. PATH of UPSC: ENVIRONMENT

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2.POLUTION

Ecology Concepts

India’s Environment

CritiCally Endangered animal Species of India

Birds - 4 , Mammals - 8 , ReptIles - 12 Amphibians - 14 FIsh - 20 Spiders - 22 Corals - 23

Critically endangered meets any of the following criteria:

I. Populations have declined or will decrease, by greater than 80% over the last 10 years or 3 generations.

II. Have a restricted geographical range.

III. Small population size of less than 250 individuals and continuing decline at 25% in 3 years or one generation.

IV. Very small or restricted population of fewer than 50 mature individuals.

V. High probability of extinction in the wild

Himalayan Quail :

Critically endangered belongs to pheasant family
Extremely elusive, never flying except when almost stepped on
Habitat in Tall grass and scrub on steep hillsides in only 2 locations in the western Himalayas in Uttarakhand.

Jerdon’s Courser

Critically endangered , nocturnal bird , flagship species for the extremely threatened scrub jungle
found only in the Eastern Ghats NEAR Sri Lankamaleswara Wildlife Sanctuary of Andhra Pradesh
Main Treats are plantations of exotic trees, quarrying and the construction of the Telugu-Ganga Canal, Illegal trapping of birds

White-bellied Heron

Critically endangered extremely rare bird found in 5-6 sites in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, Bangladesh & few in Myanmar.
Habitat is Rivers with sand or gravel bars or inland lakes.
Degradation of lowland forests and wetlands through direct exploitation and disturbance by humans.

VULTURES :

—> Out of 9 species of vultures, the population of 3 species - White-backed Vulture , Slender-billed Vulture and Long-billed Vulture has declined by 99%. Now they are Critically endangered.

Habitat is Forests, villages etc. across India.
Major threat to vultures is the painkiller anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac used by veterinarians to treat cattle. When vultures consume these carcasses, diclofenac enters their system, but they are unable to metabolize it. Accumulation of diclofenac results in gout-like symptoms such as neck-drooping, ultimately leading to death.
Meloxicam affects cattle the same way as diclofenac, but is harmless for vultures.

Bengal Florican

A rare bustard species known for its mating dance is Critically endangered now.
Among the tall grasslands, secretive males advertise their territories by springing from the ground and flitting to and fro in the air.
Habitat : Grasslands occasionally interspersed with scrublands.
Native to only 3 countries in the world - Cambodia, Nepal and India ( Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh )
Threat is conversion grassland habitat for various purposes including agriculture.

Pink- headed Duck

The Critically endangered Duck has not been conclusively recorded in India since 1949. Males have a deep pink head and neck.
Habitat : Overgrown still-water pools, marshes and swamps in lowland forests and tall grasslands in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Maximum records are from NE India.
Threats : Wetland degradation and loss of habitat, along with hunting

Sociable Lapwing

a winter migrant to India & suffered a sudden and rapid population decline is Critically endangered.
Habitat is Fallow fields and scrub desert of Central Asia(from Russia) , Middle East (Egypt) , South Asia (India Pak)
In India restricted to the North and North-West.
Threats : Conversion of habitat to arable land, illegal hunting and proximity to human settlements.

Spoon Billed Sandpiper

requires highly specialized breeding habitat and now Critically endangered.
In India, West Bengal, Orissa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are home to some of the last existing wintering grounds of this species.
Habitat : Coastal areas with sparse vegetation, No breeding records further inland than 7 km from the seashore.
Threats : Habitat degradation and land reclamation. Human disturbance also leads to high incidence of nest desertion.

Siberian Crane

a large, strikingly majestic migratory Critically endangered bird that breeds and winters in wetlands.
known to winter at Keoladeo National Park but last documented sighting of the bird was in 2002.
Habitat : Wetland areas of Keoladeo National Park
Threats : Pesticide pollution, wetland drainage, development of prime habitat into agricultural fields, and to some extent, hunting.

Bird Bugun Liocichla

First spotted in 1995 in Arunachal Pradesh & described as a new species in 2006.
The description was made without the collection of a type specimen as they were too few to risk killing one.
It is thought to be Critically endangered species, with the only known population estimated to consist of 14 individuals and commercial development threatening the habitat of this population

Forest Owlet

Now Endangered (at IUCN website) , After 113 long years, the owlet was rediscovered in 1997 and reappeared on the list of Indian birds.
Habitat is Dry deciaduous forests of South MP, Central & NW Maharashtra.
Threats: Logging operations, burning and cutting of trees damage roosting and nesting trees of the Forest Owlet.

Dolphin :

The Ganges river dolphin( endangered ) is primarily found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers and their tributaries in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. It is recognized by GOI as its National Aquatic Animal. Also the Ganges river dolphin is the official animal of the Indian city of Guwahati.
while the Indus river dolphin is found in the Indus River in Pakistan, India and its Beas and Sutlej tributaries & has been named as the National Mammal of Pakistan.

Golden Mahseer aka mahi – fish and sher – tiger

Declared as endangered by IUCN & is longest-living freshwater sigh, and native to mountain and sub-mountain regions.
The Pong Dam reservoir, not very far from Shimla supports an ample population of the golden mahseer.
It migrates upstream for spawning during the southwest floods. After spawning, it returns to the original feeding grounds. It is purely carnivorous.
The range of these fish is from Malaysia, Indonesia, across southern Asia including the Indian Peninsula and Pakistan.
They are commercially important game fish, as well as highly esteemed food fish. Mahseer fetches a high market price.

They lives in fast-moving waters, inhabiting hill streams with a rocky and stony substrate. They can be found in temperatures between 5°C and 25°C. The fish has also been introduced in lakes and occurs in large reservoirs. The Golden Mahseer inhabits the Himalayan foothills, the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra basins and can also be found down south in the Balamore, Cauvery, Tambraparini, and Kosi Rivers. Upon maturity, the adults inhabit lowland rivers and lakes and migrate upstream in torrential monsoon conditions to reach suitable spawning grounds.

Tiger related :-

Highest attitude TR - Jim Corbet
Highest density TR - Orang ( Earlier in kaziranga)
Highest number of tigers in TRs of - Karnataka
Highest number of TRs - Maharashtra
Biggest Tiger Reserve by Area - Nagarjunsagar - Srisailam of Andhra Pradesh , Telangana

Project Tiger : tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's tenure.

Project Elephant 1988-92

was launched in 1992 by the GOI MoEF to provide financial and technical support of wildlife management efforts by states for their free ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
aim to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors.

Operation Crocodile 1975
Project Rhinoceros 1987
Project Snow Leopard 1988

SAWEN South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network : an intergovernmental wildlife law enforcement agency, in its first ever meeting in India, adopted many resolutions to curb wildlife crime in the region. The members agreed on having an operational framework for strengthening the regional body to combat wildlife crime.

It is comprised of 8 countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It aims at working as a strong regional inter¬governmental body for combating wildlife crime by attempting common goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region. It was launched in Bhutan in 2011. Its secretariat sits at Kathmandu Nepal.
It is biannual conference started in 2012 at Sri Lanka and recently held at Kolkata in 2018. Out of 8 members only Pakistan didn’t take part in it.

Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad :

In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

blackbuck conservation reserve n Allahabad :

India’s 1st wildlife conservation reserve dedicated exclusively to the blackbuck has been approved by the state government in the trans-Yamuna region of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
It is the “first ever conservation reserve” of any kind in U.P.

Secure Himalaya initiatives :

The six-year project launched by Union environment ministry MeEF&CC in association with UNDP United Nations Development Programme.
It aims to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in the high Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states in India.
Also aims of securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems – is meant for specific landscapes.
It includes:

Changthang (Jammu and Kashmir),
Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh),
Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand)
Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim)

Protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats is one of the key components of the project
It will also focus on securing livelihoods of the people in the region and enhancing enforcement to reduce wildlife crime.

Arunachal Pradesh-based NGO Singchung Bugun Community Reserve (SBVCR) won the India Biodiversity Award 2018 in the “Conservation of wildlife species” category. It was awarded for its efforts to conserve rare critically endangered bird Bugun Liocichla

Eco-Bridges : In a FIRST of its kind, Telangana State will have eco-friendly bridges over a canal cutting across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana’s Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. The ‘eco-bridges’ will be constructed at key spots along the 72 km-long, with laying of fertile soil to grow grass and plants over the structure, so that fragmentation of the reserve forest is camouflaged. National Board of Wildlife will be the nodal agency for recommending the size and location of eco- bridge.

PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub) is an environmental single window hub for Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ clearances from Central, State and district-level authorities.

The system has been designed, developed and hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with technical support from National Informatics Centre, (NIC).

ECO-NIWAS (Energy Conservation– New Indian Way for Affordable & Sustainable homes) portal was launched by BEE for increasing awareness about sustainable building and energy efficient homes in the country.

In-situ conservation :

is the conservation of species in their natural habitats.
It includes National parks, Wildlife sanctuaries, Biosphere reserves and Sacred groves (Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya).

Ex-situ conservation

is the preservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats.
It includes Gene banks, Captive breeding of animals and artificial propagation of plants, Zoos, Aquaria, and Botanic gardens.

2.POLUTION

Micro Plastics :

These are plastic pieces less than 5 mm long which if engulfed by marine life can pose grave danger to them.Possibilities are even more since they easily pass through water filtration systems.
Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades into smaller and smaller pieces
Microbeads have emerged as a new form of threat and are found as exfoliating agents in facewash or in toothpaste. First patented in 1972 for use in cleansers.
Due to abrasive nature, microbeads began to replace natural material like ground almonds, oatmeal and sea salt in the area of cosmetics.
BIS has classified them as unsafe for consumer products.

MLP Multi-layered plastics :

The ministry of environment MoEFCC notified an amendment to the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018, adding Multi-layered plastics (MLP) to the list of plastics that it expects to be phased out.
MLP is the shiny plastic material which is used to package chips, biscuit and ready-to-eat food products.
MLPs are non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable, and have no alternative uses, and are hence a critical threat to the ecosystem.
The same amendment issued the prescription of a central system which will carry the names of producers, brand-owners and importers.
This will allow agencies to better track and control the usage of plastics.

PhotoChemical Smog : When pollution is high, nitrogen oxides NOx and dust particles interact with sunlight to form ground-level ozone, leading to the building up of haze. This is smog, a result of a photochemical reaction of sunlight with pollutants that have been released into the atmosphere. It leads to production of chemicals such as formaldehyde, acrolein and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN).

The main components of the photochemical smog result from the action of sunlight on unsaturated hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides produced by automobiles and factories.
Photochemical smog has high concentration of oxidising agents and is, therefore, called as oxidising smog.

It causes serious health problems. Both ozone and PAN act as powerful eye irritants.
Ozone and nitric oxide irritate the nose and throat and their high concentration causes headache, chest pain, dryness of the throat, cough and difficulty in breathing.
It leads to cracking of rubber and extensive damage to plant life. It also causes corrosion of metals, stones, building materials, rubber and painted surface.
LIDAR devices to vertically monitor the air quality of Delhi-NCR.
Supreme Court had ordered an Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) of 1% for the registration of diesel cars above 2000 cc in Delhi.

SULPHUR dioxide emissions in INDIA :

Over last 10 years, India's SO2 emissions have spiked by 50% and it could become the world's largest emitter of the toxic air pollutant due to burning coal which contains about 3% of Sulphur – to generate electricity. The country produces more than 70% of its electricity from coal.
SO2 is colorless reactive gaseous air pollutant with a pungent odor.
It leads to formation of Acid Rain which in turn cause deforestation, acidify waterways to the detriment of aquatic life, corrode building materials& paints etc.
Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulfur dioxide (SO₂) from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulfur oxide emitting processes (e.g trash incineration)

Indian Nitrogen Assessment report was released by an NGO SCN Society for Conservation of Nature

Agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution in India followed by Sewage and organic solid wastes.
Ammonia concentration in atmosphere over India is the highest in the world due to cattle population and excessive fertilizer use.
Only 33% of the nitrogen applied to rice and wheat through fertilizers is taken up by the plants in the form of nitrates.
Its excess usage lead to Acid Rain, Smog Formation , Eutrophication ( Due to large amounts of fertilizers run-off, there is formation of a dead zone , the areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies) , Ozone depletion ( Nitrous oxide i.e. N2O/ laughing gas).
International Initiatives to control Nitrogen emissions

Gothenburg Protocol : part of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution to control and reduce emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH4), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and Particulate Matter (PM) that are caused by human activities.
Kyoto Protocol :
International Nitrogen Initiative : Set up in 2003 under sponsorship of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment
(SCOPE) and from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) to optimize nitrogen’s beneficial role in sustainable food production.

Eutrophication :

a syndrome of ecosystem, response to the addition of artifcial or natural nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates through fertilizer, sewage, etc that fertilize the aquatic ecosystem.
It is primarily caused by the leaching of phosphate and or nitrate containing fertilisers from agricultural lands into lakes or rivers.
Algal Bloom covers the surface layer, it restricts the penetration of sunlight.
The oxygen level is already low because of the population explosion and further oxygen is taken up by microorganisms which feed off the dead algae during decomposition process.
Due to reduced oxygen level, fishes and other aquatic organism suﬀocate and they die.
In Nutshell, When Algae Blooms ----> oxygen is depleted ----> preventing sunlight to reach other plants ----> the plants die & oxygen in water is depleted.
Hence Due to large amounts of fertilizers run-off, there is formation of a dead zone , the areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies).

Note : Urea is the only fertilizer whose price is controlled by the government.

National AQI : There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. The proposed AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO₂, SO₂, CO, O₃, NH₃, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.

SAMEER app has been developed to display AQI at a city and receive complaints.

GHG : The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are Water Vapour H2O, carbon dioxide CO2, methane CH4, nitrous oxide N2O, Ozone O3 , CFC , HFC. Without greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C (0 °F),rather than the present average of 15 °C (59 °F). In the Solar System, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and Titan also contain gases that cause a greenhouse effect.

Pet Coke : An oil refinery by-product, petroleum coke is used as a fuel because of its higher energy content than coal, but it releases larger amounts of CO2 and SO2, which can cause lung disease and acid rain.

