A group of environmental activists from Gujarat has
filed a petition with National Green Tribunal seeking a stay
on the construction of the proposed 182 metre Sardar Patel
Statue on Sadhu Bet island on the Narmada.
The activists said the project had not obtained the
mandatory permissions required under the Environment
Impact Assessment Notification and also Social Impact
Assessment. Moreover, the site was on an active tectonic
plate in a fault line area. They said the statue was just one
part of a big tourism project for which environmental and
wetland laws and safety and disaster-management norms
had been given the go-by.
The project would require extensive construction work on
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the active riverbed of the perennial Narmada and was
likely to fall within a critical wetlands area to be notified
under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules,
2010.
5. NGT restrictions have hit tourism in
Himachal
The Himachal Pradesh government blamed the
National Green Tribunal for imposing heavy restrictions and
environment cess on tourist taxis plying to Manali, saying the
State is facing revenue loss despite record tourist flow after
the Nepal earthquake.
The State government told a vacation Bench led by Justice
A.K. Sikri that tourists for Nepal are now eying to come to
Manali for summer, but in vain.
A order from the tribunal effectively clamped down on
tourism by introducing stringent curbs as a means to
prevent further pollution to the ecologically fragile
Rohtang Pass and the Himalayan ranges.
The restrictions include payment of an environmental cess
at the rate of Rs1,000 for petrol vehicles per visit. For
diesel vehicles, the cess is Rs 2,500.
The NGT order further permits only 1000 vehicles to enter
the Rohtang Pass a day on a first-come first- serve basis.
Of this, 600 can be petrol vehicles and the remaining 400
diesel.
6. Namami Ganga
The Centre has proposed the setting up and
maintenance of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in all the
118 cities and towns located along the Ganga in a time-
bound manner to check pollution of the river. To be built and
maintained through a special purpose vehicle, these STPs
will be paid for by the Centre and help plug the gaps in the
system and prevent untreated effluents from flowing into the
Ganga.
The proposal was mooted at a review meeting on Namami
Ganga. All the six States (along the Ganga) would be
consulted and taken on board before going ahead with
setting up of the STPs.
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STPs are developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre (BARC) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
7. Clean Ganga project seeks corporate, NRI
participation
The Rs. 20,000 crore Namami Gange project is
spread over five years and covers 41 tributaries of Ganga.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga that has been
assigned the task of cleaning the river, is focussed on
abatement of pollution and has designed its
interventions around this.
However, it is seeking partnerships and is tailoring its
projects so that state governments, local municipalities and
panchayats have a stake and take ownership of the projects
for sustainability.
To speed up the process of cleaning the river, the Mission
has sought the participation of institutions, donors,
overseas Indians, business and corporate houses to donate
their might and money for projects or sponsoring projects to
clean up the river . Already pilot projects have been launched
in eight cities.
The urgent need is to bring down lean season BOD levels in
the river to 10 mg/ litre/day, the Total Suspended Solid levels
to 10 mg/ litre/day and Total Faecal Coliform to 100
mg/litre/ day. Stopping pollutants from coming into the
Ganga are a priority, say senior officials of the Mission.
Donors and philanthropist agencies can take their pick in
tackling surface pollution and can contribute, say, for river
surface cleaning equipment which range from Rs. 60,000 to
Rs. 12 crores. They can sponsor improved electric or wood-
based crematoriums.
8. Rajendra Singh, Magsaysay award winner
- member of NGRBA
- credited with rejuvenating numerous lakes & rivers across
Rajasthan Rajendra Singh expressed displeasure regarding
'Saving Ganga'
Concerns
1. Saving Ganga remains merely a slogan without any
action plan or new thought
2. River front development (like that of
Sabarmati river) will slowly kill the river
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3. Revival of river through river inter- linking projects
was a dangerous sign
(Inter-linking two rivers will kill both rivers eventually)
Commenting on the Centres ambitious project to interlink
rivers, he says it is not a good idea.
Mr. Rajendra Singh has started a Jal Jan Jodo campaign to
spread the message of water literacy and efficiency now.
Role and Uses of Algae
1. Beneficial algal species discovered
Two new bloom-forming algal species were
discovered recently off the west coast of India. These two
species have excellent carbon capture properties ability
to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce
global warming and are also promising candidates for use
as bio fuels.
Currently, a number of research groups are working on
using algae as a potential candidate for carbon sequestration
because they grow at very high rates and can absorb
atmospheric CO2.
Both of the newly discovered species are endemic and
bloom-forming. As they are endemic, their cultivation is
not going to cause any environmental harm; had it been a
species of Atlantic or Mediterranean origin, it might
overgrow local flora and might wreak havoc on the local
habitats the so called bio invasion.
Bloom forming indicates spontaneous growth. There is no
need for fertilizers/pesticides or any expensive cultivation
systems such as photo bioreactors for their cultivation.
These can grow sporadically at shorelines and can sequester
CO2.
The algae species named Ulva paschima Bast, and Cladophora
goensis Bast were discovered by Dr. Felix Bast.
2. Endophytic algae found in Indian
Ocean
A species of algae previously reported to inhabit the seas
around the British Isles and the East China Sea has now been
found thriving in the Indian Ocean. The algae belong to a type
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known as endophytic meaning they are microscopic in
size and found living inside macroscopic seaweeds.
Belonging to the species, Ulvella leptochaete, they are
believed to confer ecological advantage to the host such as
disease resistance.
The discovery in the Indian Ocean gains significance
because these algae may very well be an important source of
anticancer compounds such as Taxol and this discovery may
contribute in anticancer drug development.
Taxol, or Paclitaxel, is a well known anti cancer
drug currently in use for many cancers including ovarian
cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Most of the marine endophytes produce taxol, although no
confirmation exists for the Ulvella leptochaete.
3. Value-addition in production of ethanol from
macro algae
As the quest for alternate sources of energy in the face of
global warming due to fossil- fuel usage gains momentum, the
focus has turned to macro algae (sea weeds) as a source of
bio-fuel.
A new study now demonstrates how macro algal bio mass
from Gelidiella acerosa and Gracilaria dura collected from
Adri and Veraval on west coast of India respectively and
Gelidium pusillum collected from Valinokam on southeast
coast of India could be used in a bio-refinery process.
Besides producing a substantial amount of bio- ethanol
(fuel), it also produces valuable byproducts such as agar,
pigments, lipids and fertilizer.
A ton of fresh biomass supplies several valuable extracts like
pigments R-phycoerythrin (R-PE), R- phycocyanin (R-PC)
lipids (1-5 kg), agar or polysaccharide (28-94 kg) and fertilizer
(over 3 kilolitres).
The cellulose produced, which can be as high as
41.9 kg, can yield up to 17 kg of ethanol through enzymatic
hydrolysis and fermentation.
A highlight of the process is sequential extraction of the
derivatives leading to full utilisation of the feedstock.
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The process, developed by Dr. Biofuel production alone from
seaweed resources is not cost effective if other components
remain unutilized.
Till date, the seaweed processing technologies allow
extraction of one or the maximum of two products.
To meet the bioethanol targets, a vast sea front has to be
farmed with seaweeds for producing several hundred
million tons of biomass for feeding biorefineries.
Seaweed farming is manpower intensive and thus
creates new additional employment and sustainable
income sources. The large scale farming of macroalgae
creates ocean-based industry.
It mitigates coastal eutrophication minimising the
formation of macroalgal blooms and also mitigates the
global warming and climate change effects arising from
green house gas emissions by burning of fossil
fuels, in addition to freeing the dependency on
terrestrial resources for food, feed, water, chemicals and
energy.
4. Blood Rain in India Is it due to divine spell? Or
Alien involvement? Or Algae?
A recent study by Indian and Austrian scientists has
led to the discovery of the cause of the Blood Rain
phenomenon to be dispersal of spores of micro algae.
Since 1896, reports have been coming in of sporadic instances
of red coloured rain over parts of Kerala and Sri Lanka. The
latest one was in 2013 over Kerala.
The rain colours red even laundry left in the open to dry and
reminds one of human blood. Many reasons were attributed to
this mysterious phenomenon some irrational like a divine
spell, and alien involvement.
The recent study, published in the journal Phylogenetics and
Evolutionary Biology, confirmed that the red colour in the rain
was caused by the presence of spores of a European
species of green microalgae, Trentepohlia annulata that was
reported previously only from Austria a Central European
country.
The study confirmed that the blood rain is nothing but a
mechanism employed by this alga to disperse its spores
(similar to plant seeds) to a very large area at once, so that
algae can quickly colonize a large area.
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The study revealed that DNA sequence of this species from
Kerala and that from Austria had very little differences and
they evolve slowly, which suggests that the alga got
introduced from Europe not very long ago.
The research confirmed the likelihood that the
introduction happened through clouds over ocean
a phenomenon of intercontinental species
dispersal previously reported for bacteria and fungi, but
first time for alga said the lead author, Dr. Felix Bast who
works at the Central University of Punjab.
Clouds over ocean dispersal is analogous to the
intercontinental flights that we take; spores of this alga from
Europe get transported to India via clouds that drift across
the Arabian Sea. But if the spores travelled across the
Arabian Sea all the way to Kerala and Sri Lanka, why did the
phenomenon not occur in intermediate regions like
Gujarat, MP? is still a mystery.
5. Real-time identification of algal blooms a
reality
Algal bloom caused by Noctiluca scintillans in the
Arabian Sea can be tracked.
Without venturing into the sea and through in-situ
observations, ocean researchers can now quickly
understand how parts of North Arabian Sea turn deep green
and straw yellow at times.
The real-time assessment and species identification of algal
blooms, which add colour to the oceanic waters, has been
made possible by using a satellite-based remote sensing
technique. Researchers have also developed an algorithm for
the process.
A group of ocean scientists from the Centre for Marine Living
Resources (CMLRE), Kochi, of the Ministry of Earth Sciences,
who had been tracking the algal blooms in many water
bodies, claimed to have perfected the algorithm for
identification of Noctiluca scintillans, the algal bloom and a
diatom, which gives dark green colour to the oceanic waters.
The team led by R. Dwivedi of CMLRE consisted of researchers
from CMLRE, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean
Research, Goa, and Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad,
has described the approach for detection of bloom-forming
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algae N. scintillans and its discrimination from diatoms using warming over this country
moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer in a mixed
species oceanic environment. How aerosols affect tropical rainfall?

