Sources

Visit Websites- https://wiienvis.nic.in/# for information like national parks, ramsar sites, project tiger etc.

Year-end review of Ministry of environment forest and climate change

Yojna, Kurukshetra and down to earth magzines

NIOS (open School) Chapter- natural environment for basics

NCERT 12th biology chapter 13 to 16 for basics

Ecology is the study of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.
Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level.

Environment is the sum total of all conditions and influences that affect the development and life of all organisms on
earth. Thus it can be said as one’s surrounding.

Structure of environment

Abiotic

 Lithosphere
 Atmosphere
 Hydrosphere

Biotic

 Plants
 Animal

Levels of Organisation of Ecology

The seven major ecological levels

1. Organisms- basic unit of study in ecology.

2. Population- group of individuals of the same species, inhabiting the same area, and functioning as a unit of biotic
community.
3. Biological Community- results from interdependence and interactions amongst population of different species in
a habitat. assemblage of populations of plants, animals, bacteria and fungi that live in an area and interact with
each other.
4. Ecosystem- parts of nature where living organisms interact amongst themselves and with their physical
environment. Ecosystems can be recognised as self- regulating and self-sustaining units of landscape, e.g., a pond
or a forest.
5. Landscape- A landscape is a unit of land with a natural boundary having a mosaic of patches, which generally
represent different ecosystems.
 6. Biome- This is a large regional unit characterized by a major vegetation type and associated fauna found in a
specific climate zone. e.g., forest biomes, grassland and savanna biomes, desert biome, etc.
7. Biosphere- Biosphere is a part of earth where life can exist. It represents a highly integrated and interacting zone
comprising of atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water) and lithosphere (land).

Speciespopulationcommunityecosystembiomesbiosphere

Components of ecosystem

Abiotic

 Climatic factors like rain, light, wind, temperature

 Other factors like soil, pH, minerals, topography (also known as topography)

Biotic

 Producers (Autotrophs) organisms that make their own food by photosynthesis

 Consumers (heterotrophs) organism that get their food by eating producers or other consumers
a. Primary consumers feed directly on plants i.e. Herbivores
b. Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers
c. Tertiary consumers feed on secondary consumers
d. Omnivores eat both plants and animals
e. Detrivores feed on dead animals eg. vultures
 Decomposers (Saprotrophs) organism that get their food by breaking down dead plants and animals. Eg.
Bacteria, fungi, protozoas

Important terms

Range of tolerance- specific range of conditions can be tolerated by a species. Range of tolerance decides distribution of
species, abundance etc. range may be of temperature, rainfall etc.

Bioremediation- Remedy through biological process. Eg. Oilzappers bacteria developed by TERI, it clean oil sludge and
oil spills.

Biotic Potential

The maximum rate at which a population can increase when resources are unlimited and environmental conditions are
ideal is termed the population's biotic potential.

Each species will have a different biotic potential due to variations in:

 the species' reproductive span (how long an individual is capable of reproducing)

 the frequency of reproduction (how often an individual can reproduce) o "litter size" (how many offspring are born
each time)
 survival rate (how many offspring survive to reproductive age)

Carrying Capacity For a given region, carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a given species that an
area's resources can sustain indefinitely without significantly depleting or degrading those resources.

Ecotone: An ecotone is a zone of junction or a transition area between two biomes (diverse ecosystems). Ecotone is the
zone where two communities meet and integrate.
For e.g. the mangrove forests represent an ecotone between marine and terrestrial ecosystem. Other examples are grassland
(between forest and desert), estuary (between fresh water and salt water) and riverbank or marshland (between dry and
wet).

Ecocline: Ecocline is a zone of gradual but continuous change from one ecosystem to another when there is no sharp
boundary between the two in terms of species composition.

Ecocline occurs across the environmental gradient (gradual change in abiotic factors such as altitude, temperature
(thermocline), salinity (halocline), depth, etc.).

Edge Effect – Edge Species

Edge effect refers to the changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two habitats
(ecotone).

Sometimes the number of species and the population density of some of the species in the ecotone is much greater than
either community. This is called edge effect. The organisms which occur primarily or most abundantly in this zone are
known as edge species.

In the terrestrial ecosystems edge effect is especially applicable to birds. For example, the density of birds is greater in the
ecotone between the forest and the desert.

Ecological Niche

Niche refers to the unique functional role and position of a species in its habitat or ecosystem. The functional characteristic
of a species in its habitat is referred to as “niche” in that common habitat.

In nature, many species occupy the same habitat, but they perform different functions:

 Habitat niche – where it lives,

 food niche – what is eats or decomposes & what species it competes with,
 Reproductive niche – how and when it reproduces,
 Physical & chemical niche – temperature, land shape, land slope, humidity & another requirement.

Niche plays an important role in the conservation of organisms. If we have to conserve species in its native habitat, we
should have knowledge about the niche requirements of the species.

Habitat Vs. Niche

Habitat- place of living of a species

The ecological niche of a species may vary through its distribution in relation to its habitat, which is the name given to the
place where an organism lives.

Factors such as availability of different foods and competition from other species will influence the role of an individual.
Man is an example of this, operating as a herbivore, a carnivore and an omnivore in different places.

Niche- It is functional role of a species

Types of ecosystem

• Terrestrial Ecosystem

o The ecosystem which is found only on landforms is known as the terrestrial ecosystem.
o The main types of terrestrial ecosystems are the forest ecosystems, the desert ecosystems, the grassland ecosystems
and the mountain ecosystems.

• Aquatic Ecosystem

o An ecosystem which exists in a body of water is known as an aquatic ecosystem.

o The aquatic ecosystems are mainly of two types, the freshwater ecosystems and the marine ecosystems.

Sun is the primary source of energy for all ecosystems on Earth. Of the incident solar radiation less than 50 per cent of it is
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Photosynthetically active radiation, often abbreviated PAR, designates the
spectral range (wave band) of solar radiation from 400 to 700 nanometers that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in
the process of photosynthesis.

plants capture only 2-10 per cent of the PAR and this small amount of energy sustains the entire living world.

• The levels through which food energy passes from one group of organism to the other group are called trophic
levels.

Food Chain

The chain of transformation and transfer of food energy in the ecosystem from one group of organism to another group
through a series of steps or levels is called food chain.

Two types of food-chains are recognised:

Grazing food-chain: In a grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with carnivores as
consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the intermediate level.

There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through respiration, excretion or decomposition.

Detritus food chain: This type of food chain goes from dead organic matter into microorganisms and then to organisms
feeding on detritus (detrivores) and their predators.

Food Web

When the feeding relationship in a natural ecosystem become more complicated, the food chain does not remain simple

when greater number of species feed on many kinds of prey.

10 percent law

the amount of energy decreases at successive trophic levelsonly 10 per cent of the energy is transferred to each trophic
level from the lower trophic level.

usually shown as biomass (living material) per unit area, measured as dry weight, ash weight or calorific value.

Ecological Pyramid

The pyramid shape of decrease of total number of species, total biomass and energy availability with successive higher
trophic levels in the food chain in a natural ecosystem is called ecological pyramid.The base of each pyramid represents
the producers or the first trophic level while the apex represents tertiary or top level consumer. The three ecological
pyramids that are usually studied are:

a) pyramid of number Number Pyramid is the pyramid formed by the number of species from one trophic level to
higher trophic levels.

b) pyramid of biomass Biomass pyramid includes the total weight of the organic matter (total biomass) of each
trophic level. Thus, the pyramid formed by total biomass at each trophic level is called biomass pyramid.

c) pyramid of energy Energy Pyramid is the pyramid representing total amount of energy present at each trophic
level of food chain in a natural ecosystem per unit area per unit time. The energy is expressed in kilocalories per square
meter per day or per year. (Kcal/m2/day or year)
In most ecosystems, all the pyramids, of number, of energy and biomass are upright, i.e., producers are more in number
and biomass than the herbivores, and herbivores are more in number and biomass than the carnivores. Also energy at a
lower trophic level is always more than at a higher level. But there are exceptions to this generalisation, for example the
number of insects feeding on a big tree.

The pyramid of biomass in sea is also generally inverted because the biomass of fishes far exceeds that of phytoplankton.

Pyramid of energy is always upright, can never be inverted, because when energy flows from a particular trophic level to
the next trophic level, some energy is always lost as heat at each step.

Productivity

In ecosystems the rate of production of organic matter is known as productivity.

Estimated Net Productivity of Certain

Ecosystems (in kilocalories/m2/year)

15,000 Tropical rain forest

12,000 Coastal marsh

5,000 Temperate deciduous forest

2,500 Ocean close to shore

2,000 Tall-grass prairie

800 Open ocean

500 Desert
Decomposition

Decomposition is the natural process of dead animal or plant tissue being rotted or broken down.

This process is carried out by invertebrates, fungi and bacteria. The result of decomposition is that the building blocks
required for life can be recycled.

The important steps in the process of decomposition are fragmentation, leaching, catabolism, humification and
mineralisation.

Humification leads to accumulation of a dark coloured amorphous substance called humus that is highly resistant to
microbial action and undergoes decomposition at an extremely slow rate.

