India Year Book 2017 Crux: Environment Part I

IAS Prelims exam is becoming more and more dynamic every year and the proportion of environment and ecology section is also increasing, hence IAS aspirants should study environment in intensive details.

GS Environment and Ecology : Study Material

India year book provides details on the most authentic government initiatives and policies that can be directly asked in the IAS prelims exam. Hence, it is important for IAS aspirants to cover the environment chapter of India year book so as to better understand the latest government initiatives in conservation.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC):

a. It started functioning in 1985 and it plans, promotes, coordinates and oversees environmental, ecological, forestry and wildlife programmes.

b. It is a nodal agency for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Its main activities include:

• Capacity building, training and research in classical and molecular taxonomy

• Conservation of existing forests, wildlife, aquatic bodies and water resources and biodiversity.

• Prevention and control of pollution

• Management of hazardous substances and better environmental governance

• Protection of the environment

• International cooperation in forestry and environment

• Adaptation to and mitigation from climate change

ECONOMIC SURVEY 2016-17 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Environment related Institutes in India

A. Botanical Survey of India

• It is the apex research organization under Ministry of Environment for carrying out floristic and taxonomic studies on wild plant resources of the country through survey, documentation and conservation.

• This organisation has undertaken many projects for collection of plant specimens/materials under floristic, ethnobotanical and pharmacognostical studies

• This covers 24 protected areas and 1 fragile ecosystem also including three biodiversity hotspots, viz., the Himalaya, the Indo-Burma and the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka.

B. Zoological Survey of India

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has been undertaking survey, exploration and research leading to the advancement in the rich faunal diversity of the country.

The scientific activities and functions of ZSI have also expanded to the areas like:

• The environmental impact assessment with regard to fauna;

• Environmental information system (ENVIS) on faunal diversity;

• Establishment of marine aquaria and acting as the custodian of the National Zoological Collections

• Survey of conservation areas; status survey of endangered species; Computerization of data on faunal resources;

• Supporting enforcement of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972;

• Care and management of the national designated repository of type and voucher specimens;

• Identification and advisory services;

C. India Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project

• The Government of India is implementing the India Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project with the World Bank assistance to conserve, project and manage the coastal and marine environment.

• The ICZM Project is being implemented as pilot investments in the coastal states of Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal.

• For the implementation of the project, the Ministry has established a Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) as a nodal body under the Society Registration Act.

Union Budget 2017 Questions for IAS Exam

D. Forest Survey of India

• Forest Survey of India (FSI) is engaged in the assessment of the country’s forest resources on regular intervals.

• The Forest Survey of India succeeded the 'Pre-investment Survey of Forest Resources’ (PISFR) which was a project initiated in 1965 by Government of India with the sponsorship of UNDP and FAO.

• The main objective of PISFR was to determine the availability of raw material for growth of wood based industries in selected areas of the country.

Major Activities of this organisation:

i. FSI is involved in forest cover assessment of the country and presents the information in the form of ‘India State of Forest Report’.

ii. The assessment of tree cover of the country is also being carried out using the trees outside forests (TOF) inventory data.

iii. Inventory of forests and Trees outside Forests (TOF) is the second major activity of FSI.

iv. The outcome of this inventory is estimation of growing stock according to species and diameter class wise at national levels.

v. In addition to inventory of forests, TOF resources are also inventoried concurrently to provide a national estimate of growing stock of TOF.

vi. There is an increase of 3,775 sq km in the forest cover as compared to 2013 assessment.

Biodiversity Conservation

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a landmark agreement adopted during the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro.
The objective of CBD are sustainable use of its components, conservation of biological diversity and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources.

Actions taken by India to give effect to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

1) India enacted the Biological Diversity (BD) Act in 2002 to give effect to the provision of this Convention.

2) India also prepared a National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) in 2008.

3) The Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing (ABS) is being implemented at the national level inter alia through the Biological Diversity Act.

4) The Biodiverty Act is implemented through a three-tier institutional mechanism: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) in the centre, State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) in the states and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).

5) The NBA is an autonomous body that performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the Government on biodiversity related issues.

6) Under Indo-German Biodiversity Programme, a project is developed on ‘Capacity Development of Statutory Institutions for Effective Implementation of the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Mechanism in India’.

7) The Ministry joined UNDP managed global initiative on Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) in 2015. The first National Stakeholder Consultation on BIOFIN-India was held in New Delhi in 2016.

8) The initiative is hosted by NBA. Whereas the technical assistance is being provided by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and Wildlife Institute of India in Implementation of BIOFIN.

Current Affairs Quizzes 2016 for IAS Prelims 2017

Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs

The Ministry of environment accords high priority to the conservation and management of mangroves and coral reefs in the country. The Government has identified 4 coral reef and 38 mangrove sites throughout the country for intensive management and conservation of mangroves and coral reefs.

Mangroves

• The mangrove ecosystems constitute a symbiotic link or bridge between terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

• Mangroves are found in the inter-tidal zones of sheltered shores, estuaries, creeks, backwaters, lagoons, marshes and mud-flats.

• Mangroves are plants that survive high salinity, tidal regimes, strong wind velocity, high temperature and muddy anaerobic soil.

• Mangrove vegetation has been reported in all the coastal states/UTs. The mangroves cover in the country is 4,740 sq.km.

• India is home to some of the best mangroves in the world. West Bengal has the maximum mangrove cover in the country followed by Gujarat is the second place and than by Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Ministry provides financial assistance to the state forest departments for all identified mangrove areas for conservation and management.

List of identified mangrove sites in India:

Coral Reefs

• Coral reefs are the skeletons of stony coral polyps cemented together. Corals form dynamic ecosystem and provide shelter and nourishment to marine flora and fauna.

• They are the protectors of the coastlines and the coastal populations mostly depend on the coral reef ecosystems.

• The Indian reef area is estimated to be 2,383.87 sq.km. The four major coral reef areas identified for intensive conservation and management in India are:

i.  Gulf of Mannar;

ii.  Gulf of Kutch;

iii. Lakshadweep; and

iv. Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

List of identified Coral reef sites in India:

Biosphere Reserves

• The Indian National Man and Biosphere (MAB) Committee identifies and recommends potential sites for designation as biosphere reserves, following the UNESCO’s guidelines and criteria.

• There are 18 designated Biosphere Reserves (BRs) and 9 have been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO.

Its main objectives are:

i.  To conserve the diversity and integrity of plants animals within natural ecosystems;

ii. To safeguard genetic diversity of species on, which their continuing evaluation deplanes; to provide facilities for education and training;

iii. To provide areas for multi-faceted research and monitoring and to ensure sustainable use of natural resources through most appropriate technology for improvement of economic well being of the local people.

IAS Prelims 2017 Exam : GS Environment and Ecology : Study Material