The research paper was recently published in the journal
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
The algorithm could be applied for real-time identification of
the algal bloom anywhere in Indian waters, said Dr.K.B.
Padmakumar of CMLRE.
Efforts on
The new approach will help ocean researchers in quickly
identifying algal blooms without venturing into the water.
Efforts are on for identification and discrimination of more
algal blooms and associated diatoms, he said.
The present analysis has been carried out by utilizing species-
specific response of phytoplankton from remote sensing
reflectance spectra obtained with a Satlantic underwater
profiling radiometer.
The inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ), a belt of
precipitation (caused by northeast and southeast trade winds
coming together) has been shifting southwards in Central
America since 1900, when the industrial revolution
and associated atmospheric pollution began in real earnest,
notes a paper published recently in the journal Nature
Geoscience.
The reason for this shift, according to the study, is the cooling
effect of aerosols that were produced in large quantities due
to industrialisation.
Cooling of the atmosphere results in less rainfall and dry
conditions while warming leads to evaporation, convection
and rainfall. The study found that since 1900 there has
been a steady increase in rainfall in the southern tropics, in
contrast to a steady decrease in the northern tropics.

The capability of species identification in near real time

can help in planning field campaigns for guiding the ship to an
appropriate location for in situ measurements, the research
paper said.

The bloom, also known as green tide, occurs during the

winterspring (mid February end March) and spreads to
the entire northern half of the basin. Researchers had
been regularly monitoring the bloom since 2009. During
their cruises, researchers had found the colour of water was
remarkably dark green in ocean depths exceeding 2,000
metre.

Though not toxic, it is classified as harmful algal bloom

as its spread can lead to depletion of dissolved oxygen in the
bloom region. The decay of the high biomass can lead to the
release of ammonia and steep reduction in dissolved
oxygen, which may force other marine organisms to move to
safe regions, he said.

POLLUTION RELATED
1. Impact of Aerosols

High levels of fine particles in the atmosphere (known as

aerosols), which reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the
ground, may be partly responsible for a slower rate of

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The researchers analysed a stalagmite found in a cave in Belize
(a Central American nation) to construct a record of rainfall
patterns in the region over the past 450 years. This site is near
the northernmost extent of the ITCZ, a remarkably sensitive
location for reconstructing even minor variations in ITCZ
position. The team measured Carbon-13 isotope levels over
this period in the various layers of the stalagmite. Carbon
isotope serves as a good proxy for rainfall as recorded in the
stalagmite over the thousands of years of its formation.
Stalagmites grow incrementally as drops of water seep
through the overlying rock.
The growth of the stalagmite is therefore linked to the amount
of water reaching it, which is in part controlled by rainfall.
Furthermore, every drop of water reaching the cave has a
unique chemical signature which is controlled by the
prevailing climate, most often temperature and rainfall
amount.
This chemical signature is then incorporated into the
stalagmite layers as it grows.
By chemical signature in this case, is meant
oxygen and carbon isotopes. One can see how rainfall has
changed over the years by measuring the change in Carbon-
13 isotope value through time.
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The stalagmite portions were dated by measuring uranium-
thorium isotope ratios over the past centuries.
A key factor in the method is that uranium is soluble in
water while the daughter products are non-soluble. This means
that uranium is present in water which seeps into limestone
caves and is incorporated into stalagmites but its non-soluble
daughter products (thorium) are not. Daughter isotopes
present in the sample increase through time as the uranium
decays and the ratio of the uranium to the thorium is
measured to provide an age estimate, Dr. Harriet E. Ridley
from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham,
U.K., and the first author clarified in an email to this
correspondent.
The authors point to increased aerosol concentrations in the
northern tropics of Central America as the likely cause.
There have been drying events even before
1900, but these coincided with northern hemisphere volcanic
eruptions which sent aerosols into the atmosphere causing
cooling and therefore, dry conditions.
2. Urban Heat Island
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Urban areas were affected by the warming occurring as a
result of climate change as well as the urban heat island
effect whereby built-up places trapped heat more than
surrounding rural areas
Thane named Indias Earth Hour Capital
interventions - a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) in each city, or
a senior person to work in municipal government usually
with mayors to work across the sectors and silos and engage
with private sector and all stakeholders (Central, State Govts,
Civil societies etc) to promote and coordinate on the resilience
agenda.

The city represented India in the Global Earth Hour
Capital Competition of 16 countries in Seoul. The host city was
declared the winner and acknowledged as the Global Earth
Hour Capital
2015.
The year-long competition among cities is aimed at
promoting renewable energy and pre-paring for climate
change.
Last year, Coimbtore was selected as the National
Earth Hour Capital.
3. Making eco-friendly toilets
Helps cities put together a resilience strategy and to put
together a risk analysis to understand what the city is doing, is
it doing it well enough, what are the key objectives for
building resilience and initiatives to support that.
The project focusses on urbanisation, globalisation and climate
change and how they affect cities.
Focuses on infrastructure, access to a platform of resources,
information on everything from big data analytics,
infrastructure, databases, economic risk analysis and steps to
mitigate them, handling natural disasters, cyber security and
so on.

While thousands of toilets prop up across the

country, there has been little attention given to an
environmentally- friendly set up. The low- cost toilets being
built rely entirely on a refuse- collection pit a design that
ends up leaching nitrates into the groundwater below.

Researchers at the Centre for Sustainable Technologies at the

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have developed a
permeable reactive barrier (PRB) toilet which uses a mixture
of sand and bentonite clay. The clay regulates the flow of
leachates by swelling when in contact with water.

4. 100 Resilient Cities - Chennai,

Bengaluru and Surat figure in that
list
In its centenary year in 2013, the Rockefeller
Foundation announced the 100 Resilient Cities project
with a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience
worldwide.
In its centenary year in 2013, the Rockefeller Foundation
announced the 100 Resilient Cities project with a $100 million
commitment to build urban resilience worldwide.
It has already selected 67 cities and from India, Chennai,
Bengaluru and Surat figure in that list. Provides four
5. Environmentalists warn against
concretisation in cities, towns
There is an urgent need to stop encroachment on drains and
prevent them from being used as dumping grounds Ground
Concretisation inducing Climate Change, Water Scarcity and
Loss of Lives Civic, development and construction agencies
across the country are mindlessly turning permeable soil
ground surfaces into impervious covers that nearly eliminate