Decomposition is largely an oxygen-requiring process.

The rate of decomposition is controlled by chemical composition of detritus and climatic factors. In a particular climatic
condition, decomposition rate is slower if detritus is rich in lignin and chitin and quicker, if detritus is rich in nitrogen and
water-soluble substances like sugars.

Temperature and soil moisture are the most important climatic factors that regulate decomposition through their effects on
the activities of soil microbes. Warm and moist environment favour decomposition whereas low temperature and
anaerobiosis inhibit decomposition resulting in builds up of organic materials.

Biomagnification

Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification, is the process by which substances become more concentrated in the
bodies of consumers as one moves up the food chain (trophic levels).

When chemicals or pesticides are let into rivers or lakes they are consumed by aquatic organisms like fish, which in turn
are consumed by large birds, animals or humans. These harmful substances become concentrated in tissues, internal organs
as it moves up the food chain.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls , Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, Heavy metals like Mercury, copper, cadmium, chromium,
lead, nickel, zinc, tin (TBT or tributyltin), Cyanides used in fishing and gold leaching.

Effects of biomagnification:

 High concentrations of DDT in some bird species caused failure of eggs by thinning the shells.
 PCBs can affect the immune system, fertility, child development and possibly increase the risk of certain cancers.
 Mercury poisoning interferes with the nervous system development in fetuses and
young children.

Bioaccumulation v/s Biomagnification

Although sometimes used interchangeably with bioaccumulation, an important distinction between the bioaccumulation
and biomagnifications is that bioaccumulation occurs within a trophic level, and is the increase in concentration of a
substance in certain tissues (usually in fatty tissue.) of organisms' bodies due to absorption from food and the environment.

NUTRIENT CYCLES/ BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES

The flow of energy in ecosystems is one-way. In contrast, the nutrients which are needed to produce organic material are
circulated round the system and are re-used several times.
All natural elements are capable of being absorbed by plants, usually as gases from the air or as soluble salts from the soil,
but only oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen are needed in large quantities. These substances are known as
macronutrients and form the basis of fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

Other nutrients, such as magnesium, sulphur and phosphorus are needed in minute amounts and are known as
micronutrients.

There are two basic types of cycle, gaseous ones, in which the reservoir pool is the atmosphere, and sedimentary ones, in
which the reservoir pool is the Earth's crust.

Water Cycle

Carbon Cycle

This conversion is initiated by the fixation of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

Some of the carbohydrates are utilised directly by the plants itself. During the process, more Carbon dioxide is generated
and is released through its leaves or roots during the day.

The remaining carbohydrates not being utilised by the plant become part of the plant tissue.

Plant tissues are either being eaten by the herbivorous animals or get decomposed by the microorganisms.

The herbivores convert some of the consumed carbohydrates into carbon dioxide for release into the air through
respiration.
The micro-organisms decompose the remaining carbohydrates after the animal dies.

The carbohydrates that are decomposed by the micro- organisms then get oxidised into carbon dioxide and are returned to
the atmosphere.

The Phosphorus Cycle

The phosphorus cycle is an example of a sedimentary cycle which is easily disrupted.

Phosphates in the soil are taken into plants for protein synthesis and are passed through the food chains of ecosystems.

When plant and animal bodies and their excretory products decompose, the phosphorus is released to the soil where it can
either be taken back into plants or washed out by rainfall into drainage systems which ultimately take it to the sea.

If this happens it will be incorporated in marine sediments and so lost from the exchange pool.

One important route for the rapid return of phosphorus from these sediments occurs where there are upwelling ocean
currents. These bring phosphorus to the surface waters, where it is taken into marine food chains.

The depletion of phosphorus from the exchange pool is compensated very slowly by the release of the element from the
phosphate rocks of the reservoir pool. This occurs by the process of erosion and weathering.

The phosphorus cycle can be easily disrupted by the use of phosphate fertilisers in modern agriculture.

The Nitrogen Cycle

a gaseous type

It is probably the most complete of the nutrient cycles. The reservoir pool is the atmosphere and the exchange pool
operates between organisms and the soil.

Atmospheric nitrogen in the reservoir pool cannot be used directly by most plants. It has to be made into a chemical
compound such as a nitrate before it is available to the exchange pool.

The conversion of gaseous nitrogen to nitrate occurs in two main ways. Some can be fixed by electrical action during
thunderstorms, but most is converted by nitrogen-fixing organisms. These are mostly bacteria, algae and fungi, and either
operates by themselves in the soil or in an association with a plant, particularly those in the legume family, such as clover.
Nitrates in the soil are absorbed by plants and pass through food chains. Ultimately they are released as ammonia when
organic material is decomposed. The ammonia is changed back to nitrates by the action of bacteria.

If the nitrates are not reabsorbed by plants they may be lost from the exchange pool in two ways: first, by leaching from
the soil to shallow marine sediments (in this case they may be returned in the droppings of marine birds in the same way as
phosphorus); second, nitrates may be lost from the soil by being broken down by denitrifying bacteria, and the nitrogen
contained in them being released to the atmosphere.

The Oxygen Cycle

The cycling of oxygen is a highly complex process. Oxygen occurs in a number of chemical forms and combinations.

It combines with nitrogen to form nitrates and with many other minerals and elements to form various oxides such as the
iron oxide, aluminium oxide and others.

Much of oxygen is produced from the decomposition of water molecules by sunlight during photosynthesis and is released
in the atmosphere through transpiration and respiration processes of plants.

Other Mineral Cycles

Other than carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen being the principal geochemical components of the biosphere, many
other minerals also occur as critical nutrients for plant and animal life. These mineral elements required by living
organisms are obtained initially from inorganic sources such as phosphorus, sulphur, calcium and potassium.

They usually occur as salts dissolved in soil water or lakes, streams and seas. Mineral salts come directly from the earth’s
crust by weathering where the soluble salts enter the water cycle, eventually reaching the sea.

Other salts are returned to the earth’s surface through sedimentation, and after weathering, they again enter the cycle

SUCCESSION

Change of community structure due to environmental change through time is called succession. Succession is an orderly
process involving predictable changes in species structure leading to a stable, self perpetuating community, called the
climax.
There are two main types of succession, primary and secondary.

Primary succession is the series of community changes which occur on an entirely new habitat which has never been
colonized before. For example, a newly quarried rock faces or sand dunes. The establishment of a new biotic community is
generally slow. Before a biotic community of diverse organisms can become established, there must be soil. Depending
mostly on the climate, it takes natural processes several hundred to several thousand years to produce fertile soil on bare
rock.

Secondary succession is the series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or
damaged habitat. For example, after felling of trees in woodland, land clearance or a fire. Since some soil or sediment is
present, succession is faster than primary succession.

Succession is directional. Different stages in a particular habitat succession can usually be accurately predicted. These
stages, characterised by the presence of different communities, are known as 'seres'. Communities change gradually from
one sere to another. The community developed at the end of succession is called climax vegetation or climax community.

BIOTIC POTENTIAL

The maximum rate at which a population can increase when resources are unlimited and environmental conditions are
ideal is termed the population's biotic potential. Each species will have a different biotic potential due to variations in:

 the species' reproductive span (how long an individual is capable of reproducing)

 the frequency of reproduction (how often an individual can reproduce)
 "litter size" (how many offspring are born each time)
 survival rate (how many offspring survive to reproductive age)

There are always limits to population growth in nature. Populations cannot grow exponentially indefinitely. Exploding
populations always reach a size limit imposed by the shortage of one or more factors such as water, space, and nutrients or
by adverse conditions such as disease, drought and temperature extremes.

CARRYING CAPACITY

For a given region, carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a given species that an area's resources can
sustain indefinitely without significantly depleting or degrading those resources.
An area's carrying capacity is not static. The carrying capacity may be lowered by resource destruction and degradation
during an overshoot period or extended through technological and social changes.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning, regulating, and cultural
services that directly affect people and supporting services needed to maintain the other services.

ECOTONE

An ecotone is a transitional area between two different ecosystems, such as a forest and grassland. It has some of the
characteristics of each bordering biological community and often contains species not found in the overlapping
communities.

An ecotonal area often has a higher density of organisms of one species and a greater number of species than are found in
either flanking community.

Ecotones also appear where one body of water meets another (e.g., estuaries and lagoons) or at the boundary between the
water and the land (e.g., marshes).

This tendency for increased biodiversity within the ecotone is referred to as the "edge effect." Those species which occur
primarily or most abundantly in the ecotones are called "edge" species.
Home Range

The home range of an animal is the area where it spends its time; it is the region that encompasses all the resources the
animal requires to survive and reproduce. Competition for food and other resources influences how animals are distributed
in space. Even when animals do not interact, clumped resources may cause individuals to aggregate

Terms to know

 Hologenic: Those animals which take their food through their mouths, such as big animals e.g. elephants, cows,
camels, etc.
 Parasites: Those animals which depend on other animals for their food and life.

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is the number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region. It refers to the varieties of
plants, animals and micro- organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form. It relates to the variability
among living organisms on the earth, including the variability within and between the species and that within and between
the ecosystems.