During oil refining, the crude oil is first processed into various products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricating oils and waxes. After all these products have been created, a residual crude is further undergoes additional processing called “coking” to produce various fuels including pet coke.
The sulphur emissions that are usually given off when pet coke is burned are instead absorbed during the cement-making process.
More than half of India’s pet coke demand of 27 million tonnes is imported, mostly from USA.
India is home to the world’s 14 most polluted cities based on 2016 data measuring concentrations in the air of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns, which is particularly hazardous since they can lodge deep in the lungs.
INDIA is also the world’s biggest consumer of pet coke.
There are two kinds of pet coke produced viz. Fuel grade pet coke (80%) and calcined pet coke (20%).

Fuel grade pet coke is used as a fuel in cement kilns and electric power plants.
Calcined pet coke is used for manufacture of energy as well as a in aluminium industry , creation of graphite electrodes, steel industry etc.

Health and environment concerns are regarding the Higher Sulphur content in Petcoke.

Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 provides that

governments may prohibit the use of fuel, which is likely to cause air pollution, in air pollution control areas.
Act also give authority to state board to declare any fuel as ‘approved fuel’.

——> Supreme Court imposed a ban that No firecrackers manufactured by the respondents shall contain mercury, antimony, lithium, lead and arsenic (( M A L L A )) in any form whatsoever.

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: empowers Environment Ministry to issue notices against local authorities and state agencies for non-implementation of the actions to mitigate air pollution.

Pollutants covered under NAAQS

Sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, lead, Ozone, PM10, PM2.5, carbon monoxide, Ammonia, Arsenic, Benzene, Benzopyrene, Nickel

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has revamped the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) criteria. It is a rational number between 0 and 100, assigned to a given location to characterize the environmental quality. Out of identified 88 prominent industrial clusters, 43 clusters are located in 16 States having CEPI score of 70 and above were identified as Critically Polluted Industrial.
CPCB developed Web portal called “Environmental Water Quality Data Entry System”.

Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI)

Measured by Central Pollution Control Board for Monitoring Polluted Industrial Areas (PIAs)
4 Indices for CEPI
1. Scale of Industrial Activity Observed Value of Pollution in air
2. Scale of exceedance of Environment quality.

3. Health related statistics.
4. Compliance status of Industry
It is a rational number between 0 and 100. CEPI score of 70 or above is considered as critically polluted cluster tag.

Fly ash : Fine powder by-product of burning coal

Industrial wastes (fly ash, red mud, copper slag and silica fumes) have already been tried in the application of cement production and partial replacement of construction materials in civil engineering field.
Fly ash is a fine powder which is a byproduct from burning pulverized coal in electric generation power plants.
Fly ash is a pozzolan, a substance containing aluminous and siliceous material that forms cement in the presence of water.
When mixed with lime and water it forms a compound similar to Portland cement.
The fly ash produced by coal-fired power plants provide an excellent prime material used in blended cement, mosaic tiles, and hollow blocks among others.
Fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous and crystalline), aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and calcium oxide (CaO), the main mineral compounds in coal-bearing rock strata.
Burning coal generates fly ash which contains several toxic pollutants as well : like lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, sulphur, mercury and radioactive uranium/thorium isotopes, which adversely affect the health of the people near the power stations, often the rural poor, whose disadvantage is worsened by these health impacts.
Fly Ash DOES NOT contain : Plutonium

Maharashtra became the first state in the country to adopt the Fly Ash Utilization Policy.

OZONE :

Kigali Agreement : aims to reduce the emissions of hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) with the potential for reduction up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by year 2100. The Kigali Amendment amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol to now include gases responsible for global warming and will be binding on countries from 2019.

LIGHT Pollution’s effects :

Blue light from LED lighting affects sleep- inducing hormone melatonin thus disrupting body’s inner clocks
Disrupting food chains and weakening the local ecosystem.
Reducing the pollinating activity of nocturnal insects and thus are threat to crop pollination.

Minmata Convention for Mercury Pollution :

1st Conference of the Parties (CoP) under the Minamata Convention took place in Geneva, Switzerland in 2017 which India attended as observer.
Minamata Convention on Mercury is first global legally binding treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.
The Convention requires the nations to reduce and where feasible eliminate the use and release of mercury from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM).
Also control mercury air emission from coal fired power plants.

Clean Seas Campaign

It is a global UN Environment initiative launched in 2017 to increase global awareness of need to reduce marine plastic litter.
The campaign is inspired from Mumbai’s Versova beach clean-up programme of Afroz Shah who also received Champions of the Earth award ( UN’s highest environmental honour ) for the same.

Forest Conservation Act, 1980 :

extends to the whole of India except Jammu & Kashmir.
enacted to help conserve the country's forest
State governments cannot de-reserve forests without the prior approval of Central Government.
To this end the Act lays down the pre-requisites for the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.
The Indian Forest Act, 1927 consolidates the law relating to forests, the transit of forest produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce
came into force on 25th October, 1980 but was amended in 1988
Restriction on the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose.
restricts and regulates the de-reservation of forests or use of forests land for non-forest purposes
"non-forest purpose" means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for -

(a) the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticultural crops or medicinal plants;

(b) any purpose other than re-afforestation : but does not include any work relating or ancillary to conservation, development and management of forests and wildlife, namely, the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes.

Central Government may constitute a Committee consisting of such number of persons as may deem fit to advise that Government.

Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, makes rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

Decision Support System (DSS):

A web-based tool developed by FSI (Forest Survey of India in 1976 at Dehradun ) in 2015 for quick decision making for forestland transfer cases under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Centralised Resource Inventory System (CRIS): is geo-spatial mapping of all the regional offices, autonomous bodies, subordinate offices, Centres of Excellence,ENVIS Centres, etc under MoEF&CC was developed on the Bhuvan Portal with their contact details integrated there in.

ENVIS Environmental Information System : —<— get it Cleared

Established in Dec 1982 and focuses on providing environmental information to decision makers, policy planners, scientists and engineers, research workers all over the country.
Since environment is a broad-ranging, multi-disciplinary subject, a comprehensive information system on environment would necessarilly involve effective participation of concerned institutions/ organisations in the country that are actively engaged in work relating to different subject areas of environment. ENVIS has, therefore, developed itself with a network of such participating institutions/organisations for the programme to be meaningful. A large number of nodes, known as ENVIS Centres, have been established in the network to cover the broad subject areas of environment with a Focal Point in the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Both the Focal Point as well as the ENVIS Centres have been assigned various responsibilities to achieve the Long-term & Short-term objectives. For this purpose, various services has been introduced by the Focal Point.
ENVIS due to its comprehensive network has been designed as the National Focal Point (NFP) for INFOTERRA, a global environmental information network of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In order to strengthen the information activities of the NFP, ENVIS was designated as the Regional Service Centre (RSC) of INFOTERRA of UNEP in 1985 for the South Asia Sub-Region countries.

EIA Environmental Impact Assessment at a locality for an upcoming project will include below points : (more can be added)

Landscape, including the details of drainage and natural water structures
Pattern of permanent wind flow in the locality
Position of sanitary fills in the locality As sanitary fills should not be destroyed by the plant as it will affect waste management in the area.

BIO CNG or Bio methane :

Bio-methane is produced by ‘anaerobic’ digestion of organic matter such as dead animal and plant material.
This gas when produced out of natural degradation process, escapes into the atmosphere unused. But, if produced under controlled conditions, the impact on environment can be significantly reduced.
Methane is produced from thousands or millions of years old fossil remains of organic matter that lies buried deep in the ground.
Production of fossil fuel derived methane, therefore, depends exclusively on its natural reserves which vary greatly from one country to another and are not available in limitless amounts.
Biomethane, on the other hand, is produced from “fresh” organic matter which makes it a renewable source of energy that can be produced worldwide.

List of environment topics

Bioremediation

A waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove or neutralise pollutants from a contaminated site.
The naturally occurring organisms are able to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or non toxic substances.
Bioremediation can be ex situ or in situ.

In situ involves treating the contaminated material at the site,
Ex situ involves the removal of the contaminated material to be treated elsewhere.

The various techniques related to bioremediation are as follows:

Phytoremediation : uses the plants (mustard, hemp and pigweed जंगली पालक ) that mitigate the environmental problem.
Bioleaching : As sub-branch of biohydrometallurgy used to recover copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, uranium , antimony, nickel, molybdenum, gold, silver, cobalt etc. by extraction of these metals from their ores through the use of living organisms. The main techniques employed are heap, dump and in situ leaching.

“ Bio-remediation is a slow process, so. Heavy metals such as cadmium and lead are NOT readily absorbed or captured by microorganisms“

Landfarming : performs in the upper soil zone or in biotreatment cells. Contaminated soils, sediments, or sludges are incorporated into the soil surface and periodically turned over (tilled) to aerate the mixture to enhance microbial degradation of hazardous compounds.
Bioreactor : A chemical process(either be aerobic or anaerobic) is carried out in the Bioreactor (stainless steel cylindrical vessel) which involves organisms or biochemically active substances derived from such organisms.
Bioaugmentation : adds of bacterial cultures to speed up the rate of degradation of a contaminant.
Biosparging : used to reduce concentrations of petroleum constituents that are dissolved in groundwater, adsorbed to soil below the water table, and within the capillary fringe.
Rhizofiltration : As Phytoremediation technique uses hydroponically cultivated plant roots to remediate contaminated water through absorption, concentration, and precipitation of pollutants. It also filters through water and dirt.

Bioremediation uses the microorganisms or biological agents such as oil eating bacteria.

Alcanivorax, a bacteria with oil-eating abilities, is used to create species that are much more capable of cleaning oil spills.

There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria

Sulfate - reducing bacteria (SRB) ———> anaerobic
Acid-producing bacteria ———> anaerobic
General aerobic bacteria (GAB) ——> aerobic

Pseudomonas is a genus of Gram-negative, aerobic Gammaproteo bacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae and containing 191 validly described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity and consequently are able to colonize a wide range of niches.

Bioremediation techniques:

Oilzapper

It is essentially a cocktail of 5 different bacterial strains that are immobilized and mixed with a carrier material (powdered corncob) developed by TERI.
It feeds on hydrocarbon compounds present in crude oil and oily sludge and converts them into harmless CO2 and water.

Oilivorous-S

It is a tad different from Oilzapper is an additional bacterial strain that makes the former more effective against sludge and crude oil with high- sulphur content developed by Indian Oil's research and development wing.
Both Oilzapper and Oilivorous-S can be used in situ, thereby eliminating the need to transfer large quantities of contaminated waste from the site, a process that poses more threats to the environment.

Funaria hygrometrica

Scientists in Japan identified a moss (Funaria hygrometrica) for phytoremediation-based removal method as it is known to grow well in sites contaminated with metals like copper, zinc, and lead, when in protonema (earliest) stage of development.
It absorbed lead well at pH values between 3 and 9, which is important because the acidity of metal-polluted water can vary.

Meisenheimer complex

a negatively charged intermediate formed by the attack of a nucleophile upon one of the aromatic-ring carbons during the course of a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction.
It is synthesised through a simple, single-step process of mixing 2 chemicals at room temperature.
In recent researches, it has been found that the compound repels water by nature and is highly effective in removing fluoride and metal ions such as lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, and iron from drinking water.

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017 released by MoEFCC :

7 States/UTs have more than 75% forest cover: Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur.
Top 5 States with maximum increase in forest cover: Andhra Pradesh (2141 sq km), followed by Karnataka (1101 sq km) and Kerala (1043 sq km), Odisha , Telangana
Top 5 States with maximum Forest cover (in terms of area): Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq km) Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq km) and Chhattisgarh

LULUCF Land use, land-use change, and forestry is defined by the UN Climate Change Secretariat as a GHG inventory sector that covers emissions and removals of greenhouse gases resulting from direct human-induced land use, land-use change, and forestry activities. LULUCF has impacts on the global carbon cycle and as such, these activities can add or remove carbon dioxide (or, more generally, carbon) from the atmosphere, influencing climate. LULUCF has been the subject of 2 major reports by (IPCC). Additionally, land use is of critical importance for biodiversity.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority CAMPA bill is an Indian legislation that seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilization in efficient and transparent manner of amounts realised in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose which would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 (CAF) has a provision for creating a national fund with contributions from user agencies—any person, organisation, company or department of Central Government or state government making a request for diversion or de-notification of forest land for non-forest purpose.

According to the Act, the fund will be used for “compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, net present value, catchment area treatment plan or any money for compliance of conditions stipulated by Central Government while according approval under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.”

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 provide that whenever a forest land is to be diverted for non-forestry purposes, the equivalent non-forest land has to be identified for compensatory afforestation and funds for raising compensatory afforestation are to be imposed.

CAMPA Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAMPA), 2016 was established on the directions of the Supreme Court in 2009 was passed by Parliament to ensure expeditious and transparent utilization of compensatory levies realized in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose, which presently is of the order of about Rs. 49,000 crore.

The CAMPA was created as National Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Environment minister for monitoring, technical assistance and evaluation of compensatory afforestation activities.
The act also provides for annual audit of the accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

E- Green Watch: An eye on the green

A web portal has been put in place to monitor plantation and the growth of seedlings till May 2017, 28 states uploaded 84,326 works under CAMPA, which has been analysed.

Three ‘Chintan Shivirs’ were organized at Bengaluru, Bhopal and Guwahati in order to enable officers to share their experience and suggest measures towards good governance.

MoEFCC approved through NBA (National Biodiversity Authority) include:

UNDP projection Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN);
ASEAN-India Green Fund project in collaboration with ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity on “Capacity Building towards Implementing the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, the City Biodiversity Index and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity”;
Indo-German ABS (Access and Benefit Sharing) Partnership Project under Indo-German Biodiversity Programme on ‚Capacity Development of Statutory Institutions for Effective Implementation of ABS Mechanism in India’; and
UNDP ABS global project on implementation of NagoyaProtocol.