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the possibility of natural groundwater recharge while critically
upsetting the entire ecology.
Increasing concretization of soil with concrete and cemented
slabs in our towns and cities augment climate change, as soil is
the biggest carbon sink after forests and oceans, noted the
letter.
Environmentalists have warned that the situation has turned
so critical that there are virtually no soil areas left in cities
and towns for rainwater to percolate and recharge the
groundwater aquifers.
6. The menace of plastic waste
If there is one type of municipal solid waste that has
become ubiquitous in India and most developing countries,
and largely seen along the shores and waterways of many
developed countries, it is plastic waste. Much of it is not
recycled, and ends up in landfills or as litter on land, in
waterways and the ocean.
Eight million tones of plastic being dumped into the oceans
by 192 coastal countries in 2010
At twelfth position, India is one of the worst performers. It
has dumped up to 0.24 million tonnes of plastic into the
ocean every year; the amount of mismanaged plastic waste
per year is
0.6 million tonnes. In the case of China, the No. 1
polluter, the coastal population sends up to 3.53 million
tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans each year.
Alarmingly, an unknown quantity of degraded plastic in the
form of particles enters the food chain. Besides affecting
marine life, plastic that gets into the food chain has serious
health implications for humans.
7. Plant Protection Code - Codex
Alimentarius
Plant Protection Code rolls out to make tea a safer
beverage Plant Protection Code (PPC), a set of guidelines for
regulating the chemical inputs in tea cultivation, was rolled
out on January
1, 2015. The aim is to make Indian tea a safe and healthy
drink.
The PPC is a comprehensive document, which deals with
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safe usage of crop protection products and methodologies
that would be followed to reduce pesticide residues in tea.
The code is based on the Codex Alimentarius, which is a set of
international food standards and guidelines.
Recently Greenpeace had released a report alleging
presence of pesticide residues in Indian tea. It said that
chemical use should be restricted not only in tea estates, but
also near water bodies, wildlife habitats and human dwelling
to check contamination.
In India food safety standards are stipulated by the
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India.
8. Is your food safe enough?
World Health Day on April 7 marks the founding of
the World Health Organization, with a theme for each year.
This year it is Food Safety, to ensure that everyone has the
answers to a few questions: What is in your meal and where
did the ingredients come from? Were they properly, and
safely, handled at every stage, from farm to plate ?
WHO is asking for action to understand and streamline the
supply chain and ask stakeholders to promote food safety.
Funding requirement challenges for cold chains to cut wastage
figured in recent debates on foreign direct investment in
multi-brand retail. With increasing pressure on groundwater
resources and other factors, farm markets have moved
towards 'chemically managed crops. The deterioration in the
quality of topsoil is an issue. There is a growing awareness of
the need to grow food awareness or the need to grow food
that is natural and toxin-free. The organic food industry has
spawned a new health awareness. Considering modern
lifestyles that promote automation and restrict opportunities
to do things manually, the stress on right eating has grown.
India has stringent food safety standards set in the Food Safety
and Standards Act of 2006 and the Food Safety and
Standards Rules and Regulations, 2011. Yet, the quality of
food remains a concern. Fitness and good health
have more to do with dietary choices than
number exercise regimes. On World Health Day, let's pledge to
eat healthy, beat obesity, and stay fit.
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9. Maharashtra tops in solid waste:
report
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has
indicted Maharashtra for generating the highest amount of
solid waste in the country.
10. India fifth biggest generator of e- waste in
2014: U.N. report
India is the fifth biggest producer of e- waste in the
world, discarding 1.7 million tones (Mt) of electronic and
electrical equipment in
2014, a UN report has warned that the volume of global e-
waste is likely to rise by 21 per cent in next three years.
The Global E-Waste Monitor 2014, compiled by U.N.s think
tank United Nations University (UNU), said at 32 per cent, the
U.S. and China produced the most e-waste overall in 2014.
India is behind the U.S., China, Japan and Germany.
Most e-waste in the world in 2014 was generated in Asia at 16
Mt or 3.7 kg per inhabitant. The top three Asian nations with
the highest e-waste generation in absolute quantities are
China (6.0
Mt), Japan (2.2 Mt) and India (1.7 Mt).
The top per capita producers by far are the wealthy
nations of northern and western Europe, the top five being
Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the U.K.
The lowest amount of e--waste per inhabitant was generated
in Africa (1.7 kg/inhabitant). The continent generated 1.9 Mt of
e-waste in total.
11. India, a victim of e-waste crime
Exporting e-waste to Asia works out 10 times cheaper
Much of the 40 million tonnes of electronic waste
produced around the world old smartphones, TVs,
laptops and obsolete kitchen appliances finds its way
illegally to Asia and Africa every year, says a report by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Close to 90 per cent of the worlds electronic waste
worth nearly $19 billion is illegally traded or dumped each
year, to destinations half way across the world. While the
European Union the U.S. and Japan are the primary origins of
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e- waste shipments, China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan are
the main destinations, says the report. In Africa, Ghana
and Nigeria are the biggest recipients of e-waste.
Destination India
Illegal trade is driven by the relatively low costs of
shipment and the high costs of treatment in the developed
countries. Quoting an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
study, the UNEP report says that exporting e-waste to Asia
worked out 10 times cheaper than processing it in within
these countries.
The Indian subcontinent has turned into an important
destination for European waste. This goes beyond ewaste to
include household waste, metals, textiles and tires which
are exported to India and Pakistan, says the report Waste
Crimes, Waste Risks: Gaps and Challenges in the Waste
Sector.
There is a significant trade in compressors to Pakistan. These
should be depolluted prior to export, but waste operators
seeking to avoid expense often omit this step, the report
notes.
Toxic time bomb
The vast majority of illegal e-waste ends up in
landfills, incinerators, and in ill-equipped recycling facilities.
The waste is dumped in areas where local residents and
workers disassemble the units and collect whatever is of
value... What is not reusable is simply dumped as waste,
creating immense problems and leading to what has been
described as a toxic time bomb.
While Europe and North America are by far the largest
producers of e-waste, Asias cities are fast catching up as
consumers of electronic goods and as generators of e-waste.
In China, for instance, 73.9 million computers, 0.25
billion mobile phones, and 56.6 million televisions were
sold in 2011, the report says.
Forecasts say that in just two years, the total quantum of e-
waste generated around the world will be 50 million tonnes.
12. Thousands of tonnes of fake food and drink
seized
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Global police crackdown on counterfeit produce has netted
thousands of tonnes of fake food and drink, including imitation
caviar, Interpol.
Operation Opson 4 was run by Interpol and Europol.
The haul included 20,000 litres of fake whisky in Thailand, false
malt in Uganda and fake beer in Rwanda.
Interpol Headquarters: Lyon-based, France
13. New app to check air quality
In a bid to enhance awareness of the hazards of air
pollution, Indias first air quality Mobile App, SAFARAir, was
launched on Tuesday at the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology in PUNE
Study by WHO had ranked Delhi as most-affected capital
Index to provide data on level of pollutants in 10
cities across India
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Amid growing concerns over deteriorating air quality in
Indias major cities, the government launched the National
Air Quality Index (AQI) that will put out real time data about
the level of pollutants in the air and inform people about the
possible impacts on health.
The new index will initially cover 10 cities each of which
would have monitoring stations with AQI display boards. The
aim was to eventually deploy the index in all cities with a
population of over one million.
The government has been under immense pressure to take
a strong stand on air pollution after a World Health
Organization study of 1,600 cities released last year showed
that Delhi was the worlds most polluted capital.
Indias poor air quality reduces the lifespan of the average
citizen by 3.2 years.
The Air Quality Index may prove to be a major impetus to
improving air quality in urban areas, as it will improve public
awareness in cities to take steps for air pollution mitigation.
The AQI is a global standard.
It takes multiple data on pollution already available
with the countrys Central Pollution Control Board and
presents them as a colour- coded scale with six levels.
Dark green, the first level, indicates good air quality while
maroon at the other end indicates severe pollution.
For each category, the index identifies associated health
impacts. For example, when the scale touches maroon, the
advisory reads: May cause respiratory impact even on
healthy people, and serious health impacts on people with
lung/heart disease. The health impacts may be experienced
even during light physical activity.
14. Nationwide Survey Report
"Breathe Blue'15
1. 35% of children failed in Lung Health Screening
Test
2. Delhi - Bangalore - Mumbai - Kolkata
15. Gulf storm haze triggers pollution fears
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Parts of Maharashtra continue to suffer low visibility due to
the after-effects of major sandstorm in the Gulf region.
The effects of the haboob (Arabic for intense dust storm)
was felt in the State. The haze seen over Mumbai, Pune and
Nashik is the residual element of the Gulf sandstorm which has
now crossed the Arabian Sea.
Dr. Beig, project director of the System of Air Quality and
Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said that the
particulate matter in the air was likely to increase.
Air quality is monitored by measuring the presence of
particulate matter (PM) in air. PM10 refers to particles that
are 10 micrometres (less than the width of a human hair) in
diameter or less. It is feared that the PM10 levels in the air
over Maharashtra may shoot up to 200 micrograms per
cubic metre of air.
16. CPCB officials stress need for uniform air
quality data
Besides Delhi, 12 Indian cities were among the WHO list
of the worlds worst 20 for air quality.
The new National Air Quality Index gives current as well as
24-hour average data on particulate matter PM 2.5 or very
fine particles smaller than
2.5 micrometres in diameter, and PM 10 which are less than
10 micrometers in diameter as well as other pollutants
including nitrogen dioxide, ozone
PM 2.5 levels are commonly used as the best indicator
of severe air pollution, while PM 10 particles are also a cause
of public health concern, but less lethal.
India now grades air quality along a colour-coded chart based
on pollutant levels.
17. Delhi the worst
In 2014, the World Health Organisation compiled
average annual PM 2.5 numbers for over
1600 cities across the world, including 124 from
India. Delhi had the worst air quality in the world by that
estimate, but 12 other Indian cities were among the worlds
worst 20 Patna, Gwalior, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow,
Firozabad, Kanpur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Allahabad, Agra and
Khanna.
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No preventives
However, in stark contrast with other countries that have air
quality warning systems, India does not yet have a mechanism
or measures in place to bring down peak pollution levels.
Beijing for instance, puts in motion a slew of operations when
the warning signal for severe pollution is issued. On such days
kindergarten, primary and middle schools close, there is a cap
on the number of cars allowed on the roads and polluting
factories either cut down emissions or shut down completely.
Similarly, when the air quality index rose in Paris recently, the
city made public transport free and removed almost 50 per
cent of the vehicles off the road.
The quality of data from some cities remains weak,
monitoring stations are not fully equipped and the standards
set for pollutants fall short of World Health Organization
recommendations. In the case of Particulate Matter
measuring less than
2.5 micrometers in diameter among the more hazardous
pollutants the WHO has a recommended average level of
10 micrograms per cubic metre, and an interim target of
40mcg/m3.
Poor air quality is linked to specific areas of activity a
sharp rise in motorisation, particularly involving the use of
diesel as fuel, coal burning, and construction work, to name
a few. As the global experience shows, escalating
pollution levels accompany heightened economic activity, but
an informed policy response reduces the progression. That is
the challenge before the Indian Government: to make
wealthy polluters pay, and expand green alternatives for all
through attractive incentives.
In Delhi, rated by some surveys as having the worlds worst air
quality, the Metro rail network is growing, but so is the use of
personal cars. Yet, the government is not disincentivising their
use through congestion charging, which would also generate
much needed funds for the growth of modern bus and rail
systems; the existence of a National Urban Transport Policy
has not made a difference either.
The National Green Tribunal has ordered that diesel vehicles
over 10 years old not ply on Delhi roads. This is a positive
measure, but those affected should get a reasonable
opportunity to make alternative arrangements. The
government has also failed to grasp the potential of bicycles
as a clean mobility solution, and cities are hostile to their
users. Coal burning for power generation can be reduced if
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rooftop solar power is promoted through a national scheme.
U.S. cities are leasing out to homes solar panels. It is such
smart solutions that can dramatically improve the air in urban
India, without affecting the high quality of life that citizens
aspire for.
Solutions to Air Pollution
NGT rulings
1. to scrap 10yrs old diesel and 15yrs old petrol vehicles
2. capping the no. of vehicles on road
3. hike in parking charges
4. incentives for car pooling
18. CSE welcomes proposed changes in
emission norms
India currently has no standards for SO2, NOx and mercury
Emissions
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has welcomed
the step taken by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests
and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to tighten the pollution
norms for coal-based power plants in the country.
The MoEF&CC had published a draft notification to tighten
norms for emissions of particulate matter (PM), SO2 NOx and
mercury and cut water use by coal-based thermal power
plants.
India currently has no standards for SO2, NOx and
mercury emissions from this sector.
Earlier this year, CSE had released its environmental rating of
the coal-based thermal power sector, under its Green Rating
Project.
Forty seven plants adding up to 55 per cent of the nations
capacity were rated: the sector ranked poorly on all the
parametres. Of the total pollution from the sector, the coal-
based power sector currently accounts for approximately
60 per cent of particulate emissions, 45-50 per cent of
SO2 emissions, 30 per cent of NOx emissions and more than
80 per cent of mercury emissions.
There are currently no standards to curb emissions
of SO2, NOx and mercury.
The ministrys proposed changes, if implemented, may go a
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long way in safeguarding public health and environment, say
CSE experts.
19. Green Rating Project was done to evaluate
environmental performance of the plants
Indian coal-based thermal power plants are some of the most
inefficient in the world, noted a two year- long research study
by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Conducted under CSEs Green Rating Project (GRP), the
study is the first of its kind done for this industrial sector by
evaluating its environmental performance and compliance.
Explaining the study released by M.S. Swaminathan, the
father of Indias Green Revolution, here on Saturday, CSE
director general Sunita Narain said: The objective of the study
was to give a clear picture of the environmental performance
of the sector.
20. GROSS MISMANAGEMENT of
CFL waste containing mercury
Massive amount of CFL waste get accumulated in and around
cities, and those are mismanaged thus emitting poisonous
mercury, says the latest report of Toxics Link, titled The
Dark End-CFL Need Better Management. The study states
in 2014, the household CFL waste in Delhi accounted for
14.93 million pieces of CFL releasing 74.65 kg of mercury.
Mercury enters the body through skin or inhalation, and can
lead to recurrent coughs, sore throat, shortness of breath,
chest pain, nausea, increased blood pressure and headache.
According to the WHO, inhalation of mercury vapour leads to
adverse effects on nervous, digestive and immune systems.
Once into the environment it can turn into a deadlier form
called methyl mercury, which is extremely harmful to humans
and wildlife. For human consumption, Food Safety and
Standards (Contaminations, Toxins and Residues)
Regulations, 2011, have set the limit of 0.5 ppm mercury
content in fish and 1 ppm mercury content in other foods.
The survey, which was released here on Tuesday, was carried
out in Delhi and Bhopal with the objective of conducting
field-level investigation into the management practices of
CFLs that contain mercury. It used both qualitative and
qualitative approach and surveyed two important
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stakeholders consumers and recyclers - comprising
household consumers, bulkconsumers, kabadiwala, and
recyclers who are important constituents in the Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines for management of
mercury- laded CFLs.
Madhav Gadgil wins Tyler Prize
At a time when the Union government has
junked his crucial report on the conservation of the
Western Ghats, ecologist Madhav Gadgil has been chosen
for the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
for 2015.
The prize, instituted in 1973, is awarded by the Tyler Prize
Executive Committee with the administrative support of the
University of Southern California.
Dr. Gadgil, who was chairman of the Western Ghats
Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), will share the $200,000
cash prize with American marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco
for their work in changing policy and especially for their
leadership and engagement in the development of
conservation and sustainability policies in the United States,
India and internationally, said a release issued by Tyler
Prize for Environmental Achievement Executive Committee.
Dr. Gadgils report on the preservation of the unique
ecosystem of the Western Ghats was specially cited as the
reason for the honour, besides his contributions to the
crafting of the National Biodiversity Act, 2002.
Kasturirangan report to be implemented by
year-end
Government of India announced that the recommendations
made by the Kasturirangan Committee report on eco-
sensitive zones in the Western Ghats would be
implemented by this year-end.
Union government had asked the State
governments concerned to hold consultation with the local
population and submit their comments. While Kerala has
submitted its comments, Karnataka is yet to do so.
Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are expected to
submit
PT Exclusive
their reports. (W.Ghats States )
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There is no doubt that the Western Ghats have to be
protected for various reasons. At the same time, the
sentiments of local residents too have to be considered, while
taking up development activities. As soon as the Union
government receives comments from all the States, a meeting
of Chief Ministers would be convened, Environment Minister
said.
21. Why and how do oceans absorb
carbondioxide?
Ocean is the largest carbon sink on earth. It
occupies nearly 70% of the earths surface. As such, the
atmosphere comes into contact with the vast extent of oceans
surface.
The atmospheric CO2 enters the ocean through steady
exchange at surface. This is a physico- chemical process.
The difference in partial pressure of the CO2 between
seawater and air facilitate gaseous exchange. The diffusion
takes place until the partial pressures across the air-water
interface are equilibrated. The following two processes ensure
the continuous exchange at the air-sea interface, though
occasional supersaturation at the surface film is not ruled out.
The seawater contains millions of tiny,
microscopic photosynthetic phytoplankton which utilizes
CO2 during photosynthesis. They convert the CO2 into
sugars and other carbon compounds which ultimately enters
the food web. The biological pump transfers carbon dioxide
from the surface of the ocean to the deep sea.
Unlike other gases, CO2 reacts with seawater to form
dissolved inorganic carbon, ionic and non- ionic species like
dissolved free Carbon dioxide (CO2), Carbonic Acid (H2CO3),
Bicarbonate (HCO3-
) and Carbonate (CO32-). The carbonate system is the unique
phenomenon of marine ecosystem. The pH of seawater is
regulated by the bicarbonate and carbonate
concentrations. Marine organisms combine calcium and
carbonate ions in the calcification process and manufacture
calcareous material. As the organisms die, the skeletal
material sinks and buried in sediments.
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22. Taj Mahal, a case of monumental gligence
The Taj Protection Mission remains a nonstarter
despite environmental scientists repeatedly warning about
the discolouration of the monument by pollutants.
The Taj Mahal, which generated Rs. 20.67 crore in revenue
during the financial year 2014-15, according to the
Archaeological Survey of India, has been allocated only Rs. 2
lakh so far for its preservation under the Central Plan.
The mission was set up as a joint venture between the Uttar
Pradesh government and the Centre in
1996, based on a Supreme Court order.
Increasing pollution has taken a toll on the Taj, a symbol of
national pride and heritage.
Discolouration was mainly caused equally by deposition of
dust particles and carbonaceous particles, such as black and
brown carbon.
The primary sources of these pollutants were biomass
burning, vehicular pollution and burning of trash in and
around Agra and crematorium located nearby on the banks of
the Yamuna is also contributing to pollution.
The Taj Mahal is losing its sheen due to unchecked vehicular
pollution, tourism and several other reasons, noted a release
issued by the Centre for Science and Environment.
Criticising the Agra administration for mulling removal of all
the makers of petha, the local sweet made from ash gourd
holding them responsible for the state of the Taj, she said:
The petha makers have been asked to either switch from
using coal to LPG or shut shop. The move has left many people
jobless.
Recent studies have once again suggested that the scourge of
pollution continues to adversely affect the white marble of the
Taj. This time, it is not sulphur dioxide (which was
suspected in the
1980s of turning the gleaming faade yellow). The villain today
is black and organic carbon particles that are emitted from
vehicles and other polluting units.
The biggest threat to the Taj is the unregulated number of
visitors, which on some days is over
50,000. Constant treading wears down the marble floors. A
large number of trees have been felled in Agra in recent years
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to build roads and other infrastructure.
Agra lies in a semi-arid zone, and experiences very hot
summers when the temperature touches 49 degrees Celsius.
Mineral impurities present in the marble get oxidised and
create brown stains. Rain also has a weathering effect on
the marble and can cause chipping and cracking. The iron
dowels used to fix the marble slabs on the building get rusted
and the rust flows down with rain, getting deposited on the
marble.
Hot dusty winds have an abrasive effect on the marble.
Increasing green cover and water bodies is one way of curbing
dust pollution.
Taj Heritage Corridor, the riverfront project, comprising food
plazas and malls, planned between the Agra Fort and the Taj
was shelved on the Supreme Courts orders as it could have
been a threat to the monument.
Sand accumulated in the reclaimed river bed can erode the
marble surface during sand storms, says the ASI. The site is yet
to be turned into a green belt as directed by the court.
National Electric Mobility Mission Plan
(NEMMP)
- aims at promoting electric vehicle sales (esp. in
eco-sensitive zones)
Taj Mahal Corridor gets 1st set of electric vans (to make it
pollution free zone)
23. IISc: Chennai highest per capita emitter
of greenhouse gases
At nearly 39 million tones of carbon dioxide equivalent, Delhi
has the highest greenhouse gases footprint in the
country. Greater Mumbai and Chennai follow Delhi with 23
million tonnes and 22 million tonnes respectively. Ahmedabad
accounts for the least (9 million tonnes) GHS footprint among
the seven Indian cities studied by a team of researchers at IISc.
Despite the total GHS footprint being 17 million tones lesser
than Delhi, Chennai has the highest per capita emission of
carbon dioxide equivalent
4.79 tonnes. Kolkata follows Chennai with 3.29 tonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent. Chennai also emits the highest
carbon dioxide equivalent per GDP 2.55 tonnes carbon
dioxide equivalent per lakh rupees.
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A sector-wise analysis revealed that transportation turned
out to be biggest source of emission in cities where rail
transportation was either absent or was just being put in
place. Of the seven cities studied, Delhi turned out to be the
highest emitter of greenhouse gases from the transportation
sector. Vehicles in Delhi emitted over 12 million tonnes of
greenhouse gases during the study period.
The paper has looked into all sources of greenhouse gas
emissions transportation, domestic sector, electricity
consumption, industry, agriculture and livestock, and solid
and liquid waste.
CLIMATE CHANGE RELATED TOPICS
1. National Mission for Sustainable
Agriculture (NMSA)
The NMSA was one of the eight missions under the
National Action Plan for Climate Change launched in 2008
which was aimed at transforming Indian agriculture into a
climate resilient production system through suitable
adaptation and mitigation measures in the domain of crops and
animal husbandry.
New programmes under NMSA
National Mission on Food Security
National Horticulture Mission
organic farming and bio-fertilisers;
soil-analysis based nutrient application
micro-irrigation
Innovative solutions
SRI (System of Rice Intensification) uses
less water
Climate Resilient crop varieties by ICAR Crop diversification
Tackling livestock
2. National Adaptation Fund
MoEF seeks enhanced budget for National
Adaptation Fund In 2014, the government allocated Rs. 100
crore to set up the Fund. Ministry had sought concessions
for pollution abatement, climate-related instrumentation and
reduction in the cost of pollution measuring equipment.
The government had doubled the coal cess to finance clean
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energy research but there is no new proposal from the
ministry to increase the cess further.
The National Adaptation Fund has Rs. 100 crore but this is
way short of what is needed for adaptation programmes.
While the government has embarked on ambitious adaptation
plans, funds are an issue as was the case of the National
Agriculture Mission which had to incorporate itself into
existing government programmes with a vastly scaled down
budget.
According to the Mission document in 2010, the
implementation of the NMSA from 2011-2012 to the end of
the 12th Five-year Plan would require an additional budgetary
support of Rs.1,08,000 crore.
3. States climate action plans to be approved soon and
an additional Rs.150 crore has been sought in this budget
for the National Adaptation Fund.
The Centre does not propose to fund any of these State action
plans. These will be linked to national climate change missions
on adaptation and funds could also come from the Green
Climate Fund. Its more a wish list of the States intentions.
There has been criticism that the countrys adaptation plans
are not adequately funded or coordinated. The Centre is also
looking at fine- tuning coordination of the various national
missions on climate adaptation and setting up a mechanism
for that purpose.
Eight missions
After a review by the Prime Ministers Council on Climate
Change, it was decided to scale up actions in adaptation and
mitigation nationwide.
There are eight missions under the National Action Plan for
Climate Change launched in 2008, but most of the missions
got off the ground only in
2014 due to financial issues. It will be a while before there is
some visible impact, the officials said.
Puducherry has, however, submitted its State action plan for
funding to the World Bank.
The government is considering dovetailing the State action
plans with some of the national missions and some funds
can be given to the States from the National
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AdaptationFund. The fund is in the process of being approved
by the Ministry of Finance and after that the States can apply
for finance for climate action.
4. National Clean Energy Fund
India 2010-11 budget introduced a cess of Rs.50 per tonne of
both domestically produced & imported coal. (Now doubled =
Rs100)
But this cess was less to curb carbon emissions but more
to raise revenues for the National Clean Energy Fund
National Clean Energy Fund= supports carbon mitigation
initiatives
But Finance Ministers are using this fund to mitigate fiscal
deficit rather than to mitigate carbon
5. Budget fails to cheer clean energy sector
Though budget reiterated governments ambitious capacity
addition plans in renewable energy sector, it failed to talk
about funds towards development of clean energy, feels the
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industry.
Besides seeking priority sector lending status, the industry was
expecting government announcements with regard to access
of low cost funds and various other avenues such as ECBs
(external commercial borrowings). But no announcement was
made on finance side.
The government has set an ambitious target of generating
175,000 MW of energy through renewable energy sources by
2022. In this, solar is expected to contribute 100,000 MW,
followed by wind (60,000 MW), biomass (10,000 MW) and
small hydro (5000 MW).
As of December 2014, Indias total renewable energy installed
capacity stood at 33,792 MW. However, it would require
about Rs. 250,000 crore of investments to reach this target,
according to industry estimates.
However, the proposal to increase the clean energy
Cess Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 will benefit the industry as it
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would significantly boost the National Clean Energy On April 22, India will be among the group of countries
Fund to finance clean energy and related initiatives. discussing the phase-down of hydro fluorocarbons at the
6. Nod for climate change action plan 35th Session of the Open- Ended Working Group of the
Parties to the Montreal Protocol in Bangkok.
Armed with a stimulus from the Centre, Kerala is all set to
In a proposal submitted on April 17, India has discussed the
launch a long-term programme to develop resilience to climate
modalities of the phase-down to be undertaken, which
change. The Ministry of Forest, Environment, and Climate
includes financial assistance for industry to switch to
Change (MoEFCC) has approved the Kerala State Action Plan
alternative green technologies, if the agreement comes
on Climate Change (SAPCC), strengthening the hands of the
through. According to a March 2015 research paper
State in taking up a slew of climate change mitigation and
brought out by the Institute of Governance and Sustainable
adaptation projects.
Development, authors Durwood Zaelke, Nathan Borgford-
Parnell and Stephen O. Andersen note that fast action under
The five-year package envisages a budget requirement of
the Montreal Protocol can limit the growth of HFCs, prevent
Rs.1,170 crore for projects in eight key sectors, namely
100 to 200 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent
agriculture and animal husbandry, fisheries and coastal
emissions by 2050, and avoid up to 0.5C of warming by 2100.
ecosystem, forest and biodiversity, water resources, health,
energy, urban front, and transport and tourism.
Professor V. Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Climate
Sciences at the University of California at San Diego, told
The State plan identifies Alappuzha, Palakkad, Wayanad, and
that it was way back in 1975 that he had discovered the
Idukki districts as climate change hotspots in Kerala, with a
dangerous impact of halocarbons, the class of chemical
high degree of vulnerability to natural hazards such as flood
compounds, including chlorofluorocarbons and HFCs.
and drought and impact on biodiversity and human life.
Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,
According to the projected climate change scenario, the
there was an agreement to reimburse full incremental cost of
atmospheric temperature across Kerala would rise by 2
any project/scheme to developing countries switching to
degrees Celsius by 2050. It estimates that if the sea level
greener technologies. But under the Montreal Protocol,
rises by one metre,
whether that would be the case is yet to be seen. Although,
169 sq km of the coastal region surrounding Kochi would be
Mr. Bledsoe pointed out that countries bound by its
inundated.
agreement could access the Montreal Protocol Fund for their
transition needs.
The report estimates that paddy production in the State
would drop by six per cent with each degree rise in
temperature. Crops such as cardamom, coffee, tea, and black 8. Geneva Climate Change talks
pepper were also likely to be affected by higher temperature
and changing rainfall pattern. Countries agreed on a negotiating text for the
2015 agreement Climate Action Network in
Geneva
7. Crucial meet today on climate action
It was important to scale up financial support and ensure a
On Earth Day, India will be among the countries high level meeting for loss and damage. The important thing is
discussing the phase-down of hydro fluorocarbons. that there are enough good options in the text including a call
to end fossil fuel emissions
For a long time, climate action has been associated
with cutting Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. And while the A number of countries have to ratify a second
number one global greenhouse gas continues to retain its commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol. The pre-2020
top spot, the evolving consensus is that cutting short-term ambitions also needed to be enhanced.
pollutants such as hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) and black
carbon, is equally, if not less crucial. Keeping up the trend in global climate talks by
industrialized nations to deny historical responsibilities, the