According to the IUCN (2004), the total number of plant and animal species described so far is slightly more than 1.5
million, but there is no clear idea of how many species are yet to be discovered and described. Some extreme estimates
range from 20 to 50 million, but a more conservative and scientifically sound estimate made by Robert May places the
global species diversity at about 7 million.

BIODIVERSITY OF INDIA

With only 2.4% of the world’s land area, its share of the global species diversity is an impressive 8.1 percent This includes
45,500 recorded species of plants and 91,000 recorded species of animals.

India is considered one of the world’s 17 “megadiverse” countries in terms of biodiversity.

India has four global biodiversity hot spots (Eastern Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, and
Sundaland).

megadiverse countries

The megadiverse countries are a group of countries that harbor the majority of the Earth's species and are therefore
considered extremely biodiverse. Conservation International identified 17 megadiverse countries in 1998. Together, these
17 countries harbour more than 70% of the earth's species. All megadiverse countries are located in, or partially in, tropical
or subtropical regions. All are located in, or partially in, tropical or subtropical regions.

The identified Megadiverse Countries are: United States of America, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil,
Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea,
China and Australia.

The principle criterion is endemism, first at the species level and then at higher taxonomic levels such as genus and
family. To qualify as a Megadiverse Country, a country must: Have at least 5000 of the world’s plants as endemics. Have
marine ecosystems within its borders.
LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity can be discussed at three levels:

Genetic diversity- Genetic biodiversity refers to the variation of genes within species

Species diversity- It relates to the number of species in a defined area

Ecosystem diversity-

PATTERNS OF BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is consistently richer in the tropics. The distribution of biodiversity can be discussed as under Latitudinal
gradients: Tropical forests are very rich in bio-diversity. As one approaches the Polar Regions, one finds larger and larger
populations of fewer and fewer species. With very few exceptions, tropics (latitudinal range of 23.5° N to 23.5° S) harbour
more species than temperate or polar areas.

Forest in a tropical region like Ecuador has up to 10 times as many species of vascular plants as a forest of equal area in a
temperate region like the Midwest of the USA. Decline in richness with latitude may be faster in the Northern than in the
Southern Hemisphere and the peaks in richness may not lie actually at the Equator itself but some distance away.

Reasons

Speciation is generally a function of time, unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical
latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years and thus, had a long evolutionary time for species
diversification.

Tropical environments, unlike temperate ones, are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable. Such constant
environments promote niche specialisation and lead to a greater species diversity.
There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute
indirectly to greater diversity.

Diversity may be measured at different scales. These are three indices used by ecologists

 Alpha diversity refers to diversity within a particular area, community or ecosystem, and is measured by counting the
number of taxa(usually species) within the ecosystem.
 Beta diversity is species diversity between ecosystems; this involves comparing the number of taxa that are unique to
each of the ecosystems.
 Gamma diversity is a measurement of the overall diversity for different ecosystems within a region.

IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity has contributed in many ways to the development of human culture and, in turn, human communities have
played a major role in shaping the diversity of nature at the genetic, species and ecological levels. Biodiversity plays the
following roles:

 Species of many kinds perform some or the other functions in an ecosystem. Every organism, besides extracting its
needs, also contributes something useful to other organisms.
 Species capture and store energy, produce and decompose organic materials, help to cycle water and nutrients
throughout the ecosystem, fix atmospheric gases and help regulate the climate.
 Thus, they help in soil formation, reducing pollution, protection of land, water and air resources.
 These functions are important for ecosystem function and human survival.

Important services which it provides are:

 Recreation and Relaxation

 Tourism especially eco-tourism
 Art, Design and Inspiration
 Spiritual experiences and a sense of place
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
CAUSES OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS

1. Natural causes like floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

2. Habitat loss and fragmentation: Habitat loss is caused by deforestation, over-population, pollution, global
warming etc.
3. Over-exploitation: Over-hunting, over-fishing or over-collecting of a species can quickly lead to its decline.
Changing consumption patterns of humans is often cited as the key reason for this unsustainable exploitation of
natural resources. Many species extinctions in the last 500 years (Steller’s sea cow, passenger pigeon) were due to
overexploitation by humans.
4. Alien species invasions: When alien species are introduced unintentionally or deliberately for any purpose, some
of them turn invasive, and cause decline or extinction of indigenous species.
5. Co-extinctions: When a species becomes extinct, the plant and animal species associated with it in an obligatory
way also become extinct. When a host fish species becomes extinct, its unique assemblage of parasites also meets
the same fate.
6. Global climate change: Both climate variability and climate change cause biodiversity loss. Species and
populations may be lost permanently, if they are not provided with enough time to adapt to changing climatic
conditions.
7. Hunting and Poaching: Because of this, not only the particular species become prone to extinction but also the
other species dependent on that species.

MASS EXTINCTION

Extinction is every day. Mass extinction is not. An extinction event (or mass extinction) is a widespread and rapid decrease
in biodiversity of earth. It occurs when the prevailing rate of extinction far exceeds the background or natural rate of
extinction. This rate is measured normally in number of species going extinct over a given period of time. The opposite of
extinction is speciation- the rate at which new species are formed, which contributes to the biodiversity.

Present Mass Extinction phase

It is estimated that the extinction rate today is at least 100 times the background or natural rate. Scientists believe that we
have entered the age of sixth mass extinction, caused almost entirely due to anthropogenic activities. According to studies,
about 300 terrestrial vertebrates have gone extinct in the past 500 years and about 16-33% of all species are either
endangered or threatened. Most vulnerable to extinction today are amphibians (41% of all amphibians, 26% of mammals
and 13% of birds face extinction).

Modern causes of extinction:

• Land development and habitat destruction

• Invasive species
• Anthropogenic emissions into land and water

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

There are two approaches in biodiversity conservation:

1. In situ conservation: It is the approach of protecting an endangered plant or animal species in its natural habitat,
either by protecting or cleaning up the habitat itself, or by defending the species from predators. Some methods under it
are:

• Biosphere Reserves
• National Parks
• Wild-life Sanctuaries

2. Ex-situ conservation: In this approach, threatened animals and plants are taken out from their natural habitat and
placed in special setting where they can be protected and given special care.

Zoological parks, botanical gardens and wildlife safari parks serve this purpose.

In recent years ex situ conservation has advanced beyond keeping threatened species in enclosures. Now gametes of
threatened species can be preserved in viable and fertile condition for long periods using cryopreservation techniques,
eggs can be fertilised in vitro, and plants can be propagated using tissue culture methods.

Seeds of different genetic strains of commercially important plants can be kept for long periods in seed banks.
Conservation status

The International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has classified the species of plants
and animals into various categories for the purpose of their conservation which are as follows:

EXTINCT (EX)

A taxon is Extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.

EXTINCT IN THE WILD (EW)

A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population
(or populations) well outside the past range.

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR)

A taxon is Critically Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for
Critically Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

ENDANGERED (EN)

A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered,
and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

VULNERABLE (VU)

A taxon is Vulnerable when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the criteria A to E for Vulnerable, and
it is therefore considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

NEAR THREATENED (NT)

A taxon is Near Threatened when it has been evaluated against the criteria but does not qualify for Critically Endangered,
Endangered or Vulnerable now, but is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near
future.

LEAST CONCERN (LC)

A taxon is Least Concern when it has been evaluated against the criteria and does not qualify for Critically Endangered,
Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

DATA DEFICIENT (DD)

A taxon is Data Deficient when there is inadequate information to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of
extinction based on its distribution and/or population status.

NOT EVALUATED (NE)

A taxon is Not Evaluated when it has not yet been evaluated against the criteria.

BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is threatened with
destruction. These hot spots which cover less than 2% of the world’s land area are found to have about 50% of the
terrestrial biodiversity.

Criteria for determining hot-spots:

 Contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world's total) as endemics (species found
nowhere else on Earth).
 Degree of threat, which is measured in terms of Habitat loss: Have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.

There are 35 such hot spots of biodiversity on a global level.

I. Africa III. Europe and Central Asia

1. Cape Floristic Region 23. Caucasus
2. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa 24. Irano-Anatolian
3. Eastern Afromontane 25. Mediterranean Basin
4. Guinean Forests of West Africa 26. Mountains of Central Asia
5. Horn of Africa IV. North and Central America
6. Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands 27. California Floristic Province
7. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany 28. Caribbean Islands
8. Succulent Karoo 29. Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands
II. Asia-Pacific 30. Mesoamerica
9. East Melanesian Islands V. South America
10. Himalaya 31. Atlantic Forest
11. Indo-Burma 32. Cerrado
12. Japan 33. Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests
13. Mountains of Southwest China 34. Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena
14. New Caledonia 35. Tropical Andes
15. New Zealand
16. Philippines
17. Polynesia-Micronesia
18. Southwest Australia
19. Forests of Eastern Australia (new)
20. Sundaland
21. Wallacea
22. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

Out of these, four are present in India. These are:

 1. Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China
and Myanmar)
2. Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China)
3. Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines)
4. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri Lanka)

NATURAL VEGETATION IN INDIA

Vegetation type is primarily dependent upon the rainfall and temperature of a place. Other factors like soil type,
topography, presence of rivers and mountains, primitive vegetation, animal species etc. also influence the type of
vegetation in an area. It adapts to the constraints of natural environment in size, structure and requirements.