National Board for Wildlife ( NBWL or NWB ) :

A statutory Board set up under the Wildlife(Protection) Act, 1972.
is chaired by Prime Minister and vice-chaired by Minister of Environment (MoEF&FF)
It serves as apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
The mammoth body with 47-members including Parliament Members, NGOs, eminent conservationists, ecologists and environmentalists, Government secretaries , Chief of the Army Staff, Director General of Forests, tourism etc.
Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE)

Oil based bio pesticides development such as Hy-Act, Tree PAL and Tree growth booster to manage forest and agricultural insect pests as well as production ofhealthy planting stock.
Crawl Clean - a green insecticide developed from leaf powders of 5 plant species(Melia dubia, Pongamia pinnata, Aristolochia bracteata, Adhatoda vasica & Vitexnegundo) - to control harmful insects.

Eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) are being established by the Government around the protected areas, to serve as buffer regions.

It prohibits tourism activities like flying over protected areas in an aircraft or hot air balloon, and discharge of effluents and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial areas.
Also prohibits & regulates activities in the areas such as Felling of trees, drastic change in agriculture systems and commercial use of natural water resources, including groundwater harvesting and setting up of hotels and resorts.
Activities permitted in the areas include ongoing agriculture and horticulture practices by local communities, rainwater harvesting and organic farming, adoption of green technology and use of renewable energy sources.

Prominent Corals in India

Lakshadweep
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Gulf of Mannar
Gulf of Kutch
Netrani Island in Karnataka
Malwan in Maharashtra

Coral Reefs :

ARTIFICIAL REEFS to save SINKING ISLANDS

Tamil Nadu govt in collaboration with IIT Madras have been restoring Vaan Island in Gulf of Mannar by deploying artificial reefs and funded by NAFCC of MoEF&CC Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
Due to indiscriminate mining of coral, destructive fishing practices & frequent fires caused by fishermen, the area of Vaan Island had been reduced.

Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve

It is the 1st marine biosphere reserve in Asia.
It lies between the southeastern tip of India and the west coast of Sri Lanka, in the Coromandel Coast region.
Fauna: endangered Dugong (Sea Cow), 3 species of endangered sea turtles, sea horses, several species of dolphins and whales etc.

National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems(NPCA)

Central Wetlands Regulatory Authority (CWRA) has been reconstituted and draftWetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2016.

National Museum of Natural History :

museum focusing on nature, located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1972 and opened in 1978, the museum functioned under MoEF&CC
On 26 April 2016, the museum building and its entire collection were destroyed by a fire.

Three new projects sanctioned (2014-2017)

JICA (JAPAN) assisted project of “Pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha river at Pune” at an estimated cost of Rs.990.26 crores, with STP capacity of 396 mld.
“Sabarmati River Conservation Phase-II at Ahmedabad” sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs.444.44 crores, with STP capacity of 210.5 mld.
Project of ‘Pollution prevention & conservation of Laxmi Tal at Jhansi’ sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs.54.13 crores under the NPCA.

Ballast Water Convention is International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another and halt damage to the marine environment from ballast water discharge, by minimising the uptake and subsequent discharge of sediments and organisms. From 2024 all ships are required to have approved Ballast Water Management Treatment System, according to the D2 standard.

Biodiversity Conservation and RuralLivelihood Improvement (BCRLI) Project’

a blended Global Environment Facility (GEF) and International Development Agency (IDA) activity using a Specific Investment Loan instrument aimed at strengthening biodiversity conservation and improving rural livelihoods at landscape sites.

Sustainable land and Ecosystem Management (SLEM) Programme

is a joint initiative of GOI and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) under the GEF’s Country partnership Programme (CPP).
The objective of the SLEM Programmatic Approach is to promote sustainable land management and use of biodiversity as well as maintain the capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services while taking into account climate change
It is a long-term and strategic arrangement of individual yet interlinked projects aimed at achieving large-scale impacts on the global environment.

Amur Falcon Conservation

Migratory Amur Falcons visiting Nagaland were hunted. With support of people in the region, the Government was successful in drastically reducing the hunting of the birds. The birds have also been satellite tagged and movement tracked.

A marine protected area (MPA) is essentially a space in the ocean where human activities are more strictly regulated than the surrounding waters - similar to parks we have on land. These places are given special protections for natural or historic marine resources by local, state, territorial, native, regional, or national authorities.

MPAs can be conserved for a number of reasons including economic resources, biodiversity conservation, and species protection. They are created by delineating zones with permitted and non-permitted uses within that zone. MPAs can span a range of habitats such as the open ocean, coastal areas, inter-tidal zones, estuaries etc.

Marae Moana in Cook Islands and Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area in Antarctica both designated in 2017 are the two largest MPAs in the world.
The Ross Sea, its shelf and slope only comprise 2% of the Southern Ocean but they are home to 38% of the world's Adelie penguins, 30% of the world's Antarctic petrels and around 6% of the world's population of Antarctic minke whales.
In India , Largest MPA : Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, Odisha

WILDLIFE CRIME CONTROL BUREAU - Operation 'Save Kurma’ with INTERPOL - “Operation Thunderbird” to save turtles.

WCCB’s Operation Wildnet : to tackle illegal Wildlife trade through internet using Social Media.

Monitoring System for Tigers Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES):

The National Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Zoological survey of London (ZSL) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) took an initiative for establishing a decision support system for adaptive management of protected areas.It enables managers to assess intensity and spatial coverage of patrols in a GIS based tool.

NTCA(National Tiger Conservation Authority)

statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory / coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

CENTRAL ZOO AUTHORITY

CZA has signed MoU with Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington D.C., USA in the field of veterinary medicine, keeper management, keeper training,disease management, animal housing, enclosure design and education etc.

Centrally Sponsored Scheme- Integrated Development OF Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH).

India has signed ‘Raptor MoU’, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) on conservation of birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia.

In paris climate meeting , PM modi also released ‘Parampara’, a book on India’s culture of climate friendly sustainable practices.

Recent policy initiatives of the government include providing LPG as cooking gas to rural Households, increasing number of LEDs, a Clean Environment Cesson coal, 5-10% Ethanol blending in petrol, increasing efficiency of coal powerplants, and more efficient public transport. We are leap frogging from Bharat StageIV (Euro IV) to Bharat Stage VI (Euro VI) standards for vehicular emissions by 2020. 100 smart cities are being designed to capture rcent innovations in climate resilient infrastructure.

India submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions on 2nd October 2015 with its approach anchored in the vision of equity inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s famous exhortation; “Earth has enough resources to meet people’s needs, but will never have enough to satisfy people’s greed”

India submitted its first Biennial Update Report (BUR) on Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

National Clean Environment Fund

National Adaptation Fund climate change

Building Capacity through Scientific Research:

National Carbonaceous Aerosol Programme to monitor carbonaceous aerosols including black carbon was approvedand is to be launched in July 2017.

Carbonaceous aerosol emissions arise from energy use and the burning of forest,grasslands and agricultural residues. The emissions lead to air-quality degradation and relatedhealth-risks on local to regional scales and to climate impacts on regional to global scales. In southAsia, there is dominance of small combustion sources (e.g. residential cooking and heating), less-developed industry (e.g. brick kilns), and vehicular emission.
Learning: It was launched under Climate Change Action Programme (CCAP), the objective of the project is to prepare inventory of the carbonaceous aerosols including black carbon, develop national emission factors, conduct modelling studies and their impact on regionaland global climate.
A consortium of 17 leading research institutions of the country are engaged in the task which iscoordinated by IIT Bombay.

LTEO : MoEFCC has announced the Long Term Ecological Observatories (LTEO) that will cover 8 sites or landscapes representing the major biomes in the country. A consortium of scientific institutions from across the country would be engaged in this programme which is aimed at picking up the signals of climate change on biological systems from forests and grasslands to mammals due to biophysical and anthropogenic drivers.
8 different biomes of the country namely;

Western Himalaya,
Eastern Himalaya,
North-Western Arid Zone,
Central Indian Forests,
Western Ghats,
Andaman & NicobarIslands,
Jammu & Kashmir and
Sundarbans.

A pilot initiative of electronic surveillance (“e-Eye”), using long range, intelligent thermal and infrared cameras, has been implemented in the southern part of the Corbett Tiger Reserve for round the clock surveillance.

Rhino DNA Indexing System (RhoDIS) program in Rhino-bearing states rolled out to build a DNA database of the existing rhino populations (from membrane enveloping the dung) to produce scientific evidence for prosecuting wildlife offenders.

Recovery programs initiated for 4 critically endangered wild species i.e. Great Indian Bustard, Manipur Deer- Sangai, Gangetic Dolphin and Dugong with funding support under central component of National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Advisory Council (NCAC).

Enhancing Livelihoods And Rural Economy

a) Developed cost effective and green solutions for increasing the life of bamboo especially beneficial for bamboo artisans. Cost effective and eco-friendly preservative ZiBOC has been developed.
b) Developed a eco friendly binding material “Jivi Kalp” from the locally available bio-resources for Agarbatti making to help in enhancing rural economy. ICFRE has also identified 10 new plant species found good for agarbatti making, which are now being promoted through extension activities.
c) Lac cultivation techniques on Flemingia semialata, an evergreen native shrub, has been standardized resulting in much higher yield per acre and annual returns as compared to traditionally used Kusum trees for lac cultivation. Farmers have adopted the practice of lac cultivation on this shrub with success.
d) Benefits from Silkworm: ICFRE has developed techniques for the multiplying benefits from silkworm with the help of many weeds. This technique has helped in reducing cocoon spinning time from 24-36 hours to 15-18 hour and improving quality of silk thread. This product has been adopted by farmers with success.

GLORIA protocol. — ALPINES Conservation

Scheme NMHS National Mission on Himalayan Studies has taken a great expansion across all 12 Indian Himalayan States.

Eco-Clubs: Under “National Green Corps” (NGC) programme of ‘Environmental Education, Awareness and Training’ (EEAT) Eco-clubs have been established in schools for raising awareness amongst students.

NGC National Green Corps :

Under MoEF&CC, It covers around 1,20,000 schools in India with NGC School Eco Clubs to promote environmental activity
These NGC Students participate in activities related to Biodiversity Conservation, Water Conservation, Energy Conservation, Waste Management and Land Use Planning and Resource Management.
Water Harvesting, Plantation, Composting of biodegradable waste are most popular activities in the NGC School Eco Clubs.
Each of the Indian State has a State Nodal Officer who implements this programme.
The first ever National Conference of National Green Corps Eco Clubs is at Hyderabad from 26 to 29 August 2010.

“Green Good Deeds” campaign: launched Environment Ministry (MoEFCC) to sensitise the people and students, in particular, about climate change and global warming. The objective of the campaign is to restore and return the clean and green environment to next generation.

GEAC Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee

The apex body constituted in the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
It was set up under ‘Rules for Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells 1989’, under Environment Protection Act,1986.
The GEAC approves activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recombinants in research and industrial production from the environmental angle.
It is also responsible for approval of proposals relating to release of genetically engineered organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials (Biosafety Research Level trial-I and II known as BRL-I and BRL-II).

‘Pelican Bird Festival-2018’

organized at Kolleru lake by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and Krishna district administration.
Thousands of pelicans, painted storks and other birds will visit the lake during winter season
officials identified that Atapaka is one of the largest pelicanry in the world.
At kolleru lake, the Grey Pelicans, a large magnificent bird, nest and breed.
Grey Pelicans also called Spot Billed Pelican is listed in Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act 1986 and in the Red Data Book. It is also considered a “globally threatened species” under the “vulnerable” category.

India’s Ramsar Wetlands :