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U.S. had sprung a new term bifurcation and ending the two
different categories of developed and developing countries at
the ongoing talks in Geneva.
An Indian official here said even if the U.S. uses different
words, India would stick to its stand of common but
differentiated responsibilities.
The agreement is set to be reached in Paris at the end of
2015 and will come into effect in 2020.
The Lima Draft has now been transformed into the
negotiating text and enjoys the full ownership of all countries
Formal work and negotiations on the text will continue
at the Climate Change
Conference in Bonn in June
Geneva CC Talks
Concerns-
Finance - Developing countries are
demanding finance to deal with CC from
Industrialised countries
GCF (Green Climate Fund) = has only crossed $10 billion (for
$100 billion)
India's & Developing countries position
1. Underscore the historical
responsibilities of developing countries
2. Call for CBDR (more responsibility by developed nations)
US's stand (and EU) Developed Countries
1. Proposed a BIFURCATION APPROACH - to do away with
differences b/w developed and developing countries
2. Countries should be rated based on WB data
3. All countries should aim at cutting emissions & not just
developed world
4. CBDR cannot be looked upon as the single principle to
produce solutions
5. Developing countries like China are now the largest
emitters in the world & the question of CBDR should be
revitalized
UNFCC & IPCC Concerns
1. Finance or Tech Transfer
2. GCF (Green Climate Fund) has reached just over
$10 billion (far short of what developing countries need)
3. CBDR (Developed v/s Developing)
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4. Polluters pay principle
5. Tech transfer & IPR issue
Lima, Peru Talks
1. India volunteered to reduce energy intensity of its GDP by
20-25% by 2020 (base year 2005)
2. UK's separate allocation of funds (Development
aid for climate actions)
3. Develop cleaner tech + promote renewable energy (eg-
Investment in solar energy & PV by Europe)
9. G7 leaders discuss Greece; agree to phase
out fossil fuels
Group of Seven (G7) leaders agreed to wean their economies
off carbon fuels and supported a global goal for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, but they stopped short of
agreeing their own immediate binding targets.
In a communiqu issued after their two-day summit in
Bavaria, the G7 leaders said they backed reducing global
greenhouse gas emissions at the upper end of a range of 40
to 70 per cent by
2050, using 2010 as a basis. The range was
recommended by the IPCC, the United Nations climate
change panel. They also backed a global target for limiting
the rise in average global temperatures to two degrees
Celsius (3.6
Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial levels.
However, they stopped short of agreeing any such
immediate binding targets for their economies.
10. Green Apollo Programme by UK
green energy plan to find ways (within
10yrs) to make green energy clean and
cheaper to produce
reduce coal-based energy, gas and oil
Plan envisages the countries to commit public
spending on R&D in their own countries (at least 0.02%
of GDP every year) i.e, for 10yrs
Concerns
1. India and China -> largest user of coal-
based energy
2. India has 13/25 most polluted cities while China 1/50
Conclusion-Therefore it is imp for India to be central to this
green energy plan
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11. Totten Glacier: Largest Glacier in
Antartica
The largest glacier in East Antarctica (Totten Glacier)
containing ice equivalent to a six- metre (20-foot) rise in
global sea levels is melting due to warm ocean water until
recently, the East Antarctica ice sheet had been thought of as
being surrounded by cold waters and therefore very stable.
But the voyage found that waters around the glacier were
some 1.5degree Celsius warmer than other areas visited on
the same trip during the southern hemisphere summer.
The fact that warm water can reach this glacier is a sign that
East Antarctica is potentially more vulnerable to changes in
the ocean driven by climate change than we used to think.
12. India to deploy global calculator to
study climate impact
Nearly 20 nations, including India, will deploy a global
calculator, similar to those launched in London and Beijing, to
calculate climate impact scenarios in their territories.
Showcasing the calculator at the Delhi Sustainable
Development Summit on Wednesday, Laura Aylett of the U.K.
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it was
a free, open-source interactive tool to help assess climate
change scenarios over a period and make changes in lifestyle.
The calculator could illustrate climate impacts based on
different choices and was linked to the latest
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) reports.
India was among the first countries to develop its own tool to
assess energy security under the aegis of the former Planning
Commission, which was launched last year.
New version for India
A newer version of the Indian Energy
Security Scenarios (IESS) would be out soon.
The tool was an improved version, which looked at all options
in India, including emissions while calculating scenarios.
Colombia had developed a country calculator to present its
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) later
this year before the climate change talks at Paris. The
calculator allowed for the use of temperature as a factor, but
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could not, however, make calculations based on how much
developed countries needed to do or pay.
However, it could be a reference point for country-
level calculations and was a flexible tool, said Ritu Mathur,
from The Energy and Resources Institute. Eleven countries,
including India, were using this tool and nine more were
preparing their own versions.
CLEAN/GREEN ENERGY
1. 343 companies commit to green energy
As many as 343 companies, including
global firms, have committed to building green energy
capacity of 2.7-lakh MW in five years as India gives thrust to
renewable energy production to ensure universal energy
access for the poor.
SunEdison Energy India Pvt. Ltd. tops the list with a
commitment of 15,200 MW 10,000-MW solar and 5,200-
MW wind energy.
The Chennai-based company is a subsidiary of
U.S.- based SunEdison Inc.
Other companies which made commitments in excess of
10,000 MW are: Axis Energy Group, Essel Infraprojects Ltd.,
Renew Power, Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt. Ltd., Azure
Power, Raasi Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd. And Hindustan Clean
Energy Ltd. Adani Power Ltd. and Reliance Power have
committed to creating 6,000 MW each of solar energy
generation capacity. Private sector companies pledged to
generate 2,51,511 MW
1,55,597 MW from solar energy, 47,865 MW from
wind energy and 4,185 MW from other green energy and so
on and 24 government-run firms
18,819 MW.
promised to generate 18,819 MW of green energy capacity in
five years include NTPC Ltd., Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd., Coal
India Ltd., National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. and
SAIL (India) Ltd.
2. Mega Solar Project (Ind_US)
1. SunEdison Inc., US and India's Adani group to invest $4
billion
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lack of time-of-day pricing for bulk procurement of power