Important Terms related to vegetation

• Canopy: The cover of branches and Foliage formed by the crown of trees is called Canopy.
• Canopy Density: The percentage area of land covered by the canopy of trees is called Canopy density.
• Carbon Stock: It is defined as the amount of carbon stored in the ecosystem of the forest especially in living
biomass and soil.
• Very Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 70% and above.
• Moderately Dense Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 40% and more but less than 70%.
• Open Forest: All lands with tree canopy density of 10% and more but less than 40%.
• Scrub: Degraded forest land with canopy density less than 10%.
• Non-Forest: Lands not included in any of the above classes.
• Endemic plants: The original natural vegetation, which are purely native are called the endemic plants.

The natural vegetation in India ranges from the one that is found in the tropical region to that found in the Arctic region.
On the basis of certain common features such as predominant vegetation type and climatic regions, Indian forests can be
divided into the following groups: (Total 12 Types by Forest Survey)

1. Tropical Forests – 6 types

2. Subtropical forests – 1 type, can be further divided into 3 classes

3. Temperate – 3 types
4. Alpine – 1 type

5. Littoral and swamp vegetation

Natural Vegetation in India

Sub-Alpine and Littoral and

Alpine Swamp
Tropical Sub-Tropical Temperate

Tropical Thorny Himalayan Dry

Vegetation Temperate
Evergreen Deciduous

Tropical Moist Himalayan Moist

Deciduous Temperate
Tropical Wet

Tropical Semi- Tropical Dry Himalayan Wet

Evergreen Deciduous Temperate

Tropical Dry
Evergreen

1. Tropical Evergreen

Conditions for growth:

Tropical Evergreen and Semi Evergreen Forests are found mainly in the areas where the annual rainfall is more than 250
cm, with a short dry season. The average annual temperature should be above 22 °C.

Characteristics: Lofty, very dense, multi-layered forest with mesophytic evergreen, 45m or more in height, with large
number of species, numerous epiphytes, and few climbers; Due to dense growth of trees, the sunlight cannot reach the
ground. Thus, the undergrowth mainly consists of canes, bamboos, ferns, climbers, etc.

Location: The true evergreen forests are mostly found along the western slopes of Western Ghats, in the hills of north-
eastern states and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Trees: Important trees of these forests are rosewood, ebony, mahogany, rubber, cinchona, bamboo, coconut, palms, canes,
lianas, etc.

Utility: Not commercially exploitable. However, the timber from the tropical evergreen and semi- evergreen a forest is
hard, durable, fine-grained and of high economic value.

2. Tropical Semi-Evergreen

These forests are found along the western coasts, eastern Orissa and upper Assam where annual rainfall is between 200 and
250 cm.They are characterised by giant and luxuriantly growing intermixed deciduous and evergreen species of trees and
shrubs. The under-growing climbers provide an evergreen character to these forests.

The important plants in these forests are the species of white cedar, hollock, kail, etc. Orchids, ferns, some grasses and
several other herbs are also common.

These forests are less dense and can be easily exploited.

3. Tropical Dry Evergreen

These forests are found in the areas where rainfall is in plenty but dry season is comparatively longer. The trees are dense,
evergreen and short (about 10 to 15 metres high). These forests are found in eastern part of Tamil Nadu.

The common plant species are much the same as in Tropical moist evergreen forests. Species of Maba, Calotropis, Pabatta,
Feronia, Canthium, Zizyphus, Randia etc. are most common. Bamboos are absent but grasses are common.

4. Tropical Moist Deciduous

These cover an extensive area of the country receiving sufficiently high rainfall (150 to 200 cm) spread over most of the
year. The dry periods are of short duration. Many plants of such forests show leaf-fall in hot summer. It is the
representative species of the Monsoon climate.

The forests are found along the wet western side of the Deccan plateau, i.e. Mumbai, N-E Andhra, Gangetic plains, Orissa
and in some Himalayan tracts extending from Punjab in west to Assam valley in the east.

Teak, Sal, Sheesham, Hurra, Mahua, Amla, Semul, Kusum, Sandalwood etc. are the main species of these forests. These
forests produce some of the most important timbers of India.

5. Tropical Dry Deciduous

These forests are distributed in the areas where annual rainfall is usually low, ranging between 70 and 100 cm, such as,
Punjab, U.P., and Bihar, Orissa, M.P. and large part of Indian peninsula.

The largest area of the country’s forest land is occupied by Tropical dry deciduous forests. The dry season is long and most
of the trees remain leafless during that season.

The forest trees are not dense, 10 to 15 m in height, and undergrowth is abundant. In north, the forests are dominated by sal
and in south by teak. Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, kair, axlewood, etc. are the common trees.

Utility: The tropical deciduous forests are commercially most important as they yield valuable timber and a variety of other
forest products. They are commercially most exploited. Large tracts of these forests have been cleared to provide more
land for agricultural purposes and have also suffered from severe biotic factors, such as over-cutting, overgrazing, fires,
etc.

6. Tropical Thorny Vegetation

These forests occur in the areas where annual rainfall is less than 50 cm; dry season is hot and very long. They are found in
South-west Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP and UP. The vegetation is open stunted forest, breaking down into xerophytic
bush and further to the northwest grading into deserts. Most of the vegetation is confined to areas along seasonal rivers.
The land away from the rivers and devoid of irrigation is mostly sandy and devoid of trees. The vegetation is of open type
consisting of small trees (8 to 10 m high) and thorny or spiny shrubs of stunted growth. The forests remain leafless for
most part of the year and are sometimes called thorn scrub or scrub jungles. There is luxuriant growth of ephemeral herbs
and grasses during the rainy season.

Important species found are babool, ber, khejri, date palm, khair, neem, palas, acacia etc. Tussocky grass grows up to
height of two metres as undergrowth.

Utility: These trees are important in checking the increasing desertification in north-western India.

7. Sub-Tropical Vegetation
Sub-tropical wet hills forests occur at 1000-1200m altitude. In eastern Himalayas, oak chestnut, ash, birch, pine are
common species. In Western Himalayas, Chir is most important, while oak occurs in wetter areas. In drier areas of
Kashmir (RF 50-100cm) wild olives are common with a variety of scrub.

8. Himalayan Dry Temperate Vegetation

It is found in the inner dry ranges of western Himalayas where precipitation is below 10cm. It is predominantly a
coniferous forest with xerophytic shrubs. Epiphytes and climbers are rare. Important species are chilgoza, deodar, oak,
maple, ash, celtis, olives, etc.

9. Himalayan Moist Temperate Vegetation

In the western Himalayas, between 1500-3000m, forests of deodar, spruce, maple, walnut, poplar, cedar, chestnut, birch,
oak, etc. occur. These are 30-50m in height and undergrowth is mostly evergreen. Mosses and ferns grow on the trees.

10. Himalayan Wet Temperate Vegetation

In the eastern Himalayas, evergreen wet temperate forests occur between 1800-2700m altitude. Oak, poplar, elm, laurel,
maple, birch, magnolina are common species. Rainfall is high, temperature is moderate in summers and winters are cold.
Rate of evaporation is not high and trees do not shed their leaves. Nilgiris, Anamalai and the Palani hills of south India
have this kind of forest above 1500m altitude. The trees are shorter there with abundant undergrowth and epiphytes.

11. Sub-Alpine and Alpine Vegetation

It occurs above 2700m in eastern Himalayas and above 3000m in western Himalayas and extends upto the snowline. It is a
dense scruby forest of silver firs, junipers, pine, birch and rhododendrons.

 In the Himalaya Mountains, one can notice a succession of natural vegetation belts, as we see in the tropical to the
tundra region.
 Between the height of 1000 m and 2000 m, the evergreen broad-leaf trees such as oak and chestnut predominate.
 Between the height of 1500 m and 3000 m, the coniferous trees, such as pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar are
found.
 The coniferous forests cover the southern slopes of Himalayas and parts of northeast India. At higher elevations
(about 3600 m above sea level) temperate grasslands are common.
 At attitudes above 3600 m, coniferous forests and grasslands give way to the alpine vegetation. Silver firs, junipers,
pines and birches are common varieties of trees.
 Ultimately these forests merge into alpine grasslands, through the shrubs and scrubs.
 The southern slopes of the Himalaya Mountains have denser forests than the north facing areas. This is due to
relatively higher precipitation.
 At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of vegetation.