	Wetlands Name	State	Features
1	Ashtamudi Wetland	Kerala	• A natural backwater in Kollam district. River Kallada and Pallichal drains into it. • It forms an estuary with Sea at Neendakara which is a famous fishing harbour in Kerala. • National Waterway 3 passes through it.
2	Bhitar kanika Mangroves in 2002	Orissa	• The core area of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary was declared Bhitarkanika National Park. • Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary includes Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary. • famous for its salt water crocodiles and Olive ridley sea turtle.
3	Bhoj Wetland	Madhya Pradesh	• The Bhoj Wetland consists of two lakes (Bhojtal and the Lower Lake) located in Bhopal. • a manmade reservoir, of more than 20,000 birds are observed annually. • The largest bird of India, the sarus crane (Grus antigone) is found here.
4	Chandra Taal	Himachal Pradesh	situated in the Spiti part of the Lahaul and Spiti district one of two high-altitude wetlands of India
5	Chilika Lake 1981	Orissa	• brackish water lagoon at the mouth of the Daya River • spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India. • largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the world. • hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migratory season. Birds from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here. • Birds: White bellied sea eagles, greylag geese, purple moorhen, jacana, flamingos, egrets, gray and purple herons, Indian roller, storks, white ibis, spoonbills, brahminy ducks, shovellers, pintails, and more. • Nalbana Island notified in 1987 and declared a bird sanctuary in 1973 under the Wildlife Protection Act, is the core area of the Ramsar designated wetlands of Chilika Lake. • The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is the flagship species of Chilika lake, classified as critically endangered, in five of the six other places it is known to live. (Only here in India)
6	Deepor Beel	Assam	Permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of River Brahmaputra , located in south west of Guwahati
7	East Calcutta Wetlands	West Bengal	• The wetland forms an urban facility for treating the city’s waste water • The wetland provides about 150 tons of fresh vegetables daily, as well as some 10,500 tons of table fish per year.
8	Harike Wetland	Punjab	• An important site for breeding, wintering and staging birds, supporting over 200,000 Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans, etc.) during migration.
9	Hokera Wetland	J & K	• only 10 km away from Srinagar • 68 waterfowl species like Large Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Cormorant, Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck and endangered White-eyed Pochard, coming from Siberia, China, Central Asia, and Northern Europe.
10	Kanjli Wetland	Punjab	man made Wetland in Kapurthala across the perennial Bien River, a tributary of the Beas river
11	Keoladeo National Park	Rajasthan	• A complex of ten artificial, seasonal lagoons, varying in size, situated in a densely populated region. • Placed on the Montreux Record in 1990 due to “water shortage and an unbalanced grazing regime”. • Additionally, the invasive growth of the grass Paspalum distichum (Invasive Alien species )has changed the ecological character of large areas of the site, reducing its suitability for certain waterbird species, notably the Siberian crane.
12	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	•one of the largest freshwater lakes in India •located between delta of Krishna and West Godavari. •Bird sanctuary have migrated birds Siberian crane, ibis, pelicans and painted storks. It is also listed as an Important Bird Area(IBA). Here ere the Grey Pelicans, a large magnificent bird, nest and breed.
13	Loktak Lake	Manipur	•Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the north-eastern region. •Keibul Lamjao the only floating national park in the world floats over it.
14	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary 2012	Gujarat	•A natural freshwater lake that is the largest natural wetland in the Thar Desert Biogeographic Province and represents a dynamic environment with salinity and depth varying depending on rainfall. •Besides a few mammalian species including the endangered wild ass and the black buck, its migratory bird population includes rosy pelicans, flamingoes, white storks, brahminy ducks and herons. Thousands of migratory waterfowl flock to this sanctuary just after the Indian monsoon season. •The wetland is also a lifeline for a satellite population of the endangered Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) which uses this area in the dry season.
15	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	Tamil Nadu	•One of the last remnants of Dry Evergreen Forests •Habitat: Dry Evergreen Forests, Mangrove & Wetlands •Winter Migrants : Spoon Billed Sandpiper, Greater Flamingos.
16	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	•A water storage reservoir created in 1975 on the Beas River in the low foothills of the Himalaya on the northern edge of the Indo-Gangetic plain.
17	Renuka Lake	Himachal Pradesh	•A natural wetland with freshwater springs and inland subterranean karst formations, fed by a small stream flowing from the lower Himalayan out to the Giri river. •There are 103 species of birds of which 66 are residents, e.g. Crimson-breasted barbet, Mayna, Bulbul, Pheasants, Egrets, Herons, Mallards and Lapwing. •Among ungulates Sambhar, Barking deer and Ghorals are also abundant in the area. •The lake has high religious significance and is named after the mother of Hindu sage Parshuram, and is thus visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists.
18	Ropar Wetland	Punjab	• A human made wetland of lake and river formed by the 1952 construction of a barrage for diversion of water from the Sutlej River for drinking and irrigation supplies. • The site is an important breeding place for the nationally protected Smooth Indian Otter, Hog Deer, Sambar, and several reptiles, and the endangered Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is thought to be present. • Some 35 species of fish play an important role in the food chain, and about 150 species of local and migratory birds are supported.
19	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	National Importance for conservation and sustainable use based on its bio-diversity and socio economic importance. endangared Baer's Pochard and near-threatened Ferruginous Duck.
20	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	•The Salt Lake, India’s largest inland salt lake. •The wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds migrate from northern Asia. •The specialized algae and bacteria growing in the lake provide striking water colours and support the lake ecology that, in turn, sustains the migrating waterfowl. There is other wildlife in the nearby forests, where Nilgai move freely along with deer and foxes.
21	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	•It is the largest freshwater lake in Kerala, situated in Kollam district.
22	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	J & K	holy site, sharing the legend and sanctity of Lake Mansarovar People take a holy dip in the water of the lake on festive occasions , have temple of Mahadev and Durga.
23	Tsomoriri or MOUNTAIN Lake	J & K Ladakh	•A freshwater to brackish lake lying, represent the only breeding ground outside of China for one of the most endangered cranes, the Black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) and only breeding ground for Bar-headed geese in India. •The Great Tibetan Sheep or Argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni) and Tibetan Wild Ass (Equus kiang) are endemic to the Tibetan plateau, of which the Changthang is the westernmost part.
24	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh	•The river provides habitat for IUCN Red listed Ganges River Dolphin, Gharial, Crocodile, 6 species of turtles, otters, 82 species of fish and more than hundred species of birds.
25	Vembanad-Kol Wetland	Kerala	•Largest lake of Kerala. •Famous tourist locations like Alappuzha and Kumarakom, known for house boats falls here. •River mouths of Pamba-Achenkovil rivers in Vembanad forms one of the unique wetland topography of Kerala, the Kuttanad. It is below sea level and is famous for exotic fish varieties and Paddy fields that are below sea level.
26	Wular Lake	J & K	•The largest freshwater lake in India.

Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India, and is famous for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil, and organic matter at various stages of decomposition) floating over it. It has first of its kind loktak floating elementary school.

Located on this phumdi, Keibul Lamjao National Park is the only floating national park in the world. The park is the last natural refuge of the endangered Sangai Deer(state animal).

Difference b/w National Park & Sanctuary

National Park:

No grazing of any livestock shall be permitted in a National Park and no livestock shall be allowed to enter except where such livestock is used as a vehicle by a person authorised to enter such National Park.

Sanctuary:

The Chief Wildlife Warden may regulate, control or prohibit, in keeping with the interests of wildlife, the grazing or movement of livestock.

Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most important bird sancturies of the world, located in Kogadu (Coorg) district in Somwarpet taluk, Karnataka.

Okhla Bird Sanctuary is located close to New Delhi and is one of the 467 Important Bird Areas (IBA) of the country and is home to a large number of resident, as well as migratory birds like grey-headed fish eagle, Baikal teal, Baer’s pochard and Sarus crane.

It is home to 32 species of reptiles, 7 species of amphibians and 186 plant species.
Okhla Bird Sanctuary, belonging to the State of Uttar Pradesh, has an area of 400 ha, out of which 120 ha falls within the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Manas National Park:

A national park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve in Assam
Located in the Himalayan foothills, it is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan.
The Manas river flows thorough the west of the park and is the main river within it. It is a major tributary of Brahmaputra river and splits into two separate rivers, the Beki and Bholkaduba as it reaches the plains.
The Manas river also serves as an international border dividing India and Bhutan.
The bedrock of the savanna area in the north of the park is made up of limestone and sandstone, whereas the grasslands in the south of the park stand on deep deposits of fine alluvium.
The combination of Sub-Himalayan Bhabar Terai formation along with the riverine succession continuing up to Sub-Himalayan mountain forest make it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world.
The park is well known for species of rare and endangered wildlife that are not found anywhere else in the world like the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog.

RECENTLY Assam Spring Festival is being held at the Manas National Park with aim to promote the local food and culture of the fringe villagers. It is an attempt to create a model of alternative livelihood through food, handloom and culture.

Flora and Fauna of Bhitarkanika National Park

Flora : Mangrove species, casuarinas, and grasses like the indigo bush.
Fauna : The Park is home to the saltwater crocodile, Indian python, black ibis, wild boar, rhesus monkey, chital, darter, cobra, monitor lizard.
Olive ridley turtles nest on Gahirmatha and other nearby beaches.
Bhitarkanika has one of the largest populations of endangered saltwater crocodile in India and is globally unique in that, 10% of the adults exceed 6 m length.
Nearly 1671 saltwater crocodiles inhabit the rivers and creeks. Around 3,000 saltwater crocodiles were born during 2014 annual breeding and nesting season.

Snow leopards

live in the mountainous regions of central and southern Asia as found at elevations of 3,000-5,000 metres or higher in the Himalayas.
In India, their geographical range encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas including the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas.
Snow leopards prefer steep, rugged terrains with rocky outcrops and ravines. This type of habitat provides good cover and clear view to help them sneak up on their prey.
The last three states form part of the Eastern Himalayas – a priority global region of WWF and the Living Himalayas Network Initiative.
Snow leopards do not roar.
GoI has developed a centrally-supported programme called Project Snow Leopard for the conservation of the species and its habitats.
They are listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of CITES and as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List.

Satpura Maikal landscape : Located to the south of the Vindhya hill range, Central India is well known for its sal (Shorearobusta) forests, in fact the region is the meeting point of sal (Shorearobusta) from the north and teak (Tectonagrandis) forests from the south.

Some of the tiger reserves critical from a conservation standpoint in this landscape are Kanha, Satpuda, Pench, Melghat, Tadoba and Achanakmar.

UNESCO’s MAB Prog

Launched in 1971, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and the equitable sharing of benefits, and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable
List of MAB in India

Nilgiri (Tamil nadu , Karnataka, Kerala)
Gulf of Mannar Tamilnadu
Agasthyamalay Kerala
Pachmarchi MP
Sundarban West Bengal
Nandadevi Uttarakhand
Nokrek Meghalaya
Simplipal Odisha
Achanakamar Amarkantak MP
Great Nicobar A&N Islands

ECOLOGY Concepts

On 5th June 1972, environment was first discussed as an item of international-agenda in the U.N. Conference of Human in Stockholm hence 5th June as WORLD ENVIRONMENT day celebrated.

Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 is followed by the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution} Act 1974, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and subsequently the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 :

Prior to Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, India only had 5 designated national parks.

This was the first umbrella act which established schedules of protected plant and animal species. By this act, hunting or harvesting these species was largely outlawed.

provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants and matters connected with them, with a view to ensure the ecological and environmental security of India.

Extends to the whole of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir which has its own wildlife act. There are six schedules which give varying degree
It provides for

prohibition on use of animal traps except under certain circumstances
protection of hunting rights of the Scheduled Tribes in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
provisions for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Out of the six schedules ,

Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute protection and offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties
The penalties for Schedule III and Schedule IV are less and these animals are protected.
Schedule V includes the animals which may be hunted. These are Common crow , Fruit bats, Mice & Rats only.
Schedule VI contains the plants, which are prohibited from cultivation and planting. These plants are as follows

Beddomes’ cycad (Cycas beddomei)
Blue Vanda (Vanda soerulec)
Kuth (Saussurea lappa)
Ladies slipper orchids
Pitcher plant
Red Vanda

The act constitutes a National Board for Wildlife (NBW)
sets up National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
sets up various provisions related to trade and penalties for hunting the animals in wild.
Five kinds of protected areas can be notified in the Act.

Sanctuaries
National Parks
Conservation Reserves
Community Reserves
Tiger Reserve

Declaration of Sanctuary :

The State Government may, by notification, declare its intention to constitute any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters as a sanctuary if it considers that such area is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural. or zoological significance, for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
The boundary of the Sanctuary will be fixed by the state Government by a notification specifying the limits of the area which shall be comprised within the sanctuary and declare that the said area shall be sanctuary on and from such date as may be specified in the notification.
No alteration of the boundaries of a Sanctuary shall be made except on a resolution passed by the Legislature of the State.

Declaration of the National Parks :

Whenever it appears to the State Government that an area, whether within a sanctuary or not, is, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to be constituted as a National Park for the purpose of protection & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment, it may, by notification, declare its intention to constitute such area as a National Park.
The Government will define the limits of the area which is intended to be declared as a National Park by notification.
No alteration of the boundaries of a National Park shall be made except on a resolution passed by the Legislature of the State.

Tiger Reserve: These areas were reserved for protection tiger in the country. The State Government on the recommendation of the Tiger Conservation Authority may notify an area as a tiger reserve, for which it has to prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan.

With amendment of the WPA Act in 1991, powers of the State Governments have been withdrawn almost totally.

Now the State Governments are not empowered to declare any wild animal VERMIN.
Further by addition of provision, immunisation of livestock within a radius of 5 km from a National Park or sanctuary has been made compulsory.

'Bishkek Declaration' , 'Secure20by2020' , 'GSLEP' is related to the conservation of SNOW LEOPARD and their Ecosystems.

Forest Rights Act, 2006 :

MoTA Ministry of Tribal Affairs is Nodal Agency for the implementation
It is applicable for Tribal and Other Traditional Forest Dwelling Communities.
Maximum limit of the recognising rights on forest land is 4 hectares.
The Act has defined the term "minor forest produce" to include all non-timber forest produce of plant origin, including bamboo, brush wood, stumps, cane, tussar, cocoons, honey, wax, lac, tendu or kendu leaves, medicinal plants and herbs, roots, tubers and the like.
Gram Sabha has been designated as the competent authority for initiating the process of determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both that may be given to the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.

the land between the Low Tide Line (LTL) and the High Tide Line (HTL) are declared "Coastal Regulation Zone" (CRZ).
There is aim at protecting coastal stretches in India.
National Bamboo Mission is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 100% contribution from Central Government. It is being implemented by the Horticulture Division under Department of Agriculture and Co-operation in the Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi.

Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) is a rational number to characterise the environmental quality at a given location following the algorithm of source, pathway, receptor and various parameters like pollutant concentration, impact on human health and level of exposure have been taken into consideration for the calculation of pollution indices for air, water and land.

Carbon sequestration :

is process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to mitigate or defer global warming.
Hence It is process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir.
It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by burning fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes.
Artificial processes have been devised to produce similar effects, including large-scale, artificial capture and sequestration of industrially produced CO2 using subsurface saline aquifers, reservoirs, ocean water, aging oil fields, or other carbon sinks.
Carbon sequestration is of 3 types as follows:

Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration : Indirect sequestration whereby ecosystems (e.g. forests, agricultural lands, and wetlands) are maintained, enhanced or manipulated to increase their ability to store carbon.

Geologic Carbon Sequestration : CO2 can be stored, including oil reservoirs, gas reservoirs, unminable coal seams, saline formations and shale formations with high organic content. These formations have provided natural storage for crude oil, natural gas, brine and CO2 over millions of years. Geologic sequestration techniques would take advantage of these natural storage capacities.

Ocean Carbon Sequestration : Oceans absorb, release and store large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. There are two approaches for oceanic carbon sequestration which take advantage of the oceans’ natural processes.

One approach is to enhance the productivity of ocean biological systems (e.g. algae) through fertilization.
Another approach is to inject CO2 into the deep ocean.

Soil Carbon and Carbon sequestration :

Soil carbon refers to the carbon held within the soil, mainly as organic content.
Soil carbon is the largest terrestrial pool of carbon ( around 2,200 Gigatonnes).
Soil carbon plays a key role in the carbon cycle and thus is important in global climate models.
It has been shown that 1 Kg of carbon released from the soil constitutes 3.64 Kg of Co2 in the atmosphere.
The exchange of carbon between soils and the atmosphere is a significant part of the world carbon cycle, which is extensive both spatially and temporally.
Carbon, as it relates to the organic matter of soils, is a major component of soil and catchment health.
With reference to Carbon sequestration, the soil is one of the largest reservoirs, where carbon could be restored.