2. to set up one of the world's largest solar photovoltaic (PV) 2. No reasonable reverse margin(20%), there is shortfall in grid
mfg facility in Mundra, Gujarat (5%)
3. Load shedding
3. Sardar Sarovar Nigam Ltd. Solar 4. no sufficient support & incentive
Project
IV. Solutions
1. 4 prolonged solution = variable &
1. 10MW Solar Power Project
dynamic pricing; distributed generation; storage tech and
smart grids
2. solar panels on top of Vadodara branch canal - economy of
2. support & incentive mechanisms, grid
land use, no evaporation loss and renewable energy mgt
3. skills & innovation
GOALS: 4. dialogue among all stakeholders (C-S + Discoms)
5. proper accounting, understanding of grid implications &
Renewable Energy (1,00,000 MW by 2022 + improving
scalability
hydropower generation + Clean ganga project)

India's ambitious vision- to build 100 GW solar power by

5. Solar power picks up steam in more
2020 (exactly same as China's vision) States

Though Gujarat and Rajasthan are at the forefront of

4. RE and issues solar power development in the country, other states are also
making rapid progress in harnessing energy from sun.
I. India's Green Energy Aims - Energy Surplus by
2019 Presently, Gujarat and Rajasthan account for over
1. 100GW of solar power 50 per cent of Indias grid-connected solar energy
2. 60GW of wind power capacity additions. However, states such as Madhya Pradesh
3. 10GW of bio-gass and Maharashtra are also catching up fast, supported by
4. 5GW of small hydropower their solar programmes.