 In the peninsular India, the mountain forests are found in the three district areas—the Western Ghats, the Vindhyas
and the Nilgiris.
 As they are closer to the tropics, and only 1,500 m above the sea level, vegetation is temperate in the higher regions
and subtropical on the lower regions of the Western Ghats, especially in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
 The temperate forests are called Sholas in the Nilgiris, Annamalai and Palani hills.
 Shola Forest
 Sholas are patches of stunted evergreen tropical and sub tropical moist broad leaf forest found in valleys separated by
grassland in the higher mountain regions of South India
 The word 'shola' is probably derived from the Tamil language word ‘colai’ meaning grove.
 The shola-forest and grassland complex has been described as a climatic climax vegetation.
 Some of the other trees of this forest of economic significance include magnolia, laurel, cinchona and wattle.
 They are home to a host of endemic and endangered plants and animals.
  They are also vitally important in keeping water cycles alive. They retain most of the rain they get over the
monsoons, and release it slowly through the year via a network of streams and rivers that eventually serve the needs
of a huge number of human settlements across south India.
 In the recent years exotic species that were planted a few years ago had invaded marshes, shola forests and
grasslands.

12. Littoral and Swamp

They can be further divided into

(i) Beach forests,

(ii) Mangroves, and
(iii) Fresh water swamps.

The tidal deltas of Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna are all flush with such evergreen vegetation. The soil is sandy
having large amount of lime and salts but poor in nitrogen and other mineral nutrients. Ground water is brackish, water
table is only a few metres deep and rainfall varies from 75 cm to 500 cm depending upon the area. The plants are typical
halophytes which are characterised by presence of prop roots with well-developed knees for support and pneumatophores
and viviparous germination of seeds. Important species are sundari, bruguiera, sonneratia, agarm bhendi, keora, etc.

FOREST COVER IN INDIA -important statistics

The total forest cover of the country, as per India State of Forest Report is 7,13,789 square kilometers which is 21.71% of
the total geographical area of the country. India added 1,540 sq km of forest cover from 2019 to 2021.

The forest cover is divided into 3 parts-

Very dense forest: All land with tree canopy density of 70% and above.

Moderately dense forest: All land with tree canopy density of 40% – 70%.
Open forest: All land with tree canopy density of 10% – 40%.

Top 5 states/UTs with most forest cover area

• Madhya Pradesh: 77,493 sq km

• Arunachal Pradesh: 66,431 sq km
• Chhattisgarh: 55,717 sq km
• Odisha: 52,156 sq km
• Maharashtra: 50,798 sq km

Top 5 states/UTs with the most forest cover percentage (of their geographical area)

• Lakshadweep: 90.33 %
• Mizoram: 84.53 %
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 81.75 %
• Arunachal Pradesh: 79.33 %
• Meghalaya: 76.00 %

States/UTs with forest cover less than 10% of their geographical area

• Ladakh: 1.35 %
• Haryana: 3.63 %
• Punjab: 3.67 %
• Rajasthan: 4.87 %
• Uttar Pradesh: 6.15 %
• Gujarat: 7.61 %
• Bihar: 7.84 %

States/UTs with considerable forest cover increase from 2019 to 2021

• Andhra Pradesh: 647 sq km increase

• Telangana: 632 sq km increase
• Odisha: 537 sq km increase

Mangrove cover (included in total forest cover)

Mangroves are salt-tolerant plants that grow in coastal brackish waters and are mainly found between 24° N and 38° S
latitudes. Mangroves form an important ecosystem hosting various species of flora and fauna. The total mangrove cover in
India is 4,992 sq km.

Top 5 states with the most mangrove forest cover in India

• West Bengal: 2,114 sq km

• Gujarat: 1,175 sq km
 • Andaman and Nicobar Islands: 616 sq km
• Andhra Pradesh: 405 sq km
• Maharashtra: 324 sq km
• Odisha: 259 sq km

North-east forest cover

The total forest cover in northeastern states is 1,69,521 sq km which is 64.66% of the total geographical area of the
northeast. The Northeast lost 1,020 sq km of forest cover from 2019 to 2021.

Some important points

 The tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka)
have the maximum tree and shrub biodiversity followed by the forests of North-east India.

 Karnataka has the highest tree species richness followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

 The forest cover assessment is done with the help of the LISS III sensor of ISRO’s Resourcesat-2 satellite.

 Since the assessment is done with the help of satellites, many factors affect the accuracy of the gathered data.

ISFR 2021

• "India State of Forest Report (ISFR)", a biennial report of FSI is published by Forest Survey of
India(FSI) since 1987.
• Regular assessment of forest cover is being done by FSI using remote sensing satellite data.
• So far 17 reports have been published by FSI. (last 2021)

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS OF FORESTS

1. Constitutional Basis

According to the Constitution of India the forests in India have been classified under the following three categories for the
sake of their ownership, administration and management:

• State forests: These are under the full control of the government (state/central) and include almost all the important
forest areas of the country. More than 90 per cent of the country’s forest area belongs to this category.
• Community forests: These forests are owned and administered by the local bodies (municipal corporation, municipal
board, town area, district board, village panchayat etc.) and occupy about 5 per cent of the country’s forest area.
• Private forests: These are under the private ownership and cover little more than 1 per cent of the forested area of the
country. Many of these forests are degraded and in bad condition and have been converted into waste lands. Such
forests are mainly found in Orissa, Meghalaya, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

2. Administrative Basis

Indian forests were classified under following three categories during the British rule and they continue to be done today as
well:

• Reserved forests: These forests are under the direct supervision of the government where no public entry is allowed
for collecting timber and grazing of cattle. About half of forest area has been declared as the Reserved Forests by the
government. They are regarded as the most valuable as far as conservation of forest and wildlife resources are
concerned.
• Protected forests: These forests are looked after by the government but here local people are allowed to collect
timber/fire wood and graze their cattle without causing serious damage to the forests. Almost one third of total forest
area is protected forest as declared by the Forest Department. This forest land is protected from any further depletion.
• Unclassified forests: These are unclassified forests where there is no restriction on the cutting of trees and cattle
grazing. These are other forests and wasteland belonging to both government and private entities.

Based on type of leaves:

• Coniferous forests: These are temperate forests found over the Himalayan ranges and occupying 6.43%
of total forest area.
• Broad leaf forests: About 93.57% of the country's forest area belongs to this category. These are tropical
and sub-tropical forests occupying the plains, plateaus and hill slopes and yielding good quantity of
timber and forest products

Based on Canopy Density: FSI categorises forests based on the canopy density:

• Scrubs: The degraded forest lands which have a Canopy density of less than 10% are called Scrubs.
• Open Forests: The Lands with Canopy density of 10-40% are called Open Forests.
• Moderately Dense Forest: The Land with forest cover having a canopy density of 40-70% is called the
Moderately Dense Forest (MDF).
• Very Dense Forests: The Lands with forest cover having a canopy density of 70% and more are called
Very Dense Forests (VDF)

NATIONAL FOREST POLICY 1988

India adopted a forest policy in 1952, which was further modified in 1988. The forest policy of the Government of India
aims at:

• bringing 33 per cent of the geographical areas under forest cover;

• maintaining environmental stability and to restore forests where ecological balance was disturbed;
• conserving the natural heritage of the country, its biological diversity and genetic pool;
• checks soil erosion, extension of the desert lands and reduction of floods and droughts;
• increasing the forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on degraded land;
• increasing the productivity of forests to make timber, fuel, fodder and food available to rural population
dependant on forests, and encourage the substitution of wood;
• Creating of a massive people’s movement involving women to encourage planting of trees, stop felling of
trees and thus, reduce pressure on the existing forest.

SOCIAL FORESTRY

Social forestry means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on barren lands with the purpose of
helping in the environmental, social and rural development.

The National Commission on Agriculture (1976) has classified social forestry into three categories. These are urban
forestry, rural forestry and Farm forestry.

• Urban forestry pertains to the raising and management of trees on public and privately owned lands in and
around urban centres such as green belts, parks, roadside avenues, industrial and commercial green belts,
etc.
• Rural forestry lays emphasis on promotion of agro-forestry and community-forestry.
• Agro-forestry is the raising of trees and agriculture crops on the same land inclusive of the waste patches. It
combines forestry with agriculture, thus, altering the simultaneous production of food, fodder, fuel, timber
and fruit.
 • Community forestry: It involves the raising of trees on public or community land such as the village
pasture and temple land, roadside, canal bank, strips along railway lines, and schools etc.
• Farm forestry: It is a term applied to the process under which farmers grow trees for commercial and non-
commercial purposes on their farm lands. Forest departments of various states distribute seedlings of trees
free of cost to small and medium farmers.

BIOMES

The large natural ecosystem comprised of abiotic (land, air, water and soils of the concerned habitat) and biotic (plants,
animals and micro-organisms) components wherein all the biota have minimum common characteristics, and more or less
uniform environmental conditions is called biome.

There are five major biomes — forest, desert, grassland aquatic and altitudinal biomes.

Some features of these biomes are given in this Table.