Farming Practices that help in Carbon sequestration :

Mulching → because it helps to retain moisture and organic matter
Zero Tillage → Does not help directly in carbon sequestration but helps in stopping release of soil Carbon
Crop Rotation → Helps by increasing soil organic content, so foster Carbon sequestration
Strip Cropping and Contour Bunding → Increase carbon inputs so help in carbon sequestration
Switching from Field to Tree crops → Helps to retain carbon and nutrients in soil
Rotational Grazing and Pasture Management
Intercropping

Organic Farming is supportive for Carbon Sequestration. One example is Organic Mulch. Organic mulch is basically a type of compost made from decaying plants or trees. It can be one of the ways of sequestering carbon. Organic mulching refers to covering the soil with any organic matter such as applying compost or farm yard manure over the soil surface followed by adding a layer of dry organic matter over it.

Here, the compost contains an array of beneficial microbes, where the dry matter is rich in carbon and the green matter is rich in nitrogenous substances. When decomposition of these components takes place the carbon nitrogen ratio in the soil becomes 10:1, ideal for the proliferation of microbes.

Dumping of Iron to the upper ocean can significantly induce the Carbon sequestration in Oceans. This is because introduction of iron to the upper ocean will stimulate phytoplankton bloom. This is due to a phenomena called “Iron fertilization”, whereby introduction of iron to the upper ocean to stimulate a phytoplankton bloom is adopted.

Like all plants, phytoplankton takes up C02 from air and converts it to carbon compounds like carbohydrates.
The plant quickly dies and starts sinking, taking the carbon with it. What happens thereafter is the key to the technique’s efficacy: If it sinks well below the ocean surface, the carbon would effectively have been put away for a long period (Carbon sequestration). This has led to several experiments in recent times.

——> CarbFix is a project in Iceland intended to lock away carbon dioxide by reacting it with basaltic rocks.

CCUS Carbon capture utilization storage is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide (CO2) from large point sources, such as fossil fuel power plants, and either transporting it to a storage site where it will not enter the atmosphere, normally an underground geological formation , or reusing it. In Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), emissions are forced into underground rocks at great cost and no economic benefit while CCUS aims at using CO2 emissions by exploiting the resource itself and creating new markets around it.

In CCS Carbon Capture and Storage , emissions are forced into underground rocks at great cost and no economic benefit while CCUS aims at using CO2 emissions by exploiting the resource itself and creating new markets around it. CO2 has commercial and industrial uses, particularly for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in depleting oil fields.

LULUCF has been the subject of 2 major reports by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Additionally, land use is of critical importance for biodiversity.

Black Carbon (BC)

A component of fine particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5 µm ) consists of pure carbon in several linked forms.
formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass, and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot.
causes human morbidity(Unhealthy) and premature mortality.
a climate forcing agent that warms the Earth by absorbing sunlight and heating the atmosphere and by reducing Albedo when deposited on snow and ice (direct effects) and indirectly by interaction with clouds.
stays in the atmosphere for only several days to weeks, whereas carbon dioxide (CO₂) has an atmospheric lifetime of more than 100 years.
Airplanes ejecting significant amounts of black carbon (BC) may be depleting the ozone layer.
Especially in the tropics, black carbon in soils significantly contributes to fertility as it is able to absorb important plant nutrients.

Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produce by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products.

Gas hydrates

Are naturally occurring, solid compounds containing natural gas (mainly methane) and water.
Methane gas hydrate is stable at the seafloor at water depths beneath about 500 m.
Scientific interest in gas hydrates is driven mainly by its potential future role as an energy resource, and by the role of methane as a strong greenhouse gas and contributor to global climate change.
Further interest is linked to the geo-hazard aspect of gas hydrate occurrences (especially in the marine environment) related to seafloor subsidence, slumps and slides.
Since the time the existence of gas hydrates was first suspected in the Blake Outer Ridge during the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP), interest in the study of marine gas hydrates has grown in several countries.
The preliminary assessment of geological condition and limited available seismic data suggests high possibility of occurrence of large quantity of gas hydrates within the EEZ of India.

Carbon Offsetting : is Mitigation of carbon footprints through the development of alternative projects . The alternative projects may be the solar, wind, Tidal energy or reforestation.

Carbon Footprint : total emissions caused by an individual, event, organisation, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community.

Water footprint is the amount of water consumed by human activity as well as the assimilation capacity used (the ability of a body of water to cleanse itself). It is not only measures the water we use from the tap, but the 'hidden' water used to produce our food, energy, clothes, cars and other items.

Ecological footprint : As per the Millennium Eco Assessment it is an index of the area of productive land and aquatic ecosystems required to produce the resources used and to assimilate the wastes produced by a defined population at a specified material standard of living, wherever on Earth that land may be located. Below are the uses of Ecological footprint analysis

in support of sustainability assessments.
to measure and manage the use of resources throughout the economy and explore the sustainability of individual lifestyles, goods and services, organizations, industry sectors, neighbourhoods, cities, regions and nations.
In 2013, the Global Footprint Network estimated the global ecological footprint as 1.6 planet Earths. This means that, according to their calculations, the planet's ecological services were being used 1.6 times faster than they were being renewed.

Land Footprint :

Land footprint is a consumption-based indicator, i.e. it looks at the resources needed to create a final product, or by an organisation or country, wherever they are in the world.
Ecological footprint is measured using a different approach, with two key differences to land footprint:

Ecological footprint adds together both real land use and an calculated (but not really existing) area of forest to absorb CO2 emissions, to incorporate part of the impacts of climate change.
In contrast, land footprint looks only at real land use, and is often used in association with carbon footprint to cover all climate changing emissions.
Ecological footprint adjusts land areas to global hectares, while land footprint is based on real land area - or an estimate of it.

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Study of Fungi, Algae, Lichens

Fungi are non-chlorophylous, nucleated, non-vascular, thallophytic micro organism and due to lack of chlorophyll they do not prepare their own food. The fungi are among the thallophytes or plants with a thallus, which are simple plants, have no roots, stems, flowers and seeds- structures The thallus of a fungus is usually made of branching threads called hyphae.

The fungi like Rodoturela do the process of nitrogen fixation due to which the fertility of the soil is enhanced.

Lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus (the mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont) (usually algae) growing together in a symbiotic relationship.

Li = FuAl

Lichenometry :

Lichen is a symbiotic relationship between Fungi and algae.
The technique is used in archaeology, palaeontology, and geomorphology.
It uses the presumed regular but slow rate of lichen growth to determine the age of exposed rock by measuring the diameter (or other size measurement) of the largest lichen of a species on a rock surface.
Lichens occur from sea level to high alpine elevations, in a very wide range of environmental conditions, and can grow on almost any surface.

USES :

Stoneflies: indicate high oxygen water and spend the majority of their lives as nymphs. Many species require a high concentration of dissolved oxygen and are found in clean swift streams with gravel or stone bottom.
Mosses: some moss species indicate acidic soil. Delicate mosses found on rocks and trees in cities around the world can be used to measure the impact of atmospheric change and could prove a low cost way to monitor urban pollution. The “bioindicator” responds to pollution or drought-stress by changing shape, density or disappearing, allowing scientists to calculate atmospheric alterations
Lichens: some species indicate low air pollution. Lichens as a group have a worldwide distribution and grow almost on any surface, for example soil, bark, roof tiles or stone. Because lichens get all their nutrients from the air, many species are very sensitive to air pollution.
Fungi: Can indicate old-growth forests where an abundance of coarse woody debris exists.
Mollusca: numerous bivalve molluscs indicate water pollution status (Algae as well). Mollusca, and quite often bivalve molluscs are used as bioindicators to monitor the health of an aquatic environment, either fresh or seawater.

Bryophytes (a collective term for mosses, hornworts and liverworts).

LIGHTING A BILLION LIVES ( LaBL) is a campaign by TERI that promotes the use of solar lanterns specially designed and manufactured on a decentralised basis. It involved Women SHGs, as well as Public- Private-People partnerships.

ECO MARK certification mark given by BIS to products conforming to a set of standards aimed at the least impact on the ecosystem. Any product, which is made, used or disposed of in a way that significantly reduces the harm to environment, could be considered as 'Environment Friendly Product'.
Urban Services Environmental Rating System (USERS) Project funded by UNDP, executed by Ministry and implemented by Tata Energy Research Institute aims to develop an analytical tool to measure the performance with respect to basic services delivery in local bodies.

Performance Measurement Indicators (PMIs) were developed for all the 3 basic services water supply, sewerage and solid waste management under 3 different categories: Management indicators, Technical indicators and Financial indicators.

AWB Animal Welfare Board of India is a statutory advisory body on Animal Welfare Laws and promotes animal welfare in the country, set up in 1962, in accordance with Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Acts 1960 HQ at Chennai now Ballabhgarh (Haryana). The Board consists of 28 Members. The term of office of Members is for a period of 3 years. The headquarters of AWBI has been shifted from Chennai to Haryana’s Ballabhgarh for “better coordination” between the environment ministry and the board.
National 'Biodiversity Authority (NBA HQ at Chennai) was established in 2003 to implement India's Biological Diversity Act (2002). It is a Statutory, Autonomous Body and it performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory function for GOI on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fait and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

The National Biodiversity Authority may, on behalf of the Central Government, take any measures necessary to oppose the grant of intellectual property rights in any country outside India on any biological resource obtained from India or knowledge associated with such biological resource which is derived from India.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites : are defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems - terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine having rich biodiversity.

Nallur Tamarind Grove - Bengaluru — group of old plants standing like ageless sentinels, firmly rooted to the ground
Hogrekan - Chikmagalur — A link with Bababudanagiri and Kemmangundi, adjoining Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Yemmedode Tiger Reserve and serving as "Wildlife Corridor" between Kudremukha and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.
University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru — critical repository of various forms of flora and fauna
Ambaraguda Shimoga Karnataka — Shola vegetation & revenue land located between Sharavathi WLS and Someshwara WLS.
Glory of Allapalli Gadchiroli Near Nagapur — natural forest having biological, ethinical and historical values.
Tonglu BHS under Darjeeling Forest Division — Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas
Dhotrey BHS under Darjeeling Forest Division -- Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas
Dialong Village, Tamenglong, Manipur —
Ameenpur lake, Sangareddy, Telangana

Central Zoo Authority of India

Constituted under the Wild Life (Protection) Act.

it is the body of the government of India responsible for oversight of zoos affiliated to World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

WILDLIFE CRIME CONTROL BUREAU (WCCB)

Statutory body of GOI under MoEF constituted by amending Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, a special Act to protect the wildlife and to combat organised wildlife crime in the country.
Complement the efforts of the state Govts, primary enforcers of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and other enforcement agencies of the country.
Headquarter in New Delhi and 5 regional offices at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Jabalpur.
Assists and advises the Customs authorities in inspection of the consignments of flora & fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such an item.
partnering with United Nations University and CIESIN-Earth Institute at Columbia University through the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System Initiative

NGRBA NATIONAL GANGA RIVER BASIN AUTHORITY was constituted on February 2009 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Creation of the National Council for River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management), as an Authority under the Chairperson of Prime Minister, in place of the existing NGRBA for overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of river Ganga Basin.

Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

is NGO in 1998 committed to the protection of India's wildlife with aim to conserve nature, especially endangered species and threatened habitats, in partnership with communities and governments.
It was formed in response to the rapidly deteriorating condition of wildlife in India.
WTI is a registered charity in India (under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961).
WTI has been credited for achieving conservation milestones such as Recovering population of critically endangered species, Translocation of Species, Reducing Human-Animal Conflict, Rescue and Rehabilitation of Animals including Elephants,Tigers,Leopards, One-horned Rhino and Bears.

Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in hyderabad.

The Forest Survey of India undertakes a biennial assessment of forest and tree cover.

Flagship Species — species chosen to represent an environmental cause, such as an ecosystem in need of conservation.
Keystone Species — whose addition to or loss from an ecosystem leads to major changes in abundance or occurrence of at least one other species.
Indicator Species — whose presence indicates the presence of a set of other species and whose absence indicates the lack of that entire set of species.
Foundation species — dominant primary producer in an ecosystem both in terms of abundance and influence. (Kelp , Corals)
Charismatic megafauna — large animal species with widespread popular appeal e.g. Giant Panda, Bengal Tiger, Blue Whale
Umbrella species — wide-ranging species whose requirements include those of many other species.

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UN Progms :

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) launched the UN web - based knowledge platform for sustainable development (Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform SDKP).

The platform presents analysis on the key topics including in the Rio+20 outcome document and contains additional links related to Agenda 21 and the Commission for Sustainable Development.

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IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — HQ at Geneva

A scientific and intergovernmental body under United Nations, set up at the request of member governments, dedicated to the task of providing the world with an objective, scientific view of climate change and its political and economic impacts.
First established in 1988 by 2 United Nations Orgs, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and later endorsed by UNGA through Resolution 43/53.
Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP.
The IPCC produces reports that support UNFCCC, which is the main international treaty on climate change.
IPCC reports cover "the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."
The IPCC does not carry out its own original research, nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself.
The IPCC bases its assessment on the published literature, which includes peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources.
Thousands of scientists and experts contribute (on a voluntary basis, without payment from IPCC)to writing and reviewing reports, which are then reviewed by governments.
IPCC reports contain a "Summary for Policymakers", which is subject to line-by-line approval by delegates from all participating Govts. Typically this involves the governments of more than 120 countries.
The IPCC provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change,producing reports which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments.

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in equal parts, between the IPCC and Al Gore.

‘Good Practices Guidance (GPG)’ developed by IPCC : for estimating Green House Gases Inventories.

From Insights Test 32 (2017)

World Climate Conference was one of the first major international meetings on climate change. Essentially a scientific conference, it was attended by scientists from a wide range of disciplines. The Conference led to the establishment of the World Climate Programme and the World Climate Research Programme. It also led to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by WMO and UNEP in 1988.

WCSP World Climate Services Programme by WMO

Its scope of WCSP spans across four inter-related areas:

Climate data and analysis;
Climate monitoring, watch and prediction;
Climate system operation and infrastructure;
Climate adaptation and risk management;

Bruntdland report is on the concept of sustainable development and one of first sources that made the use of the term ‘sustainable development’ popular. It was the basis of further negotiations in several bodies of the 1970s and 1980s followed up by the Earth Summit 1992. It was the Earth Summit that acknowledged the global environmental consciousness internationally, perhaps for the first ti

Rio Summit

UNCED United Nations Conference On Environment And Development aka Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development : consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the world.
Agenda 21 is an action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to sustainable development is a comprehensive blueprint of action to be taken globally, nationally and focally by organisations of the UN, governments, and major groups in every area fa which humans directly affect the environment. The number 21 refers to an agenda for the 21st century. As non-binding, voluntarily implemented action plan of the United Nations with regards to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.