II. Concerns with RE As of February this year, total installed capacity of solar power
1. 3 prolonged challenges - was 3,383 MW, constituting 10 per cent of total installed
intermittency/variability; location-specific potential (away from renewable power capacity in the country.
grid/consumers); higher cost
2. Implications of grid system (handling capacity, load- Gujarat contributed 949 MW and Rajasthans installed
shedding, weak & unstable) capacity was 902 MW. Madhya Pradesh has added 500 MW,
3. Economically nonviable + retail tariffs while Maharashtras commissioned solar power capacity was
(least profitable consumers) 334 MW. Other states, that have added more than 100 MW in
4. Citizens mindset (price-sensitive) solar, include Andhra Pradesh (237 MW), Punjab (120)
and Tamil Nadu (112 MW).
Solar Energy -- poor storage tech & expensive
(high imports) The country has achieved more than its targets in grid solar
Wind Energy -- affected by seasonality and off-grid solar under the Phase-1 (2010-2013) of Solar
Hydropower - land, social & environmental challenges Mission. Against the target of
(stored vs released) 1100 MW of grid solar power, 1686 MW of projects
Natural Gas - supply constraints (including large plants, rooftops and distribution grid plants)
were commissioned.
III. Why Intermittency/Variabilty?
1. Weak & unstable grid - lack of ancillary services, The Indian government has set an ambitious target of

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adding 100,000 MW by 2022. The plan would include large

scale deployment of rooftop projects under both net metering
and feed in metering to achieve 40,000 MW of capacity till
2022.

Secondly, the Government would lay emphasis on grid

connected projects to achieve 40,000 MW by
2022. For this, Solar parks have been set up in Gujarat
and Rajasthan, and others have been planned in over 15
states.

Thirdly, the Centre would focus on large scale projects (100

MW minimum) to generate the remaining 20,000 MW
capacity. Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) Critically
endangered
VULTURES

Of the 9 species found in India, 4 have been listed as

critically endangered

Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) Critically

endangered

Indian White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)

Critically endangered

Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)

Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) Critically endangered Endangered

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Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) Least concern

Himalayan Vulture (Gyps himalayensis) Least
concern

Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) Near

Threatened

Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) Least

concern

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Vulture conservation included on gram sabha than 300 times by the Pathankote Wildlife Division, which has
agenda provided medically tested safe carcass.

The Vulture Restaurant at Dhar Kalan is indirectly helping in

To sensitise cattle owners to refrain from using diclofenac increasing the vulture population in neighbouring States of
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
To sensitise cattle owners in rural areas to the
need for refraining from using diclofenac, a banned drug for Population of White- Rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
veterinary use, the Coimbatore district administration has declined rapidly between 2000 and
included vulture conservation in the agenda for the gram 2007.
sabha meetings.
The decline took place because vultures fed on carcasses of
White-Rumped Vultures found in Moyar valley in the domestic animals, which had been administered anti-
Nilgiris. inflammatory toxic veterinary drug Diclofenac.
After repeated representations, Drug Controller General of
The birds population has stabilised as South Asias Vultures
the Government of India on May 11, 2006 banned
from Extinction (SAVE) a consortium of regional and
diclofenac for veterinary use.
international organisations to save threatened vultures in
South Asia in collaboration with Bombay Natural History
Further to save the vulture from becoming extinct, Action
Society has been running captive breeding centres.
Plan for Vulture Conservation in India and Regional
Declaration on Conservation of South Asias Critically
Endangered Vulture species was

prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate

Change with technical inputs from Saving Asias Vulture from
Extinction (SAVE).

The ban has helped a bit as vultures are reappearing in the

Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam forests.

Menu cards for vultures, clean environment on the

table
The population of White-Rumped Vultures declined rapidly
between 2000 and 2007.

Conservationists stand by Vulture Restaurants, a new

concept that aims to augment the population of the
scavenging birds, which help keep the environment clean by
feeding on carrion.

According to noted conservationist T.K. Roy, the vultures are

provided safe supplementary food.

Though this concept has not been efficacious at two places in

Northern India, it has been successfully running in a small
place in Punjab.
This concept has attracted four vulture species, including the
Griffon Vulture and the Himalayan Vulture, in large numbers at
Dhar Kalan in Punjab. These vultures have been sighted more

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Ecosystem services
The principal framework for expressing the usefulness of
biodiversity is through the concept of ecosystem services. They
illustrate the link between, on the one hand, the interactions
of species with each other and with the physical environment;
and on the other, the well-being of people, whether in terms
of wealth, nutrition or security.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, published in 2005,
divided ecosystem services into four categories:
provisioning services, or the supply of goods of direct
benefit to people, and often with a clear monetary value, such
as timber from forests, medicinal plants, and fish from the
oceans, rivers and lakes;
regulating services, the range of functions carried out by
ecosystems which are often of great value but generally not
given a monetary value in conventional markets. They include
regulation of climate through the storing of carbon and control
of local rainfall, the removal of pollutants by filtering the air
and water, and protection from disasters such as landslides
and coastal storms;
cultural services, not providing direct material benefits, but
contributing to wider needs and desires of society, and
therefore to peoples willingness to pay for conservation. They
include the spiritual value attached to particular ecosystems
such as sacred groves, and the aesthetic beauty of landscapes
or coastal formations that attract tourists; and
supporting services, not of direct benefit to people but
essential to the functioning of ecosystems and therefore
indirectly responsible for all other services. Examples are the
formation of soils and the processes of plant growth.
Biodiversity is not regarded as an ecosystem service itself, but
rather as a pre-requisite underpinning each of them. The
precise link between the fact of diversity and the capacity of
an ecosystem to provide services is a complex one, and an
area in which science is still developing.
Fast Facts
Ecosystem services do the following:
moderate weather extremes and their impacts (ex.
drought, floods, etc.)
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mitigate climate change
absorb and store CO2
protect water channels and shores from erosion
regulate disease-carrying organisms
provide ingredients for pharmaceutical, biochemical
and industrial products are a source of energy and
biomass fuels
decompose waste and detoxify pollution
generate, maintain and renew soil fertility (nutrient
cycling)
pollinate crops and plants, and disperse seeds
control agricultural pests and diseases
produce food (crops, wild foods and spices, seafood,
etc.)
produce wood and fibre
produce oxygen, purify air and water
give cultural, intellectual, artistic and spiritual
inspiration
allow recreation (ex. ecotourism)
hold the answers to scientific questions and
hold the cures to diseases.
National Tiger Conservation Authority
The Govt. of India had launched Project Tiger on 1st April
1973 to promote conservation of the tiger. Project Tiger has
been the largest species conservation initiative of its kind in
the world. While the field implementation of the project,
protection and management in the designated reserves is
done by the project States, who also provide the matching
grant to recurring items of expenditure, deploy field
staff/officers, and give their salaries, the Project Tiger
Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Forests was
mandated with the task of providing technical guidance and
funding support.
The implementation of Project Tiger over the years has
highlighted the need for a statutory authority with legal
backing to ensure tiger conservation. On the basis of the
recommendations of National Board for Wild Life chaired by
the Honble Prime Minister, a Task Force was set up to look
into the problems of tiger conservation in the country. The
recommendations of the said Task Force, interalia include
strengthening of Project Tiger by giving it statutory and
administrative powers, apart from creating the Wildlife Crime
Control Bureau. It has also recommended that an annual
report should be submitted to the Central Government for
laying in Parliament, so that commitment to Project Tiger is
reviewed from time to time, in addition to addressing the
concerns of local people. Broadly the urgent recommendations
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of the said Task Force are as below:
1. Reinvigorating the constitution of governance.
2. Strengthening efforts towards protection of tiger,
checking poaching, convicting wildlife criminals and
breaking the international trade network in wildlife
body parts and derivatives.
3. Expanding the undisturbed areas for tiger by reducing
human pressure.
4. Repair the relationship with local people who share
the tigers habitat by fielding strategies for
coexistence.
5. Regenerate the forest habitats in the fringes of the
tigers protective enclaves by investing in forest, water
and grassland economies of the people.
Considering the urgency of the situation, Project Tiger has
been converted into a statutory authority (NTCA) by providing
enabling provisions in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
through an amendment, viz. Wild Life (Protection)
Amendment Act, 2006. This forms one of the urgent
recommendations of the Tiger Task Force appointed by the
Prime Minister. The NTCA addresses the ecological as well as
administrative concerns for conserving tigers, by providing a
statutory basis for protection of tiger reserves, apart from
providing strengthened institutional mechanisms for the
protection of ecologically sensitive areas and endangered
species. The Authority also ensures enforcing of guidelines for
tiger conservation and monitoring compliance of the same,
apart from placement of motivated and trained officers having
good track record as Field Directors of tiger reserves. It also
facilitates capacity building of officers and staff posted in tiger
reserves, apart from a time bound staff development plan.
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 has come
into force with effect from the 4th of September, 2006, and
the NTCA has also been constituted on the same date.
TRAFFIC
TRAFFIC is a joint conservation programme of WWF, the global
conservation organization and IUCN, the International Union
for Conservation of Nature. It was established in 1976 by the
Species Survival Commission of IUCN, principally as a response
to the entry into force during the previous year of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
TRAFFIC is an international network, consisting of TRAFFIC
International, based in Cambridge, UK with offices on five
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continents, seven regional programmes in 25 countries and
territories, with ongoing research and activities in several
others.
Since its founding, TRAFFIC has grown to become the world's
largest wildlife trade monitoring programme, and a global
expert on wildlife trade issues. TRAFFIC actively monitors and
investigates wildlife trade and provides its information to a
diverse audience world-wide, as a basis for effective
conservation policies and programmes. It has a considerable
international reputation for helping to identify and address
conservation challenges linked to wildlife trade.
This non-governmental organization undertakes its activities in
close collaboration with governments and the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) Secretariat.
TRAFFICs goal is to ensure that trade in wild plants and
animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
TRAFFIC's vision is of a world in which trade in wild animals
and plants will be managed at sustainable levels without
damaging the integrity of ecological systems and in such a
manner that it makes a significant contribution to human
needs, supports local and national economies and helps to
motivate commitments to the conservation of wild species and
their habitats.
TRAFFIC came to India in 1991, operating as a division of
WWF-India. It has since worked closely with the National and
the State Governments and various agencies to help study
monitor and influence action to curb illegal wildlife trade. After
a brief hiatus since 2002, it has resumed work once again in
December 2006.
TRAFFIC India carries out research and provides analysis,
support and encouragement to efforts aimed to ensure that
wildlife trade is not a threat to the conservation of nature in
India. It is committed to work together with government
agencies, NGOs, and all like-minded individuals and
organisations to curb illegal wildlife trade that has become a
growing threat to our natural treasures.
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act,
2006
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 (No. 39 of
2006) has come into force on 4 September 2006. The Act
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provides for creating the National Tiger Conservation Authority
and the Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control
Bureau (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau).
The implementation over the years has highlighted the need
for a statutory authority with legal backing to ensure tiger
conservation. On the basis of the recommendations of
National Board for Wild Life, a Task Force was set up to look
into the problems of tiger conservation in the country. The
recommendations of the Task Force, inter alia include
strengthening of Project Tiger by giving it statutory and
administrative powers, apart from creating the Wildlife Crime
Control Bureau. It has also recommended that an annual
report should be submitted to the Central Government for
laying in Parliament, so that commitment to Project Tiger is
reviewed from time to time, in addition to addressing the
concerns of local people.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority would facilitate
MoU with States within our federal set up for tiger
conservation. It will provide for an oversight by Parliament as
well. Further, it will address livelihood interests of local people
in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves, apart from ensuring that
the rights of Scheduled Tribes and such other people living
nearby are not interfered or adversely affected. The core
(critical) and buffer (peripheral) areas have been defined,
while safeguarding the interests of Scheduled Tribes and such
other forest dwellers.
The functions and powers of the Authority, inter alia include :
approval of Tiger Conservation Plan prepared by States, laying
down normative standards for tiger conservation, providing
information on several aspects which include protection, tiger
estimation, patrolling, etc., ensuring measures for addressing
man-wild animal conflicts and fostering co-existence with local
people, preparing annual report for laying before Parliament,
constitution of Steering Committee by States, preparation of
tiger protection and conservation plans by States, ensuring
agricultural, livelihood interests of people living in and around
Tiger Reserves, establishing the tiger conservation foundation
by States for supporting their development.
The Notification of the National Tiger Conservation Authority
has been issued on 4 September 2006, for a period of three
years, with the Minister for Environment and Forests as its
Chairperson and the Minister of State for Environment and
Forests as the Vice-chairperson. The official members include
Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Director
General of Forests and Special Secretary, Ministry of
Environment and Forests, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
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Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Chairperson, National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes,
Chairperson National Commission for the Scheduled Castes,
Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Director, Wildlife
Preservation, Ministry of Environment and Forests and six
Chief Wildlife Wardens (in rotation from Tiger Reserve States)
(Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu and Uttaranchal). Three Members of Parliament would
be nominated by the Parliament. The Ministry of Law and
Justice would also be nominating an officer. The Ministry of
Environment and Forests is in the process of selecting the
eight non-official experts or professionals having prescribed
qualifications and experience, of which at least two shall be
from the field of tribal development. The Inspector General of
Forests in charge of Project Tiger shall be the Member
Secretary of the Authority.
The Ministry is in the process of creating the Wildlife Crime
Control Bureau, invoking the provisions created after the
recent amendment. The Bureau would collate intelligence
relating to wildlife crime, ensure coordination with State
Governments and other Authorities through its set up, apart
from developing infrastructure and capacity building for
scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes
and assist the State Governments in successful prosecution of
such crimes.
The penalty for an offence relating to the core area of a tiger
reserve or hunting in the reserve has been increased. The first
conviction in such offence shall be punishable with
imprisonment not less than three years but may extend to
seven years, and also with fine not less than fifty thousand
rupees but may extend to two lakh rupees. The second or
subsequent conviction would lead to imprisonment not less
than seven years, and also with fine not less than five lakh
rupees, which may extend to fifty lakh rupees.
Three new havens for tigers
In a move that comes soon after the tiger census in January
showed an overall rise in numbers of the big cat, the Centre is
set to form three new tiger reserves.
In-principle approval has been accorded by the National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA) for creation of reserves in
Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh, Sunabeda in Odisha and Guru
Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh, Union Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Odisha is among the States where the tiger population has
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dwindled. The NTCA also accorded final approval to a proposal