Biomes Subtypes Regions Climatic Soil Flora and Fauna

Characteristic
s
Forest A. Tropical A1. 10° N-S A1. Temp. 20-25°C, A1. A1. Multi-layered canopy
1. Evergreen A2. 10°-25° Rainfall, ave. Acidic, tall and large trees
2. Deciduous N-S ann. poor in A2. Less dense, trees of
B. Temperate 2,000mm,evenly nutrients medium height; many
B. Eastern
C. Boreal/ distributed A2. Rich varieties coexist. Insects,
North
Taiga A2. Temp. 25-30°C, in nutrients bats, birds and mammals are
America,
Rainfall, ave. ann. common species in both
N.E. Asia, B.
1,000mm, seasonal B. Moderately dense broad
Western and Fertile,
Central B. Temp. 20-30° C, en-riched leaved trees. With less
Europe Rainfall evenly with diversity of plant species.
distributed 750- decaying Oak, Beach, Maple etc. are
C. Broad belt
1,500mm, Well litter some common species.
of Eurasia and
defined seasons and Squirrels, rabbits, skunks,
North C. Acidic
distinct winter. birds, black bears, mountain
America (parts and poor in
lions etc.
of Siberia, C. Short moist nutrients,
Alaska, moderately warm thin soil C. Evergreen conifers like
Canada and summers and long cover pine, fur and spruce etc.
Scandinavia) cold dry winter; very Wood peckers, hawks,
low temperatures. bears, wolves, deer, hares
Precipitation mostly and bats are common animal
snowfall 400 -
1,000mm
Desert A. Hot and A. S a h a r a A. Temp. 20- Rich in A-C. Scanty vegetation; few
Dry desert , Kalahari, 45°C35°C. nutrients with large mammals, insects,
Marusthali, little or no reptiles and birds D. Rabbits,
B. Semi arid B. 21-38°C
Rub-el-Khali organic rats, antelopes and ground
desert C. 15-35°C matter squirrels
B. Margina
C. Coastal
l areas of hot D. 2 - 25°C
desert
deserts A-D Rainfall is
D. Cold lessthan 50 mm
C. Atacama
FOREST BIOME

The tropical rain-forests

• Location: It occupies low-altitude areas near the equator in South America, Central and West Africa, and in the Indo-
Malay peninsula and New Guinea regions.
• Climate: The Temperature is high throughout the year and the average range is 20-25°C while the average annual
rainfall is 2,000mm and evenly distributed.
• Flora: It is a broad-leaved evergreen forest of dense, prolific growth and an extremely diverse fauna and flora.
• All green plants strive to reach the light so that they either become very tall, or adopt a climbing habit like many
climbers or live as epiphytes (plants living on other plants but not deriving food from them).
• The leaves possess thick cuticles for protection against the strong sunlight, anddrip tips whose probable function is to
shed water rapidly, thereby aiding transpiration.
• Some animals have developed the ability to glide in the air like fox, tree frogs, squirrels, tree snakes etc. Some
mammals have large and sturdy bodies to push plants away like chimpanzee, gorilla, bison, African Elephant etc.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• This type of forest is dominated by broad-leaved deciduous trees.

• The trees have deciduous character where they shed their leaves seasonally
• Location: It covers most of the temperate areas of Europe, eastern North America, eastern Asia and small parts of
South America and Australia.
• Climate: There is a longer growing season, higher light intensity and a moderate amount of precipitation of between
500 and 1500 mm per annum.
• The temperature regime is also characterised by lack of extremes but there is still a marked cold season which plants
and animals must endure.
• Flora: There are at least sixty dominant species, notably several sorts of chestnut, maple and hemlock.
• The deciduous habit and the lighter shade cast by these trees, allows sufficient light to reach beneath the canopy so that
understorey vegetation can develop.
• Fauna: The animal range from very small animals to large bodied animals like elephants, hippopotamus, lions, rhinos
etc.
• Soils: The soils associated with the temperate deciduous forest are varied but on the whole they are brown earths.

Boreal Forest or Taiga

• The boreal forest formation is a vast expanse of coniferous, evergreen forest.

• Location: It extends across North America and Eurasia on the southern margins of the tundra zone.
• Climate: The growing season is only of three or four months' duration and even during this time; the energy input
from solar radiation is small because of the high latitude.
• Temperatures are low throughout the year, although the average temperature of the warmest month of the year is
higher than 10° C.
• In the winter the temperatures fall to many degrees below freezing and permafrost frequently extends into the
northern edge of the forest.
• Precipitation ranges from 400 to 1000 mm per annum, mostly falling as snow.
• Flora: The trees themselves show very little variety across the formation; species of pine, fir and spruce tend to be
dominant throughout.
• The trees grow needles instead of leaves, and cones instead of flowers. The needle-like leaves have a waxy outer coat
which prevents water loss in freezing weather and the branches are soft and flexible and usually point downwards, so
that snow slides off them.
• Conifers tend to be evergreen, that is, they bear needles all year long.
• Soils: Characteristically the boreal forest is found growing on podzols which tend to become highly acidic

DESERTS BIOME

• Location: This biome is mainly found in the hot arid zones of the world, such as the Sahara and Australian deserts.
Some cooler deserts—for example, those of the Gobi and Patagonia—are also found.
• Hot deserts occur in the subtropical dry zone of the global atmospheric circulation system
• Flora: Up to 60 per cent of desert floras are made up of annual or ephemeral species which evade the drought by
completing their life cycles within a few weeks of the onset of any rain.
• One of the most important ways of avoiding water loss is to close the leaf stomata, particularly during the hottest
period of the day, yet the stomata need to be kept at least partly open to maintain transpiration and cool the leaves.
Some plants only open their stomata at night.
• Succulents, such as cacti, combat the water problem with the aid of well-developed water storage organs and small
surface area to volume ratios.
• xerophytic characteristics
• The most noticeable visual characteristic of areas of desert vegetation is the discontinuous cover and the even spacing
of individuals. This appears to be the result of extensive root development and competition.
• In the particularly harsh conditions of the coastal deserts where the sole source of moisture is the sea mist, only
halophytes or succulent epiphytes, absorbing moisture directly from the atmosphere, can survive.
• Fauna: As in the tundra, the animal species of deserts are fewer but more specialised than in humid environments.
Morphological protection may be given by such features as an impermeable body covering, a small number of sweat
glands and a light colouring. Camels and donkeys have in addition a physiological tolerance of high water losses and
can survive a water reduction equal to more than 25 per cent of body weight.

TUNDRA

• Location: The tundra includes all types of vegetation found in high latitudes between the limits of tree growth and the
polar ice-caps
• Permafrost is common over large areas.
• Climate: In broad terms, climates range from a continental type of extremely cold winters and little snow
precipitation, as in Siberia and northern Canada, to the raw maritime conditions of southern Greenland, northern
Norway and Alaska.
• Flora: lichenscan adjust to rapid and extreme temperature changes.
• Where undisturbed, the southern parts of the tundra are characterised by stands of dwarf willow, birch and alder,
sometimes up to two metres in height. Further north, these give way to heaths of cowberry or crowberry.
• Fauna: polar bear. The main herbivores include caribou, reindeer, musk ox, lemmings and the Arctic hare; predators,
both carnivores and omnivores, include the Arctic fox, the wolf and bears

GRASSLANDS BIOME

Temperate Grasslands
• Location: These include the prairies of North America, the steppes of Eurasia, the pampas of South America, and the
veldt of South Africa, downs of Australia and Canterbury grasslands of New Zealand.
• Climate: The temperate grasslands of northern hemisphere are characterized by continental climate wherein extremes
of summer and winter temperatures are well marked but the temperate grasslands of the southern hemisphere are
characterized by more moderate climate.
• Precipitation in these areas ranges from 500 to 900 mm per annum, and the grasslands extend over a wide range of
soil conditions.
• Flora: Trees only occur on steep slopes or near water.
• Fauna: Grasslands are dominated by few species of large mammals like buffalo and pronghorn antelope in North
American Prairies; wild horse and saiga antelope in the Eurasian steppes; antelopes in the South African velds and
guanaco in the South American pampas.

Tropical Grasslands (Savannas)

• The savanna lands of Africa, South America and Australia are essentially open, and ecologically dominated by a
herbaceous stratum in which grasses and sedges are the principal components.
• Location: They are found in large areas of Africa, Australia, South America and India
• The climate is characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons and means high temperature throughout the year
• All types experience a climate of marked seasonal drought.
• Flora: Many of the plants, grasses and woody species, exhibit xerophytic features. Marked contrasts exist in the
appearance of the savanna during the year: the brown and withered short grasses of the dry season give way rapidly to
tall lush growth with the arrival of the summer rains.
• Fauna: The African Savanna accounts for the largest number and greatest variety of grazing vertebrate mammals in
the world. African buffalo, zebra, giraffe, elephants, many types of antelopes, hippopotamus are some examples.
• South American and Australian Savanna do not have large number of grazing animals like African Savanna but great
variety of birds. Australian Savanna is dominated by marsupials (mammals having pouch in their bodies to keep and
feed their offsprings).
• Factors of soil, fire and grazing are important in maintaining the character of tropical grasslands.
• Many of the tree species appear to be fire-resistant.
• There is a great variety of herbivores and carnivores in this biome.

THE AQUATIC BIOME

Aquatic biomes are very important because apart from being home to millions of water animals, they also form the basis of
the water cycle and help with atmospheric moisture, cloud formation and precipitation. One example of a marine biome is
the Great Barrier Reef (a coral reef system) of Australia.