Two important legally binding agreements

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Convention on Biological Diversity UNCBD

UNFCCC:

The UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, which marked the beginning of the international community’s first concerted effort to confront the problem of climate change.
Known also as the Rio Convention, the UNFCCC established a framework for action to stabilise concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere.
The UNFCCC entered into force in 1994, and nearly all of the world’s nations—a total of 195—have now signed on.
Its objective is to "stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system"
The framework sets non binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms.

Conference of the Parties (COP) : The nations, who’ve signed UNFCCC convention, meet every year to discuss climate change strategy.

Kyoto Protocol

Signed in 1997 in 3rd meeting of UNFCC nation as COP3 held at Kyoto (Japan), Kyoto protocol was created that wanted the Industrialised nations to reduce their green house gas emission by around 5.2% by 2012. (measured against 1990 levels)
US has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, while Canada First to withdraw from it in 2012. Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by all other Annex I Parties.
Kyoto protocol came into force only after required number of Annex 1 Countries ratified it. So It came into force in 2005.

“Common but differentiated responsibilities” : “Common” responsibility of every nation of this world, to reduce Green house gas emission, but there should be some difference between the responsibility given to developed countries and developing countries.

Kyoto Protocol follows that principle and assigns separate responsibilities to the countries.

“Pre-industrial” levels refers to the period 1850-1900.

Annex	Details
Annex I	List 40 of industrialised countries and economies in transition: US, France, Japan etc. including the European Union. The EITs are the former centrally - planned (Soviet) economies of Russia and Eastern Europe. They pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 (pre-industrial) levels by the year 2000.
Annex II	A sub-group of Annex 1 Countries, these Annex II countries are required to give financial assistance and technology to the developing countries (non-Annex countries).
Non Annex	Developing countries like India, Brazil, China. They do Not have compulsory binding targets to reduce green house gas emission, although they are encouraged to do it.
Annex A	It gives the list of 6 Green House gases that are responsible for Climate change. 1. Carbon dioxide (CO2); 2. Methane (CH4); 3. Nitrous oxide (N2O); 4. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); 5. Per fluoro carbons (PFCs); 6. Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
Annex B	This gives Annex I countries (Developed countries) – compulsory binding targets to reduce green house gas emission. For example USA is required to cut down its emission by 7% …

Emission Trading

It is a market-based approach to control air pollution by creating tradable pollution credits to add profit motive as an incentive for good performers unlike the traditional methods of penalty.
‘Emission Trading’ as a concept was introduced under Kyoto Protocol as central element in form of CDM Clean Development Mechanism. Under which the countries which have extra credits to spare can sell them to the countries which have over-shot their targets.
"Joint implementation" is a programme under Kyoto Protocol that allows industrialized countries to meet part of their required cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions by paying for projects that reduce emissions in other industrialized countries.
At present, the European Union’s emission trading scheme is world’s largest.

Recently China formally launched its National Carbon Market.

Bali Road Map (2007): includes the Bali Action Plan (BAP) that was adopted by decision of the UNFCCC COP13. It also includes the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP)negotiations and their 2009 deadline, the launch of the Adaptation Fund, the scope and content of the Article 9 review of the Kyoto Protocol, as well as decisions on technology transfer and on reducing emissions from deforestation.

Copenhagen Accord (2009): At COP15 in Denmark, The accord says that all countries should pledge to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emission but all of the pledges made under the Copenhagen Accord are voluntary; There are no binding obligations placed on these pledges by UNFCCC or any other international body.

Earth Summit 2012 or Rio +20 or United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

The political outcome of the conference was non binding document titled “The Future We Want“.

It paved the way for Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) to be applied in 2016-2030 having 17 goals with 169 targets.

2 main themes :

To build a green economy to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty, including support for developing countries that will allow them to find a green path for development.
To improve international coordination for sustainable development by building an institutional framework

Outcomes of Rio +20 :

Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in rio 1992 was replaced in 2013 by High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development that meets every year(since 2016) as part of the ECOSOC meetings and every fourth year as part of the General Assembly meetings.
The HLPF is the main United Nations platform on sustainable development and it has a central role in the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the global level.
In the HLPF, UN member countries are expected to present their Voluntary National Review (VNR) on implementation of SDGs. The VNRs thus serve as a basis for international review of progress of SDGs.
From INDIA, NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for the implementation of SDGs in India, and is responsible for presenting the VNRs to the designated body.

‘Future Earth’ launched in June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) is a 10-year international research programme which aims to build knowledge about the environmental and human aspects of Global change, and to find solutions for sustainable development.

It aims to increase the impact of scientific research on sustainable development which are ‘core projects’, under the umbrella of the existing 4 global environmental change programmes, DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).

COP21 of UNFCCC at PARIS 2015:

It gave 2 landmark agreement

Paris Climate change agreement aims at keeping the rise in Global temperatures well below 2 degree Celsius and on driving efforts to limit it further it to 1.5 degree Celsius. This first time bring all the countries together for single cause i.e. climate change under UNFCCC. Unlike Kyoto protocol which was having Top-Down approach , Paris agreement have Bottom-Up approach, encouraged the nations to come with NAPCC. HENCE The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
SDGs replacing MDGs set the development agenda for next 15 years.

On Domestic Front launch of ISA (International Solar Alliance) and Submission of Ambitious INDC were contributed.

INDCs Intended Nationally Determined Contributions : It was used under UNFCCC for reductions in GHG emissions and had to be submitted in COP21 Paris in Dec 2015 in which Countries were given freedom and flexibility to ensure these climate change mitigation and adaptation plans were nationally appropriate.

COP22 of UNFCCC at Marakesh 2015:

Sense of urgency to take actions on climate change
Eradicate poverty, Food Security
Enhance resilience of Agriculture
Mobilisation of US $100 Billion per year

COP23 (Bonn Climate Meet) of UNFCCC at Bonn Germany but organised by Fiji : set the stage for negotiation in 2018 & divided into 3 parts which deals with :

o Completion of the Work Programme under Paris Agreement
o Talanoa Dialogue : a facilitative dialogue in 2018, to take stock of the collective efforts of Parties in relation to progress towards the long - term goal referred to Paris Agreement and to inform the preparation of NDCs.
o Pre-2020 implementation and ambition : Parties agreed that there will be 2 stock-takes to discuss pre-2020 commitments -- in 2018 and 2019 -- before the Paris Agreement becomes operative in 2020.

Gender Action Plan : The first ever Gender Action Plan to the UNFCCC was adopted at COP23

Powering Past Coal alliance: Initiated during COP23 by UK and Canada & joined by 15 countries alliance to phase out coal-based power by 2030.

Below 50 initiative: Launched by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) during COP23 to create the demand and market for those sustainable fuels that produce at least 50% less CO2 emissions than conventional fossil fuels.

2018 Talanoa dialogue (2018 Facilitative dialogue). "Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji and the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions, which are for the collective good.

Global Environment Facility : established on the eve of 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the conventions : UNFCCC, CBD, UNCCD, POPs, MINMATA convention.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.
The GEF unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sectors to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.
Since 1992, the GEF has provided over $17 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $88 billion in financing for more than 4000 projects in 170 countries.
Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has invested $450million and leveraged similar levels of co financing supporting over 14,500 community based projects in over 125 countries.
It serves as financial mechanism for UNFCCC, UNCCD, CBD, Stockholm convention on POPS, Minmata Convention.
An independently operating financial organization (with 183 countries), the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
The GEF, although not linked formally to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), supports implementation of the Protocol in countries with economies in transition.
The GEF also manages 2 separate adaptation-focused funds under the UNFCCC which mobilize funding specifically earmarked for activities related to adaptation.

Least Developed Countries Fund LDCF
Special Climate Change Fund SCCF

Hence Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), both managed by GEF.

India is the founder member of GEF. The first GEF Assembly comprising all member countries, taking place once in 4 years, was hosted by India in 1998. For all India coordination of GEF activities :

Political Focal Point (PFP) — Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance

Operational Focal Point (OFP) — MoEF&CC

‘Creating and Sustaining Markets for Energy Efficiency’ : with EESL (Power Ministry ) and GEF (Later UNDP, ADB came) aims to mitigate 60 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Small Grants Programme (SGP) :

Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), SGP supports initiatives that demonstrate community-based, innovative, gender sensitive and participatory approaches. Under the programme, grants are made directly to community-based organizations (CBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support community-level initiatives that help conserve global biodiversity, mitigate climate change, protect international waters, reduce the impacts of persistent organic pollutants and prevent land degradation while generating sustainable livelihoods.

In India, the programme has been supported since 2000 through the Centre for Environment Education (CEE from 1984 HQ in Ahmedabad as a Centre of Excellence supported by MoEF&CC).

GWP Global Wildlife Program

Aka “Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development” program
The GWP is launched by GEF but led by World-Bank global partnership that promotes wildlife conservation and sustainable development by combating illicit trafficking in wildlife.
By approaching the poaching crisis holistically through various country projects and a larger global project, it seeks to reduce both the supply and demand that drives the illegal wildlife trade, and protect species and habitats through integrated landscape planning.
India has jointly hosted the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) with World Bank and UNDP.
The GWP will address issues related to illegal wildlife trade across 19 countries in Asia and Africa. It will act as a platform to exchange knowledge and coordinate in on-ground action for combating illegal poaching of wildlife and improve governance on wildlife conservation.

Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established in 2011 within the framework of the UNFCCC to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. So far $10.2 Billion pledged.

It aims to deliver equal amounts of funding to mitigation and adaptation.
GCF’s activities are aligned with the priorities of developing countries through the principle of country ownership, and national and sub- National organisations can receive funding directly.
Developing countries appoint a National Designated Authority (NDA) that acts as the interface between their government and GCF and must approve all GCF project activities within the country. India's NDA is NABARD.
The Fund pays particular attention to the needs of societies that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African States.
GCF under the Convention UNFCCC and Adaptation Fund (AF) under the Kyoto Protocol

Adaptation Fund (AF) was established in 2001 to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

The Adaptation Fund is financed with a share of proceeds from the clean development mechanism (CDM) project activities and other sources of funding. The share of proceeds amounts to 2 per cent of certified emission reductions (CERs) issued for a CDM project activity.

Factors responsible for top 3 warmest years on record in three consecutive years with 2016 having highest temperatures :

Due to the El Niño phenomenon
The long-term trend of warming driven by human activities continues unabated.
Concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are the highest on record.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized intergovernmental organization of United Nations, headquarter at Geneva dedicated to meteorology (weather), climatology (climate), operational hydrology (water) and other related geophysical sciences such as oceanography and atmospheric chemistry.

Its Reports are

Greenhouse Gas Bulletin
Status of the World Climate

Conservation International (CI)

An American non-profit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
Its goal is to protect nature as a source of food, fresh water, livelihoods and a stable climate.
CI’s work focuses on science, policy, and partnership with businesses and communities.
The organization employs more than 1,000 people and works with more than 2,000 partners in 30 countries.
CI has helped support 1,200 protected areas and interventions across 77 countries, safeguarding more than 601 million hectares of land, marine and coastal areas.
“Trends.Earth” - An innovative land degradation monitoring tool developed by Conservation International.
It provides details on biodiversity hotspots.

BreatheLife is a partnership of WHO, UNEP UN Environment and CCAC Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants that aims to increase awareness and action on air pollution by governments and individuals.

CCAC Climate and Clean Air Coalition is a voluntary partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses etc. committed to reduce short-lived climate pollutants with over 120 state and non-state partners. It was initiated in 2012 by governments of Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden and USA, along with UNEP.

SLCP Short-lived climate pollutants include a variety of gases that have short-term warming effects often in excess of CO2, but don’t stay in the atmosphere as long. These include methane, HFCs, black carbon (soot), tropospheric ozone etc

SLCP mitigation has the potential to avoid up to 0.6°C of warming by mid-century.

CCPI Climate Change Performance Index

It is issued by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action Network.
The report ranks 56 countries & European Union, which together are responsible for 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Countries are ranked across 4 categories — Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energy, Energy Use and Climate Policy.
India has been ranked 14th in 2018 improved it's ranking from 20th in 2017.
Top 3 positions on the Index still remain unoccupied as no country is currently on a Paris agreement pathway.

“Green Growth Indicators 2017” : In 2017, released by OECD highlighting the slow progress in achieving the Green Growth.

GGGI Global Green Growth Institution

Headquartered in Seoul (South Korea), a treaty based inter-governmental organization.
India is NOT founding member but associated with research work.
Established in 2012, at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Initiative on Green Growth and Development in India is a collaborative project of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

GGB Greenhouse Gas Bulletin

In the Report , World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) explains that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has hit a new high.
It is WMO annual flagship report, which tracks concentrations of gasses in the atmosphere in the post-industrial era (since 1750).

GAW Global Atmosphere Watch programme of WMO : provides reliable scientific data and information on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, its natural and anthropogenic change, and helps to improve the understanding of interactions between the atmosphere, the oceans and the biosphere.

Earth Overshoot Day fell on August 2, the earliest date since ecological overshoot began in the early 1970s.

is the date when humanity annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can regenerate over the entire year.
calculated by WWF & Global Footprint Network.
It signifies that we have emitted more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb in a year

Global Footprint Network : An international NGO nonprofit organization founded in 2003 to enable a sustainable future where all people have the opportunity to thrive within the means of one planet.

Climate engineering or Geo engineering

A collaborative study by India, China and USA has found that a combination of 2 geo engineering methods which can be used to reduce global warming and precipitation rates to pre-industrial levels by cutting down the heat absorbed by our planet from the sun.

Stratospheric sulphate aerosol injection which involves spraying into the stratosphere fine, light-coloured particles designed to reflect back part of the solar radiation (global dimming). Sulphur Dioxide gas is used for the process.
Cirrus cloud thinning or manipulation — cirrus clouds are removed or thinned so that their long-wave trapping capacity is reduced and thus cools the surface.