to declare Kudremukh National Park in Karnataka and Rajaji
National Park in Uttarakhand as tiger reserves. Seeking to
provide more protected spaces for the endangered species,
State governments have been asked to send conservation
proposals for the following areas: Suhelwa in Uttar Pradesh,
Mhadei in Goa, Srivilliputtur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife
Sanctuary/ Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary/ Varushanadu
Valley in Tamil Nadu, Dibang in Arunachal Pradesh and
Cauvery-MM Hills in Karnataka.

Punishments for violation of tiger reserve rules and hunting or

altering the boundaries of tiger reserves have been enhanced.
As per the Ministrys country-level assessment, India hosted an
estimated 2226 tigers in 2014.

Diverted for mining

However, in reply to another question, Mr. Javadekar revealed
that over one lakh hectares of forest land has been diverted
for mining projects. Chhattisgarh witnessed the largest such
diversion.

REDD+
Deforestation and forest degradation, through agricultural
expansion, conversion to pastureland, infrastructure
development, destructive logging, fires etc., account for
nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than
the entire global transportation sector and second only to the
energy sector. It is now clear that in order to constrain the
impacts of climate change within limits that society will
reasonably be able to tolerate, the global average
temperatures must be stabilized within two degrees Celsius.
This will be practically impossible to achieve without reducing
emissions from the forest sector, in addition to other
mitigation actions.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest

Degradation (REDD) is an effort to create a financial value for
the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for
developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands
and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
"REDD+" goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation,
and includes the role of conservation, sustainable
management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon
stocks.

What is the difference between REDD+ and the UN-REDD

Programme?
REDD+ is a climate change mitigation solution that many
initiatives, including the UN-REDD Programme, are currently