Freshwater Biome

Freshwater is defined as having a low salt concentration

There are 3 different types of freshwater regions:

  Ponds and Lakes
 Streams and Rivers
 Wetlands (sometimes considered brackish water)

Marine Biome

Marine regions cover about three-fourths of the Earth's surface and include oceans, coral reefs, and estuaries.

Oceans cover 70 per cent of the surface area of the world, they are habitable throughout and support a total biomass
probably as much as ten times that on land.

The ocean regions are separated into separate zones: intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. All four zones have a great
diversity of species.

• The intertidal zone is where the ocean meets the land — sometimes it is submerged and at other times exposed, as waves
and tides come in and out. Because of this, the communities are constantly changing. On rocky coasts, the zone is stratified
vertically. In areas where only the highest tides reach, there are only a few species of algae and molluscs; in areas usually
submerged during high tide, there is a more diverse array of algae and small animals. At the bottom of the intertidal zone,
which is only exposed during the lowest tides, many invertebrates, fishes, and seaweed can be found.
• The pelagic zone includes those waters further from the land, basically the open ocean. The pelagic zone is generally cold
though it is hard to give a general temperature range since, just like ponds and lakes; there is thermal stratification with a
constant mixing of warm and cold ocean currents. The flora in the pelagic zone includes surface seaweeds. The fauna
include many species of fish and some mammals, such as whales and dolphins. Many feed on the abundant plankton.
• The benthic zone is the area below the pelagic zone, but does not include the very deepest parts of the ocean (see abyssal
zone below). The bottom of the zone consists of sand, slit, and/or dead organisms. Here temperature decreases as depth
increases toward the abyssal zone, since light cannot penetrate through the deeper water. Flora are represented primarily by
seaweed while the fauna, since it is very nutrient-rich, include all sorts of bacteria, fungi, sponges, sea anemones, worms,
sea stars, and fishes.
• The deep ocean is the abyssal zone. The water in this region is very cold (around 3° C), highly pressured, high in oxygen
content, but low in nutritional content. The abyssal zone supports many species of invertebrates and fishes. Mid-ocean
ridges (spreading zones between tectonic plates), often with hydrothermal vents, are found in the abyssal zones along the
ocean floors. Chemosynthetic bacteria thrive near these vents because of the large amounts of hydrogen sulfide and other
minerals they emit. These bacteria are thus the start of the food web as they are eaten by invertebrates and fishes.

ECO-SENSITIVE ZONES

Recently, Eco-sensitive Zones have been met with resistance from protests claiming that compliance with
the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 has led authorities to disregard
the rights of forest communities and negatively affect their way of life and livelihood.

What is Eco Sensitive Zones?

 About:

o The National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016)of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change (MoEFCC) stipulated that state governments should declare land falling within 10 km of the
boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as eco-fragile zones or Eco-Sensitive Zones
(ESZs) under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.

o While the 10-km rule is implemented as a general principle, the extent of its application can
vary. Areas beyond 10 km can also be notified by the Union government as ESZs, if they hold larger
ecologically important “sensitive corridors”.
 Activities Around ESZs:

o Prohibited Activities: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise
etc), establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood.

o Regulated Activities: Felling of trees, establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural
water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g., adoption of heavy
technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.

o Permitted Activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic

farming, use of renewable energy sources, adoption of green technology for all activities.

 Significance of ESZs:

o Minimise the Impact of Development Activities:

 To minimise the impact of urbanisation and other developmental activities, the areas adjacent to
protected areas have been declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones.

o In-situ Conservation:

 ESZs help in in-situ conservation, which deals with conservation of an endangered species in
its natural habitat, for example the conservation of the One-horned Rhino of Kaziranga
National Park, Assam.

o Minimise Forest Depletion and Man-Animal Conflict:

 Eco-Sensitive Zones minimise forest depletion and man-animal conflict.

 The protected areas are based on the core and buffer model of management, through which local
area communities are also protected and benefitted.

o Minimise the Negative Impact on the Fragile Ecosystems:

 The purpose of declaring eco-sensitive zones around protected areas is to create some kind of
a 'Shock Absorber' for the protected area.

 They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser
protection.

 Challenges Associated with ESZs:

o Climate change:

 Climate change has generated land, water and ecological stress on the ESZs.

 For example, frequent forest fires or the Assam floods which badly affected
the Kaziranga National Park and its wildlife.

o Encroachment of Forest Rights:

 Sometimes, execution of The Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Wildlife Protection
Act 1972 makes the authorities ignore forest communities' rights and impact their life and
livelihood.

 It also includes dilution of rights provided to gram sabha for developmental clearances.
  Recognition of forest rights and gram sabha’s consent were preconditions for
considering proposals under The Forest Rights Act 2006 to divert forest land for non-
forestry purposes – until the MoEFCC did away with them in 2022.

Way Forward

 Community Engagement: It is important to involve local communities in the decision-making process for the
management of ESZs.

o This can be done through the formation of community-based organisations, such as user groups or
conservation committees, that are responsible for managing and protecting the resources found in these
areas.

o Gram sabha must be empowered with a decision-making authority in case of developmental projects.

 Alternate Livelihood support: It is important to provide alternative livelihood options for local
communities who depend on the resources found in ESZs for their livelihoods.

o This can include training programs and financial support for alternative livelihoods such as eco-
tourism, horticulture, and sustainable agriculture.

 Promoting Eco Restoration: Afforestation and reforestation of degraded forest, regeneration of lost habitats,
reducing climate change impacts by promoting carbon footprints and through education, is needed.

WESTERN GHATS AND VARIOUS COMMITTEES

Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by Madhav Gadgil was formed by MoEF in 2010.
o It’s recommendations were:
Make entire Western Ghats region ecologically-sensitive area. This would be divided into two parts:
The protected areas which will be the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; three Ecological
Sensitive Zones (ESZ) viz. ESZ-1, ESZ-2 and ESZ-3, with different degrees of protection.
10 member high-level working group (HLWG), headed by Kasturirangan.
o The recommendations were:
Instead of the total area of Western Ghats, only 37% (i.e. 60,000 sq. km.) of the total area be brought
under ESA under Kasturirangan report.
Complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in ESA.
WETLANDS

Wetlands are among the most biologically diverse environments on the planet, supporting a varied spectrum of plant and
animal species. Wetlands serve a variety of ecological purposes. Purification of water, Protection from flooding,
Stabilization of the coastline Maintaining stream flow and recharging the groundwater are some of the function of
Wetland.

Wetland ecosystems are transitional zones between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (Ecotone).

The Ramsar convention on wetlands defines wetlands as:

• as an area of marsh, fen, peatland,

• which is temporary or permanent, formed naturally or artificially,
• This includes fresh, brackish, or salt water,
• Where depth of marine water at low tide will not exceed six meters of height .

CLASSIFICATION

Wetland Type Subtype Example

Marine/Coastal Saline Shallow waters less than 6 m deep, Coral Reefs
Sand, shingle or pebble shores
Saline or Brackish Intertidal marshes and forested wetlands, Mangroves, coastal
lagoons,
estuarine waters, Karst or other subterranean hydrological systems
(maybe fresh water also)
Inland Fresh water Flowing water like rivers, streams; Inland river deltas; Freshwater
springs, oasis
Seasonal rivers and streams; Lakes
Saline, Brackish or Bogs, Peats, Marshes
Alkaline
Human Made Aquaculture ponds, irrigation channels, irrigated fields, seasonally
flooded
agricultural land, salt exploitation sites, Water storage areas and dams

Based on the types, wetlands are classified as marsh,swamps, bogs, fens, estuaries, lakes and ponds, river floodplains and
oxbow lakes:

Marsh

• The marsh type of wetland is flooded with water and has vegetation from saturated soil conditions.
• They are found both in inland and coastal ecosystems.
• Marshes are also found underground and beneath the surface.

Swamp

• Woody plants are the main characteristic of swamps.

• Swamps are classified as forest and shrub swaps.
• They are present in freshwater and saltwater.

Fen

• They are high nutrient wetlands which are formed from precipitation.
• The main source is rainfall i.e. precipitations.
Bogs

• Bogs are peatlands which are waterlogged.

• Rainfall is the main source of water in Bogs.
• They are basically found in depressions which prevent downstream flooding.
• Bogs support very less plan growth when compared to Fen.

Lakes and Ponds

• Lakes and ponds are a diverse group of inland freshwater ecosystems found all over the world.
• They provide vital supplies and habitats for both terrestrial and aquatic creatures.

River Floodplains

• These are regions that are near a river or stream .

• They are periodically inundated by water overflowing the channel.
• The Yamuna floodplains are Delhi's principal supply of water.

Oxbow Lakes

• Oxbow Lakes arise when a river's meander is cut off by silt deposition or a river's channel changes,
isolating a crescent-shaped waterbody.
• Oxbows Lakes abound in the Ganga and Brahmaputra river basins.
• Example : Ansupa is an oxbow in the peak of the Mahanadi Delta.

Estuaries
 • An estuary is a brackish water feature that is partially contained along the coast, with one or more rivers
or streams flowing into it and a free access to the open sea.
• Estuaries serve as a transition zone between the river and the sea.
• Example :Chilika is an Odisha lagoon divided from the Bay of Bengal by a lengthy sand barrier.