Other methods include Using pale-coloured roofing material or growing high albedo crops .

6.Convention on Biological (CBD)

A Legally binding Convention recognised for the first time, that the conservation of biological diversity is "a common concern of humankind and is an integral part of the development process. The agreement covers all species & genetic resources.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force on 29 December 1993. It has 3 main objectives:

The conservation of biological diversity
The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity
The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. It was adopted on 29 Jan 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003.
There are 2 main sets of procedures, one for LMOs intended for direct introduction into the environment, known as the advance informed agreement (AIA) procedure, and another for LMOs intended for direct use as food or feed, or for processing (LMOs-FFP).
Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

It specifies response measures to be taken in the event of damage to biodiversity resulting from LMOs.

Access and Benefit-sharing Clearing-House (ABS Clearing-House) is a platform for exchanging information on access and benefit-sharing. ABS Clearing-House is a key tool for facilitating the implementation of Nagoya Protocol, by enhancing legal certainty and transparency on procedures for access and benefit-sharing and for monitoring the utilization of genetic resources along the value chain, including through the IRCC internationally recognized certificate of compliance. By hosting relevant information regarding ABS, the ABS Clearing-House will offer opportunities for connecting users and providers of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

Convention on Biological Diversity establishes an open-ended intergovernmental scientific advisory body known as the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to provide the Conference of the Parties (COP) and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the Convention.

The new plan consists of five strategic goals, including 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

Strategic Goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

Strategic Goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

Strategic Goal D: Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services

Strategic Goal E: Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

Global Taxonomy Initiative by COP of CBD

An inter-governmental effort was created to remove the ‘taxonomic impediment’ to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
GTI provides guidance to governments, taxonomists, non-government and international organizations, responsible for implementing the GTI (i.e. issues related to taxonomy of flora and fauna).

Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Natural History Museum (NHM), UK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of genetic/taxonomic studies, research and training, conservation in India, including species and habitat conservation assessments. NHM will help BSI in capacity building in areas of systematic botany and long-term conservation of plant genetic resources in India.

IAS Invasive Alien Species — Uninvited company

Alien species that become invasive are considered to be main direct drivers of biodiversity loss across the globe. In addition, alien species have been estimated to cost our economies hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

Global Register of Invasive Species (GRIS) was developed as a concept and prototype by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) in 2006 as part of a project undertaken for the Defenders of Wildlife on the Regulation of Live Animal Imports into the United States.

GRIIS hosted by the ISSG compiles annotated and verified country-wise inventories of introduced and invasive species. Development and population of the GRIIS was undertaken by the ISSG within the framework of activities of the Information Synthesis and Assessment Working Group of the Global Invasive Alien Species Information Partnership (GIASIP).

This concept was revisited and expanded by the ISSG to address Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 and support its achievement-with the development of the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS).

Strategic Goal B (Targets 5-10): Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use.
Target 9: By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.

GIASI Partnership : The GIASI Partnership is intended to support Parties to the CBD who are committed to the effective implementation of Article 8(h), Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 (invasive alien species), and the various decisions under the CBD pertaining to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive alien species.

ISSG : The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is a global network of scientific and policy experts on invasive species, organized under the auspices of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of IUCN. It aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them.

South-South Cooperation is a term historically used to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, and is being promoted as an essential cross-cutting mechanism designed to deliver capacity building and technology support activities in developing countries and regions of the South.

South-South cooperation can also be identified as a complement to North-South cooperation to enhance technical, financial, scientific and technological exchanges and innovations for development.

Triangular cooperation involves two or more developing countries in collaboration with a third party, typically a developed country government or organisation, contributing to the exchanges with its own know-how and resources.

The Bio-Bridge Initiative is an overarching programme focused on catalysing and facilitating technical and scientific cooperation among Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and to its Protocols on biosafety (Cartagena Protocol) and on access and benefit-sharing (Nagoya Protocol).

The Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) is a mechanism set up by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to facilitate the exchange of information on Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and assist the Parties to better comply with their obligations under the Protocol. Global access to a variety of scientific, technical, environmental, legal and capacity building information is provided in the six official languages of the UN.

Global UNEP-GEF BCH Capacity Building Project for Effective Participation in the Biosafety Clearing-House has been enabling countries to successfully meet their obligations as Parties to the Protocol by building capacity and helping to set-up national systems for BCH participation since 2004.

India Biosafety Clearing House (BCH) :

India is a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and ratified it in 2003.
As per Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, requires set up of BCH in order to facilitate the exchange of scientific, technical environmental and legal information on living modified organisms (LMOs).
BCH is an information exchange mechanism established to assist Parties to implement its provisions and to facilitate sharing of information on, and experience with, LMOs.
One of the major objectives of projects going under BCH is to strengthen the biosafety management system in India to ensure adequate protection of human health and biodiversity from potential harms arising from all living modified organisms (LMOs) related activities in agriculture.

BIOFIN by UNDP :

A global partnership that helps governments cost, plan and pay for action on biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use.
Available evidence and the decisions adopted by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) indicate that a significant gap remains in finance for biodiversity management, for countries to drastically scale up their efforts and achieve the 20 Aichi Targets defined in the CBD’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2020.
In this context, UNDP in 2012 launched the Biodiversity Finance Initiative – BIOFIN, as a new global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner – building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and biodiversity, with a particular focus on the needs and transformational opportunities at the national level.
BIOFIN is managed by UNDP Ecosystems and Biodiversity Programme, in partnership with EU European Union and the Governments of Germany and Switzerland.

*ECOLEX, the Gateway to Environmental Law, is a web-based information service operated jointly by FAO ,IUCN ,UNEP.

ECOLEX is the most comprehensive global source of national and international environmental and natural resources law and policy for Accessing biodiversity-related legal information.

Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) is the flagship publication of UNCBD Convention on Biological Diversity as periodic report that summarises the latest data on the status and trends of biodiversity and draws conclusions relevant to the further implementation of the Convention.

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) : a unique partner-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. Co-chaired by IUCN and UNDP, MFF provides a platform for collaboration among the many different agencies, sectors and countries which are addressing challenges to coastal ecosystem and livelihood issues. The goal is to promote an integrated ocean-wide approach to coastal management and to building the resilience of ecosystem-dependent coastal communities.

Midori Prize for Biodiversity

GEO -The Group on Earth Observations

Established in 2005 as an intergovernmental mechanism for coordinating all existing and future Earth observations systems and implementing a “Global Earth Observation System of Systems” (GEOSS).
It is working to improve the availability, access and use of Earth observations.
It was launched in response to calls from the WSSD, the G8 and three ministerial Earth Observation Summits to improve existing Earth observation systems.
GEO now boasts over 100 member countries and 45 participating organizations.
It is constructing GEOSS on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan that runs from 2005 to 2015.
It is funded by voluntary contributions.
Ministers of the GEO member governments meet periodically to provide the political mandate and overall strategic direction for GEO.

GCP Global Carbon Project

Established in 2001 has scientific goal to develop a complete picture of the global carbon cycle, including both its biophysical and human dimensions together with the interactions and feedbacks between them.
This will be:
The Global Carbon Project is responding to the challenges of geographical, temporal distributions for Carbon Management and anthropogenic, Non-anthropogenic control through a shared partnership between the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and Diversitas. This partnership constitutes the Earth Systems Science Partnership (ESSP).

ESSP Earth System Science Partnership

A partnership under the auspices of the International Council for Science (ICSU) for the integrated study of the Earth system, the ways that it is changing, and the implications for global and regional sustainability.
It includes Diversitas, IGBP, WCRP and IHDP.
Earth system science is the study of the Earth system, with an emphasis on observing, understanding and predicting global environmental changes involving interactions between land, atmosphere, water, ice, biosphere, societies, technologies and economies.

International Council for Science (ICSU or International Council of Scientific Unions) is one of the oldest NGO devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. India is also its member. It receives funds from its members, framework contracts with unesco ,grants from UN.

World Climate Conference : Organised by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for global climate issues principally global warming in addition to climate research and forecasting. All three held at Geneva.

WCC-1 in 1979 as scientific conference on climate change led to establishment of World Climate Programme and World Climate Research Programme. It also led to creation of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by WMO and UNEP in 1988.
WCC-2 in 1990 had main task to review the WCP set up by first conference. Eventually, developments at conference led to establishment of UNFCCC of which the Kyoto Protocol is a part, and to the establishment of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), a global observing system of systems for climate and climate-related observations and co-sponsored by WMO, UNESCO, UNEP, ICSU. GCOS regularly on the adequacy of the current climate observing system to UNFCCC
WCC-3 in 2009 focused on climate predictions and information for decision-making at the seasonal to multi-decadal timescales. It help societies adapt to climate change in line with Bali Action Plan, especially Nairobi Work Programme. The outcomes formed part of WMO input to the 2009 UNFCC COP-15 meeting for climate mitigation in Copenhagen in the December following WCC-3.

INDIA & CBD : Pursuant to the CBD, India enacted the Biological Diversity Act 2002 & implemented through a 3-tiered institutional structure at the national, state and local levels.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at central level to perform facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.
The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs)
The institutions of self-governments are required to set up Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in their respective areas for conservation, sustainable use, documentation of biodiversity and chronicling of knowledge related to biodiversity.

GOI in collaboration with Norwegian Government has established a “Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law (CEBPOL)” in National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai, to develop professional expertise in biodiversity policies and laws and develop capacity building.

BCRLIP Biodiversity Conservation & Rural Livelihood Improvement Project aims at conserving Biodiversity in selected landscapes, including wildlife protected areas/critical conservation areas while improving rural livelihoods through participatory approaches. It is funded by International Development Association (IDA) and a grant from Global Environment Facility (GEF).

IPBES Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is an independent intergovernmental body, established in 2012 provide policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems etc.

WAVES Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services is a World Bank led global partnership which aims to promote sustainable development by ensuring that natural resources are mainstreamed into development planning and national economic accounts.

ISFL BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes is a multilateral fund, supported by donor governments and managed by World Bank. It promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the land sector, from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+), and from sustainable agriculture, as well as smarter land-use planning, policies and practices.

Ecosystem Services Improvement Project

India recently signed Global Environment Facility(GEF) Grant agreement with World Bank for this Project.
It aims to protect, restore and enhance India’s forest cover and help in maintaining ecological balance , Also to improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.
To be implemented in Chhattisgarh & MP for 5 years by MOEFCC through ICFR(council forest) under National Mission for Green India (one of 8 NAPCC).

Ramsar Convention NOT affiliated with the United Nations system of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, but it works very closely with the other MEAs and is a full partner among the "biodiversity-related cluster" of treaties and agreements.

Montreux Record - is principal tool of ramsar convention ,register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. At present, 2 Indian sites are listed under Montreax record in 2017 — Keoladeo and Loktak Lake.

Chilka lake was removed and received Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for 2002.

The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as International Organisation Partners (IOPs). These are:

Birdlife International
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Wetlands International
WWF International
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

Under Ramsar-

Changwon Declaration on human well-being and wetlands highlights positive action for ensuring human well.:being and security in the future under the themes - water, climate change, people's livelihood and health, land use change, and biodiversity.

\\\\ World Wildlife Day was celebrated on March 3rd. This year 2018 theme : Theme: “Big cats: predators under threat”.

UNGA proclaimed 3 March, the day of signature of CITES, as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar.

CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an international regulatory treaty between 182 member states. It was formed in 1973 and regulates the international trade in over 35,000 wild species of plants and animals.

The focus of the convention is not solely on the protection of species. It also promotes controlled trade that is not detrimental to the sustainability of wild species. It has become the best-known conservation convention in the world.

It works primarily through a system of classification and licensing. Wild species are categorised in Appendices I to III. This often reflects species’ threat status on the Red List of the IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species first created in 1964.

Appendix I prohibits trade in species classified as highly endangered.
Appendix II allows trade under very specific conditions. This requires exporting countries obtain a permit, but not the importing country.
Appendix III species require only a certificate of origin to be traded.

National CITES management authorities may issue permits once scientific authorities show non-detriment findings. In other words, scientific evidence must demonstrate that species sustainability will not be adversely affected by trade. Where data is lacking, the precautionary principle applies.

(CITES)	administered through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC)
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS)	The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as CMS or Bonn Convention) aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. inter governmental treaty under aegis of UNEP.
7. Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT)
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTC)	inter-governmental organization, under UN (1986) promoting the conservation and sustainable management, use and trade of tropical Forest Resources.
9. United Nations Forum on Forest (UNFF)	Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) established in 2000 subsidiary body with the main objective to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests based on the Rio Declaration and agenda 21.
(IUCN)
11. Global Tiger Forum (GTF)	inter governmental and international body Formed in 1994 with its secretariat at New Delhi to save five sub-species of tigers in the wild distributed. over 14 tiger range countries of the world.

Hazardous material

Stockholm Convention - Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants POPs

Basel Convention — on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes are toxic to both humans and wildlife and their Disposal

Rotterdam Convention (initiated by UNEP and FAO in 1989 ) creates LEGALLY BINDING obligations for the implementation of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure , covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or restricted for health.

Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is a means of sharing information globally regarding certain chemicals and pesticides that have been considered hazardous to human health and/or the environment by the Conference of the Parties.

VIENNA CONVENTION — as a framework for the international efforts to protect the ozone layer however it does not include legally binding reduction goals for the use of CFCs.

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer are dedicated to the protection of the earth's ozone layer, was designed to reduce the production and consumption o( ozone depleting substances in order to reduce ' their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth's fragile ozone Layer.

Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer are the international treaties specific for the protection of the Stratospheric Ozone (Ozone layer).
The Montreal Protocol has been recognized as the most successful international environmental treaty in history.
Montreal Protocol is universally ratified and all the 197 UN member countries of the world are the parties to the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol.

With 197 parties, they(Vienna , Montreal) are the most widely ratified treaties in United Nations history.

Land

UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Established in 1994 as sole LEGALLY binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
It is only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
Its 197 Parties aim, through partnerships, to implement the Convention and achieve the SDGs Sustainable Development Goals.
The end goal is to protect land from over-use and drought, so it can continue to provide food, water and energy.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change MoEF&CC is the nodal Ministry for this Convention.
It recently released the first edition of Global Land Outlook report.
2010 to 2020 has been declared as United Nations Decade for Deserts and Fight Against Desertification.