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developing and supporting. Other multilateral REDD+
initiatives include the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
(FCPF) and Forest Investment Program (FIP), hosted by The
World Bank.
What is "REDD+ readiness"?
REDD+ readiness relates to the efforts a country is
undertaking, with the support of multilateral or bilateral
initiatives, to build its capacity to be ready for a REDD+
mechanism.
What are the proposed phases towards REDD+
implementation?
Phase 1: Developing a REDD+ strategy supported by grants
Phase 2: Implementing a REDD+ strategy, supported by (a)
grants or other financial support for capability building, and
enabling policies and measures and (b) payments for emission
reductions measured by proxies.
Phase 3: Continued implementation of REDD+ strategy in the
context of low-carbon development, payments for verified
emission reductions and removals.
What is the role of forests in the developing world?
More than three quarters of the worlds accessible freshwater
comes from forested catchments. Water quality declines with
decreases in forest condition and cover, and natural hazards
such as floods, landslides, and soil erosion have larger impacts
(MEA, 2005).
Forests annually provide over 3.3 billion cubic meters of wood
(including 1.8 billion cubic meters of fuelwood and charcoal),
as well as numerous non-wood forest products that play a
significant role in the economic life of hundreds of millions of
people. The combined economic value of nonmarket (social
and ecological) forest services may exceed the recorded
market value of timber, but these values are rarely taken into
account in forest management decisions (MEA, 2005).
The rural poor are particularly dependent on forest resources.
As many as 300 million people, most of them very poor,
depend substantially on forest ecosystems for their
subsistence and survival. The 60 million indigenous people
who live in forest areas are especially dependent on forest
resources and the health of forest ecosystems (MEA, 2005).
How will countries reliably assess and "prove" how much
carbon is stored in their forests?
By implementing Measuring and Monitoring Systems
compliant with the Measuring, Reporting and Verification
(MRV) concept agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties
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of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, countries will be able to assess the amount of carbon
stored in their forests as well as other benefits from REDD.
The UN-REDD Programme is supporting countries to develop
cost-effective, robust and compatible systems for MRV. These
systems are designed to use field inventory data combined
with satellite data and available technology to produce green
house gases inventories and establish reference emission
levels. The Programme is liaising with international experts
such as NASA, Brazils National Institute for Space Research
(INPE) and the US Geological Survey to provide partner
countries with planning tools and advice to help strengthen
their technical and institutional capacity for effective national
MRV systems.
Why is there so much interest in forestry, deforestation and
carbon at present? Is it a case of making money versus
conserving the planet?
REDD+ is seen as one of the most cost-effective ways of
stabilizing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions to avoid a temperature rise of two degrees
Celsius. But standing forests also conserve carbon while
supporting the livelihoods of a large number of Indigenous
Peoples and forest-dependent communities as well providing
essential ecosystem services such as habitat for biodiversity
and provisioning clean water supplies.
Further, its about making the private sector part of the
solution by providing the kinds of market signals, mechanisms
and incentives to encourage investments that manage and
conserve the worlds nature-based resources rather than
mining them. So it is about making money and conserving the
planet too and if REDD can be structured right, the money will
be made not just by carbon traders, but also by developing
countries and communities for providing the forest-based
carbon storage service.
Indeed it is predicted that financial flows from North to South
for GHG reductions from REDD could reach up to US$30
billion a yearfunds that can be invested in renewable
energy projects to assist the two billion people without access
to electricity or hospitals or new schools.
In addition to receiving carbon offsets through a REDD+
mechanism, what are the other possible benefits that
developing countries and local communities can experience
from reducing deforestation and protecting forests?
In addition to their carbon storage role, forests provide many
other ecosystem services to society. The nature of these
services varies from place to place, and includes water
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regulation, soil protection, non-timber forest products
including food and fibre, climate regulation and biodiversity.
As most tropical forests deliver a wide range of these
essential services, there are many ways in which REDD+ can
provide ecosystem and social benefits to countries and forest
communities. The UN-REDD Programme continues to work in
this area, examining and understanding the likely multiple
benefits and risks associated with REDD+ initiatives before
they are implemented.
Doesnt REDD+ just give developed countries the excuse not
to reduce their own emissions?
REDD+ is part of the climate change solution but REDD+ alone
cannot adequately mitigate or abate climate change. The
implementation of REDD+ must co-exist with significant
emission reductions in both developed and developing
countries if we hope to curb climate change.
Countries with UN-REDD National Programmes: Argentina,
Bangladesh, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cambodia,
Colombia, Cte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC), Ecuador, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Panama, Papua
New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Congo, Solomon
Islands, Sri Lanka, the United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam
and Zambia.
Other partner countries: Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, Central African Republic (the), Chad, Chile, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea,
Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau,
Guyana, Honduras, Kenya, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic
(the), Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico,
Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, South Sudan,
Sudan (the), Suriname, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Vanuatu and
Zimbabwe.
Statue of Unity gets Rs. 200 crore
In another step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra
Modis dream project, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
proposed, setting aside Rs.200 crore for the erection of the
Statue of Unity in Gujarat.
The larger than life image of Iron Man Sardar Vallabh Bhai
Patel, Statue of Unity is touted to be the worlds tallest
structure when its completed.
Government of Gujarat has embarked upon the mission to
build the largest statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Sardar
Patel stands as the symbol of the unity of the country, said
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Mr. Jaitley.
To support the Gujarat Government in this initiative to erect
the Statue of Unity, I propose to set aside a sum of Rs.200
crore, he said.
The 182 metres (597 feet) tall monument is planned to come
up at Sadhu Bet, directly facing the Sardar Sarovar dam
also named after Sardar Patel on the Narmada river
(Sadhubaet island), near Bharuch in Gujarat.
Mr. Modi had announced the construction of the monument,
expected to cost about Rs.2500 crore, in October last year.
The project is also expected to contribute to livelihood
generation, tribal development and environment protection
among other things.
The Statue of Unity is touted to be double the height of the
Statue of Liberty in the USA and five times taller than Brazilian
attraction Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
National Board for Wildlife
Due to the rapid decline in wildlife population, the
Government of India during 1952 had constituted an advisory
body designated as the Indian Board for Wildlife (IBWL). The
Indian Board for Wildlife was chaired by the Prime Minister.
Since its inception, twenty-one meetings have been convened
and several important decisions relating to conservation of
wildlife has been taken by the Board.
During the 1970s the Government of India appointed a
committee for recommending legislative measures and
administrative machinery for ensuring environmental
protection. Accordingly, a comprehensive central legislation
was enacted in 1972 called the Wildlife (Protection) Act for
providing special legal protection to our wildlife and to the
endangered species of fauna in particular. The Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972 has been amended, the latest being in
2006. As per the amendment of the Act in 2002, a provision
was incorporated for the constitution of the National Board
for Wildlife, replacing the Indian Board for Wildlife.
National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) is a statutory Board
constituted on 22nd September 2003 under Section 5 of the
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The NBWL is chaired by the
Honble Prime Minister. The NBWL has 47 members including
the Chairman. Amongst these, 19 members are ex-officio
members.
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National Board for Wildlife reconstituted
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has filed an affidavit
in the Supreme Court last week reconstituting the National
Board for Wildlife (NBWL) after the apex court had earlier
stayed all the decisions of the standing Committee.
In the affidavit the government has retained the Gujarat
Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation and
added four NGOs World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India,
New Delhi, Aranyak, Guwahati, Nature Conservation Society,
Jharkhand and the Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai,
Maharashtra.
The ten eminent conservationists are apart from Prof. R.
Sukumar, who was on the standing committee of the Board
appointed in July, as also H.S. Singh, a retired Gujarat forest
officer, V.B. Sawarkar, former head of the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII) , S.S. Bisht, a retired IFS officer from Bengal and
former director, Project elephant, Dr. P.S. Esa, a veterinarian
with the Department of Wildlife, Kerala Forest Research
Institute (KFRI), P.R. Sinha, who recently retired as Director of
WII, Dr. R.J. Rao, Rector of Jiwaji University, Gwalior, and
previously with WII, he did his PhD on the ecology of
aquatic animals in the Chambal River, Dr. Madan Mohan Pant,
a retired IFS officer (U.P. Cadre) and a natural resources
economist, in which he holds a doctorate, Rajendra P. Kerkar,
environmentalist from Goa he focuses on water
purification and protection of the Western Ghats and Lav
Kumar Khachar from the royal family of Jasan in Saurashtra,
Gujarat, where he is involved with nature education camps in
the Hingolgadh Nature Education Sanctuary. A well-known
conservationist he has spent his life spreading awareness
about nature, especially on ornithology and Gir Forest. He is a
member of the Gujarat State Wildlife Board.
A former Board member said that all wildlife experts who
spent decades of their life for saving wildlife have been kept
away from the Board. Only retired forest officers and some
from Gujarat have found a place.
Govt. to reconstitute wildlife board
The government has decided to reconstitute the National
Board for Wildlife (NBWL) after the Supreme Court stayed
decisions of its newly constituted standing committee in
August for violating provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Official sources on Thursday confirmed that the Board was
being reconstituted and a notification would be issued on
Thursday. While names of the nominees were not divulged, it
is understood that the new committee is in keeping with the
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legal provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act which
prescribes 10 non-official members and five independent
NGOs and representatives from 10 States or Union Territories.
The Supreme Court on August 25 had in response to a
petition put on hold the over 100 proposals approved by a
truncated standing committee of the Board notified on July 22
which had only two non-official members and one
government organisation on board, apart from a
representative only from Andhra Pradesh. The government
did not constitute a full fledged Board.
The apex court while staying the August 12 decisions of the
standing committee, said they were not in consonance with
section 5 A the Wildlife Act, 1972. The Bench directed that
none of the orders passed by the standing committee would
be given effect to until the next date of hearing after two
weeks from August 25. The order came in response to a
petition filed by Pune resident Chandra Bhal Singh.
ECO-SENSITIVE ZONES
The National Wild Life Action Plan (2002-2016) provided for
declaring identified areas around Protected Areas and
corridors as ecologically fragile under the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986, wherever necessary. The Indian Board
for Wild Life on 21st January, 2002 considered Wild Life
Conservation Strategy, 2002 and recommended that lands
falling within 10 km of the boundaries of National Parks and
Sanctuaries should be notified as eco-fragile zones under
Section 3(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act and Rule 5
Sub-Rule 5(viii) & (x) of Environment (Protection) Rules.
The National Board for Wild Life reviewed the matter on
17th March, 2005 and recommended that delineation of eco-
sensitive zones would have to be site specific, and relate to
regulation, rather than prohibition, of specific activities. The
following criteria, as proposed by the Ministry were agreed by
the National Board for Wildlife for declaration of Eco-
Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Sanctuaries:
i. Complete protection to endemic species in its
entire range;
ii. Development processes not to reduce, damage
or destroy the habitat of critically endangered or any other
threatened species;
iii. Protection to biological corridors;
iv. Protection to highly complex and diversified
ecosystems susceptible to irreversible damage, like coral
reefs, mangroves, etc.;
v. Sites associated with reproductive, breeding or
nurturing behaviour of rare and threatened species;
vi. Existence of pristine forests;
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Aspire IASThe name associated with excellence
vii. Steep slopes ( more than 60)
Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 gives
power to the Central Government i.e. the Union Min-istry of
Environment and Forests to take all measures that it feels are
necessary for protecting and improving the quality of the
environment and to prevent and control environmental
pollution. Eco-Sensitive Zones are notified and regulated
accordingly under Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986.
Ministry has been in engagement with the States/UTs
on submission of ESZ proposals around the PAs. Meetings
were held with representatives of States/UTs in January,
February and April 2014 and in February, March, April and
May 2015.
Process adopted in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change for notification of Eco-Sensitive Zones:
Proposal received are scrutinized in consultation with
the Wildlife Institute of India.
After finalizing the draft notification, the same is got
vetted legally after approval of competent authority and
thereafter, published in Government Gazette and also
placed in public domain for 60 days in accordance with the
Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, seeking views of
public.
The views/comments/activities recommended are
compiled and considered by the Expert Committee for
finalizing the final notification to be issued under the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The Expert Committee is a multi-disciplinary Committee
comprising of subject expert institutions for examining the
comments and finalizing the draft final notification based on
the draft notification and the comments received thereon.
The draft final notification thus prepared is again got
vetted legally after approval of competent authority before it
is finally published in the Government Gazette.
As per the Gazette Notification No. G.S.R. 513 (E)
dated 28th June 2012, final notifications for eco-sensitive
zones are to be issued within a period of 545 days, for those
proposals for which comments have been received from the
public, after the publication of preliminary notification.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
The Wild Life Crime Control Bureau has been created under
Section 38Y of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The
mandate has been specified under Section 38(z) which
includes collection, collation of intelligence and its
dissemination, establishment of a centralized Wild Life crime
databank , coordination of the actions of various enforcement
authorities towards the implementation of the provisions of
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the Act, implementation of the international Conventions,
capacity building for scientific and professional investigation,
assistance to authorities in other countries for a coordinated
universal action towards control of Wild Life crime and to
advise the government on various policy and legal
requirements.
Central Zoo Authority
The Central Zoo Authority was created by the Central
Government through an amendment of the Wild Life
(Protection) Act in the year 1992. The main objective was to
enforce certain minimum standards and norms for upkeep
and health care of animals in Zoos and to restrain
mushrooming of unplanned and ill-conceived Zoos that were
cropping up as adjuncts to public parks, industrial complex
and highways.
National Zoological Park
The National Zoological Park was set up on 1st November
1959 as per the decision taken in the 1st Meeting of the
Indian Board for Wild Life in 1952. It is being directly managed
by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of
India.
Wildlife Institute of India
Wildlife Institute of India was established in 1982 as an
attached office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Subsequently, it was granted autonomous status in 1986. The
institute is mandated by Government of India to carry out
research on various aspects on Wild Life conservation,
conduct training programmes for capacity building of Wild
Life managers, build up repository of knowledge of Wild Life
and provide technical and advisory services to the State and
Central Governments in the country.
Illegal trade wiping out lesser-known
species
Speaking up for lesser-known species, which are being
relentlessly hunted and traded, conservationists, wildlife
experts, policy makers, scientists, research scholars, and
senior officials from the State Forest Departments, Ministry of
Environment and Forests, enforcement agencies, Wildlife
Institute of India (WII), and non-government organisations got
together earlier this week to deliberate on how security
measures can be put in place to protect the future of these
species.
Wildlife species like pangolins, birds, tortoises and sharks,
were discussed during the meeting on Consultation on Illegal
Trade in Lesser Known Species. The meet was jointly
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Aspire IASThe name associated with excellence Current Environment PT-2015

organised by the TRAFFIC, the WWF-India, the Wildlife Crime Full coverage of geography with writing
Control Bureau (WCCB) and the Wildlife Protection Society of
skill development
India (WPSI).
Last year when the average score was 140
Every year in India, hundreds of pangolins, lizards and in Geo our students scored 200+ (Isha
tortoises are poached, an estimated 700,000 birds are illegally Dhuna, Nitin Agarwal and Aditya uppal)
trapped, and about 70,000 tonnes of sharks are caught, yet
This year when average score is 230 our
the levels of exploitation on these species are rarely reported.
students scored 280-300 (Aditya uppal
TRAFFIC, India head, Dr. Shekhar Kumar Niraj said: While the RANK-19 309 marks)
threat posed by illegal wildlife trade to some of Indias most Starts from 3rd Sep 2015 morning session.
iconic wild animals, such as the tiger and Indian rhinoceros
are well publicised, many of Indias less well-known species
are also rapidly vanishing because of poaching, yet their fate 2. Our best and SUCCESS GRADE course
remains largely under the radar. Newspaper analysis and writing skill programme.
** Our TM and most successful programme starts
Pangolins are highly threatened because they are subject to
from 3rd sep with the coverage of last 3 years
a colossal illegal trade internationally, yet their plight is barely
publicised in conservation or media circles. Others, like the issues highly helpful in P-2&3
monitor lizard, mongoose, star tortoises, spiny-tailed lizards, (Seats are limited)
freshwater and mariner turtles also need immediate
attention, he added.
3. Writing skill development, enhancement and
Monitor lizards, especially the Bengal Monitor, were once management programme.
commonly seen across the country but appear to have Newly developed programme to enhance
declined markedly. the writing skills on individual level
Other speakers at the meeting included Ravi Singh from the
Yield a fantastic result this year RANK-50
WWF-India, Kamal Dutta from the WCCB, Belinda Wright from (Kartihk) and others.
the WPSI. 30 tests till dec 2015 with same day
ASPIRE IAS UPCOMING discussion, feedback and evaluation of the
copies.
EXCLUSIVE sessions FOR
MAINS-2015
All the Best to all my students
1. Geography OPTIONAL RRVAP (Rapid round Hope this material will help you.
value addition programme) God bless
For the last 4 years favourite programme Jai Hind
among students.
Where you are lacking we are working upon
like, Paper-2 in contemporary and
geographical manner, Mapping and its
application, special emphasis on Thoughts-
Regional planning and biogeography.

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