RECENTLY 4-day Asia Pacific Regional Workshop of UNCCD, jointly hosted by MoEFCC and UNCCD Secretariat, to build the capacity of the Asia-Pacific Region to monitor and report on land degradation, was recently held in New Delhi.

Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, became the first desert in the world to achieve large-scale desertification control.
Jordan launched Sahara Forest Project (SFP) to turn the desert land into a flourishing farmland.

LDN Land Degradation Neutrality

defined by the Parties to the UNCCD
It is a state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.
To date, over 110 countries have engaged with the LDN target setting programme and considerable progress has been made since the 2030 Agenda was adopted in 2015.
LDN represents a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices.
It is a unique approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the recovery of degraded areas.
It squarely places the measures to conserve, sustainably manage and restore land in the context of land use planning.

LDN Fund Land Degradation Neutrality Fund was launched at the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) to UNCCD in Ordos, China.

It is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private capital for sustainable land management & landscape restoration activities worldwide.
It will be independent from UN and will be managed by a private sector investment management firm.

UNCCD’s Capacity Building Marketplace supports students, grassroots movements, professionals, researchers, civil society organizations (CSOs), farmers’ organizations and the general public to develop their full potential regarding sustainable land management practices to address drought and land degradation.

Global Land Outlook (GLO) was published by UNCCD in Sep 2017 is a strategic communications platform and publication that demonstrates the central importance of land quality to human well-being, assesses current trends in land conversion, degradation and loss, identifies the driving factors and analyzes the impacts, provides scenarios for future challenges and opportunities, and presents a new and transformative vision for land management policy, planning and practice at global and national scales.

UNCCD’s 3S Initiative “Sustainability, Stability and Security” aims to address the root causes of instability in Africa, particularly migration and conflict related to natural resource degradation.

UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) promotes dialogue between scientists and policy makers on desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). The mandate of the SPI is to provide the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) thematic guidance on knowledge requirements for implementing the UNCCD.

Great Green Wall, or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative :

Africa's flagship initiative to combat the effects of climate change and desertification.
Led by the African Union, the initiative aims to transform the lives of millions of people by creating a great mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn.
Launched in 2007, this game-changing initiative aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and in the process transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel.

The Global Mechanism of the UNCCD is implementing a flagship initiative under the Great Green Wall called FLEUVE – The Local Environmental Coalition for a Green Union. The project is financed by the European Commission to the tune of Euro 7 million and is being implemented from 2014-18.

Marine environment

16. International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the global intergovernmental body charged with the conservation of whales and the management of whaling with headquarter in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Atmosphere

17. Vienna convention and — to protect the ozone layer however it DOES NOT include LEGALLY BINDING reduction goals for the use of CFCs. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

GIAHS Global Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Sites by FAO is to recognise "Remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development.

(GIAHS) cities in India : Koraput, Odisha State; Kashmir Valley, Pampore region and Kuttanad Kerala (Below Sea Level Farming System)

Koraput, Odisha State — traditional agriculture system

This region has rich biodiversity, growing several varieties of paddy, millets, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables.
Region primarily a tribal district inhabited by khonds, bonda tribes practicing poddhu (shifting) cultivation.
Shifting cultivation – loss of forest cover = hurting the biodiversity.
Soil erosion, Soil degradation, habitat loss.
Illiteracy, large family, small farm holding size.
The socio-economic indicators are very poor here nearly 84% living in abject(Miserable, Pathetic) poverty.

Kashmir Valley, Pampore region — Saffron Heritage Site of Kashmir in India

Grains such as maize, rice, rajmah/lentils, fruit and vegetable crops and pulses.
A set of unique low-tillage traditional agricultural practices are carried
During the fallow period, growth of fruit, fodder and mulberry trees along the farm boundaries (Agro-forestry) is practiced, thereby maintaining traditional agro-biodiversity.

Problems

Loss of productivity due to the lack of agricultural management practices
Climate change vulnerabilities, water scarcity and weather vagaries
Efforts from the younger generation to appreciate and conserve heritage systems absent.

Kuttanad Kerala—

Kuttanad is a delta region of about 900 sq. km situated in west coast of Kerala State, India.
Unique feature: Below sea level rice cultivation site, only such system in India.
Farmers of Kuttanad have developed and mastered the spectacular technique of below sea level cultivation over 150 year ago.
They made this system unique as it contributes remarkably well to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services including several livelihood services for local communities.

Other four Potential sites for GIAHS

Ladakh : Four types of land are cultivated: Zhing (cultivated land), Zhing Zhang (well fertilized land), Rizhing (stony land), Thang Zhing (pasture land). Apricots, apples and walnuts are cultivated in deep valleys.
Raikas (Rajasthan) : pastoral caste Camel herding is their heritage and combine crop production during the summer rains with pastoralism during the autumn-spring dry season
Korangadu (Erode, Coimbatore, Karur, Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu) : Innovative fencing mechanism of land by live “mullukiluvai” (Commiphora berryi), a thorny drought resistant shrub. No fertilizer or nutrients, use of natural animal droppings.
Catamaran Fishing (Tamilnadu) : Bay of Bengal waters source of unique resources, marine biodiversity, sustainable way of exploiting the marine resources , also represents a set of Agricultural Biodiversity of Global Significance (ABGS).
Soppina bettas systems (Western Ghats): foliage and leaf litter of (Soppina Bettas) used as fertilizer-local innovation. Soppina Bettas provide manure, botanical pesticides, fuel wood, fodder, medicine and timber to the communities in Karnataka.

National Wastelands Development Board (NWDB) was set up under Ministry of Environment & Forests in 1985.

18. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

19. Kyoto Protocol

The Pench National Park provided the location used by the BBC for the innovative wildlife series Tiger: Spy in the Jungle, a three-part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough which used concealed cameras, placed by elephants, in order to capture intimate tiger behavior. The programme aired for the first time in April 2008.

Kanha National Park : inspired the Jungle Book Author

Albedo is the measure of diffusive reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation received by a body, for example a planetary body such as Earth. It is dimensionless and measured on a scale from zero (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to one (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation).

China has started collecting an environment tax to better protect the environment and cut pollutant discharge, as the country’s Environmental Protection Tax Law took effect on Jan. 1, 2018. Singapore applied pollution tax.

Taxidermy is the preserving of an animal's body via stuffing or mounting for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state.

Tata Power Solar has commissioned India’s largest solar rooftop project with 12 MW capacity in Amritsar.
GAIL India (GAIL) has commissioned the country’s second-biggest rooftop solar power plant in UP.

About CABI

CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) is an international not-for-profit organisation that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.

Ozone molecule (O3)

It is harmful to air quality, outside of the ozone layer.
Tropospheric or Ground level or “bad” ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. This happens when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react in the presence of sunlight.
Ozone at ground level is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on people and the environment, and it is the main ingredient in “smog.”
Ozone (O3) is a colourless, reactive oxidant gas that is a major constituent of atmospheric smog. Many factors impact ground-level ozone development, including temperature, wind speed and direction, time of day, and driving patterns.
Ozone concentrations are influenced by the intensity of solar radiation, the absolute concentrations of NOx and VOCs, and the ratio of NOx and VOCs.
Anaerobic biological processes, lightning, and volcanic activity are the main natural contributors to atmospheric NOx, occasionally accounting for as much as 90% of all NOx emissions.
Ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation.
ओजोन परत पृथ्वी के समताप मंडल का एक क्षेत्र है जो सूर्य के पराबैंगनी विकिरण के अधिकांश को अवशोषित करता है।

Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) play a central role in the formation of the ozone hole in the Antarctic and Arctic. PSCs provide surfaces upon which heterogeneous chemical reactions take place. These reactions lead to the production of free radicals of chlorine in the stratosphere which directly destroy ozone molecules.

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)

an international marine research collaboration dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth through drilling, coring, and monitoring the sub seafloor.
The research enabled by IODP samples and data improves scientific understanding of changing climate and ocean conditions, the origins of ancient life, risks posed by geohazards, and the structure and processes of Earth’s tectonic plates and uppermost mantle.
IODP began in 2013 and builds on the research of four previous scientific ocean drilling programs: Project Mohole, Deep Sea Drilling Project, Ocean Drilling Program, and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.
Together, these programs represent the longest running and most successful international Earth science collaboration.

IUCN Red List of Ecosystems RLE

The RLE is jointly coordinated by IUCN CEM and GEMP.
It is governed by two interacting committees with specific functions: (i) the Steering Committee, and (ii) a Committee for Scientific Standards (CSS).
It is supported by the RLE Thematic Group of CEM, which is a group of volunteer experts that undertake diverse duties in support of the RLE objectives.
Assessments determine whether an ecosystem is not facing imminent risk of collapse, or whether it is vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.

Risk Assessment Criteria

There are eight categories of risk for each ecosystem.
Three of them are assigned on the basis of quantitative thresholds: Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) – together, these categories are described as threatened.
These are complemented by several qualitative categories that accommodate:

1) ecosystems that fail to meet the quantitative criteria for the threatened ecosystem categories (NT, Near Threatened);
2) ecosystems that unambiguously meet none of the quantitative criteria (LC, Least Concern);
3) ecosystems for which too few data exist to apply any criterion (DD, Data Deficient); and
4) ecosystems that have not yet been assessed (NE, Not Evaluated). An additional category (CO, Collapse) is assigned to ecosystems that have collapsed throughout their distribution, the analogue of the extinct (EX) category for species proposed by IUCN (2001).

Due to depletion of ozone layer, UV rays often penetrate deeply into water damaging marine life such as planktons. The issue of measurement of this damage is addressed by an Ozone biosensor.

For e.g. as a biosensor special strains of E. coli (that are almost totally unable to repair ultraviolet radiation damage to their DNA) can be dipped in the ocean to measure the penetration of UV rays in the water.

CEEW Council on Energy, Environment and Water :

South Asia’s leading not-for-profit policy research institutions
addresses pressing global challenges through an integrated and internationally focused approach. It relies on partnerships with public and private institutions even engaging with wider public.

WWF - India’s Small Grants Innovation Program started since 2011

aims of encouraging young Indians to respond innovatively and independently to the conservation issues which affect the country,
WWF-India is offering eligible individuals a one-time grant of upto INR 400,000 over a maximum period of 2 years for undertaking conservation research/action research.
The grants will be used to fund research and initiatives which especially demonstrate innovation that is replicable, scalable and sustainable.
Around the globe, conservationists are employing the latest technological advances to make a difference for people, wildlife, oceans, forests and clean water.
The SGIP will provide grants to individuals for activities and/or research that address issues and offer solutions or insights towards:
Species and habitat related problems and concerns – with a focus on immediate threats and issues
Enabling communities and other stakeholders to address local environmental concerns
Improving local livelihoods through conservation and natural resource management or promoting livelihoods that reduce impacts on biodiversity
Aspects of trade involving wildlife species
Increasing understanding on the status of lesser known or lesser studied species of wildlife
Innovative approaches to awareness raising regarding environmental concerns
Demonstrating individual or collective action towards conservation outcomes

Sustainable Livelihoods and Governance (SL&G) programme: by WWF India

1. It emphasizes on conservation and people’s relationship with the natural resource base.

It covers all aspects of peoples’ lives and is not limited to aspects relating to income from ecological services.

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in more than 193 countries are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on a specific day towards the end of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. Since then, it has grown to engage more than 7,000 cities and towns across 187 countries and territories.

Living planet report based on Living planet index and ecological footprint by WWF.
Earth Hour by WWF with other voluntary organizations - It was first organized in 2007 at Sydney, in which individuals, businesses and organizations turn off their lights for 60 minutes to show the government that climate change was an issue they cared about.
Debt-for-Nature Swap - Agreement that reduces a developing country’s debt in exchange for a commitment to protect nature was first undertaken by WWF. Currently it is also being undertaken by UNDP and other organization.

Debt-for-nature swaps are financial transactions in which a portion of a developing nation's foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation measures.

WWF’s Global 200 ecoregions

A list of ecoregions identified by WWF, the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation.
According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species dynamics, and environmental conditions".
For example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, and the North American Great Lakes get none.
The WWF assigns a conservation status to each ecoregion in the Global 200: critical or endangered; vulnerable; and relatively stable or intact. Over half of the ecoregions in the Global 200 are rated endangered.

The WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions across the Earth's land surface, as well as freshwater and marine ecoregions. The goal of this classification system is to ensure that the full range of ecosystems will be represented in regional conservation and development strategies. Of these ecoregions, the WWF selected the Global 200 as the ecoregions most crucial to the conservation of global biodiversity. The Global 200 list actually contains 238 ecoregions, made up of 142 terrestrial, 53 freshwater, and 43 marine ecoregions.

REN21

an international NGO non-profit association and is based at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris
It is the global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network that connects a wide range of key actors.
REN21’s goal is to facilitate knowledge exchange, policy development and joint action towards a rapid global transition to renewable energy.
It brings together governments, nongovernmental organisations, research and academic institutions, international organisations and industry to learn from one another and build on successes that advance renewable energy.
To assist policy decision making, REN21 provides high quality information, catalyses discussion and debate and supports the development of thematic networks.
Renewables Global Futures Report was published by REN21 to spur debate about the opportunities and challenges of a 100% renewable energy future.
Renewables Global Status Report reveals a global energy transition well underway, with record new additions of installed renewable energy capacity, rapidly falling costs, and the decoupling of economic growth and energy-related CO2 emissions. This year’s report continues REN21’s long-standing tradition of providing the most up-to-date data and informative infographics to detail renewable energy’s contribution to the energy transition.

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States -

Established in 1975 via the treaty of Lagos, ECOWAS is a 15-member regional group with a mandate of promoting economic integration in all fields of activity of the constituting countries.
Member countries making up ECOWAS are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo
Considered one of the pillars of the African Economic Community, ECOWAS was set up to foster the ideal of collective self-sufficiency for its member states.
As a trading union, it is also meant to create a single, large trading bloc through economic cooperation.
The Vision of ECOWAS is the creation of a borderless region where the population has access to its abundant resources and is able to exploit same through the creation of opportunities under a sustainable environment.

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