Functions of Wetlands

1. Source of Water

• Wetlands provide our primary source of fresh water.

• Aquifer-stored groundwater makes for over 95 percent of all available freshwater and is the most important source of
drinking water and irrigation.
• Several wetlands aid in the absorption of rainwater and the recharge of groundwater.
• Freshwater is used for domestic use, irrigation and source of drinking .

2. Flood and storm buffer zone

• Wetlands act as a flood buffer and help to alleviate droughts.

• Wetlands act as sponges in the upper parts of a basin, absorbing rainfall and snowmelt and allowing water to gently
percolate into the soil.
• Storm surges and tidal waves can be mitigated by coastal wetlands such as mangroves, coral reefs, mudflats, and
estuaries, which operate as physical barriers.
• River floodplains act as natural storage reservoirs, allowing excess water to spread out over a large area, reducing the
depth and speed of the water.
• Mangroves and coastal wetlands aid in the stabilization of the shoreline and the prevention of erosion.
• The Kalinga super cyclone, which slammed Odisha in 1999, wreaked havoc on the whole coastline. When compared to
villages with few or no mangroves, it was discovered that villages with mangroves had fewer casualties.

3. Wetland Products

• Coastal wetlands provide over two-thirds of fish, one of the most important sources of animal protein.
• Wetlands that are well-managed can supply a varied range of plants, animals, and minerals.
• Wetlands produce more than three-quarters of Asia's rice. Many mangrove swamps, like the Sundarbans, produce
honey.
• Medicinal characteristics can be found in a variety of wetland plants.
• Wetlands also provide a source of income for a huge number of people, particularly those who live along their
shorelines.

4. Water purifier

• Wetlands aid in water purification by trapping contaminants in sediments and plants. Wetlands can drastically lower
high levels of pollutants such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which are frequently associated with agricultural runoff.
• Pesticides, industrial discharge, and mining all produce harmful compounds, which many wetland plants can eliminate.
• Floating plants like Water Hyacinth, Duckweed, and Azolla can store iron and copper from wastewater in their tissues.
• Continuous trash discharge over the carrying capacity of wetlands, on the other hand, might result in environmental
disasters.

5. Wetland for research and education

• Wetlands are fantastic places to learn about aquatic ecosystems and conduct research.
• Habitat diversity, ecosystem complexity, and broad social and cultural ties make them ideal for multi-disciplinary
study of nature-society interactions.
• Example : Bhitarkanika Mangroves odisha , Bhoj wetlands Madhya Pradesh .

6. Recreation property of Wetlands

• Wetlands are wonderful relaxation and tourism sites because of their natural beauty and diversity of plant and animal
life.
• Example: Mandawali village Nct delhi is a recreational site.

7. Combat Climate Change

• Climate change is threatening wetlands, as well as various other ecosystems.

• These ecosystems, on the other hand, can help moderate and adapt to climate change. Some wetlands, such as
mangroves and salt marshes, operate as carbon sinks, preventing hazardous greenhouse gas emissions from entering
the atmosphere.
• Wetland conservation is particularly critical for ensuring the habitat of aquatic animals that are threatened by climate
change.
• Water supply in wetlands is anticipated to become more variable in the future, wetlands' ability to absorb and hold
water, as well as regulate floods and storms, are critical capabilities that can help mitigate the effects of climate
change.
• Example: Ashtamudi wetlands kerala , Chilika Lake odisha.

8. Habitats of migratory birds

• Wetlands are used by migrating birds as a feeding, resting, and nesting stopover.
• Almost 2,000 bird species migrate regularly throughout the year, covering thousands of kilometres between breeding
and non-breeding places to avoid the severe winters of the arctic and temperate zones.
• The Central Asian and East Australasian Flyways are linked by Indian wetlands.
• Example: Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary, Ashtamudi wetlands kerala .

9. Biodiversity hotspots

• Several wetlands serve as habitat for a variety of endemic and near-endangered species.
• Over 70% of the world's threatened Great Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) population is confined to
Kaziranga National Park in Assam's grasslands and marshes.
• The only known natural home of the globally endangered Brow-antlered Deer is Keibul Lamjao, a floating national
park south of Loktak (Rucervus eldii).
• Chilika is home to a robust population of and is one of only two lagoons in the world where endangered Irrawaddy
Dolphins can be found (Orcaella brevirostris).
• The highly endangered Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) has the biggest remaining populations in Central India, around
River Son, Girwa, and Chambal.
• Example: Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary Tamilnadu.

Significance of Wetlands

• Wetlands are a vital part of the hydrological cycle.

• They are rich in biodiversity and enrich the ecosystem services.

• Wetlands provide ecosystem services such as waste assimilation, flood mitigation , erosion control , groundwater
recharge, micro climate regulations and water purification etc.

• Wetlands are part of cultural heritage by supporting significant recreation and socio – cultural activities.

Threats to Wetland Ecosystem

• Changes in natural hydrological regimes Water regimes influence wetlands' biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
• Reduced water availability, changing hydro-period, loss of linkage with biodiversity areas, restricted nitrogen
exchange, and other factors all contribute to the degradation of natural hydrological regimes.

• Catchment degradation depletes the water holding capacity in wetlands thus affecting wetland ecosystem.

• The majority of India's inland wetlands have been overrun by exotic species, which have grown to be a nuisance and
have had a significant impact on the local biota and ecological conditions.

• Example: Hyacinth (water hyacinth) is an invasive species introduced in india.

• Other factors like Unsustainable harvest of wetland resources, Over grazing, Unsustainable water abstraction, Mining
(e.g. salt, sand or laterite) also affects the wetland Ecosystem in India.

WETLAND DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

Indian wetlands are grouped as:

• Himalayan wetlands: Ladakh and Zanskar (Pangong Tso, Tso Morad, Chantau, Noorichan, Chushul and Hanlay
marshes); Kashmir Valley (Dal, Anchar, Wular, Haigam, Malgam, Haukersar and Kranchu lakes); Central Himalayas
(Nainital, Bhimtal and Naukuchital); Eastern Himalayas (Numerous wetlands in Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, Beels in the Brahmaputra and Barak valley)
• Indo-Gangetic wetlands: The Indo-Gangetic flood plain is the largest wetland system in India, extending from the
river Indus in the west to Brahmaputra in the east. This includes the wetlands of the Himalayan terai and the Indo-
Gangetic plains.
• Coastal wetlands: The vast intertidal areas, mangroves and lagoons along the 7500 km long coastline in West Bengal,
Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat; Mangrove forests of
Sunderbans, Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Offshore coral reefs of Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshwadeep and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Deccan: A few natural wetlands, but innumerable small and large reservoirs and several water storage tanks in almost
every village in the region.

WETLAND PROTECTION EFFORTS IN INDIA

Though there is no separate legal provision for wetland conservation in India, it is indirectly influenced by number of other
legal instruments like - The Indian Fisheries Act – 1857, The Indian Forest Act – 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act – 1972,
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Act – 1974, 1977, Environmental (Protection) Act – 1986, Coastal Zone
Regulation Notification – 1991, etc.

National Wetland Conservation Programme (NWCP)

The National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) by the Ministry of
Environment, Forests & Climate Change for the purpose of preventing the nation's wetlands from further deterioration and
to ensure their judicious usage for the benefit of local people and the general conservation of biodiversity.

• The National Wetlands Conservation Program aims to protect wetlands around the country (NWCP).
• The National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) was implemented in 1985-86.
• Wetland management is the responsibility of state governments/UT administrations because the land resources belong
to them.
• The criteria for identifying wetlands of national significance under the NWCP are the same as under the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands.
• The overall coordination of wetland conservation programs is the responsibility of the central government.

Wetlands (Conservation and Management Rules) 2017

• Under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change (MoEF&CC) has notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 .
• It is a legislative framework for the conservation and management of wetlands in India. This is an important step
toward conserving, managing, and maintaining the natural character of wetlands while allowing for appropriate use.
• These laws increase the institutional framework for environmental issues by establishing State/UT Wetland Authorities
and a National Wetland Committee.
• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 have shifted the focus of wetlands management from the
federal government to state governments.
• The rules give the National Wetland Committee an advising body.
• It directs state bodies on integrated wetlands management based on the wiseuse principle and reviewing the
development of integrated management of Ramsar Convention sites, among other things.

Criteria for Identification of Wetlands of National Importance

Based on sites containing rare and representative wetland types

If it has a representative, rare, or unusual natural or near-natural wetland type found in the suitable biogeographic region.

Based on species and ecological community

 If it protects fragile ecological communities or vulnerable, endangered, or severely endangered species.

 If it helps plant and/or animal species at a key point in their life cycles, or if it provides a safe haven in the face of
adversity.

 If it supports populations of plant and/or animal species that are vital for maintaining a biogeographic region's
biological diversity.

Based on uniqueness

 Wetlands should be natural or near natural with their own biodiversity.

 It should be of significant hydrological, biological, or ecological importance in the natural functioning of a large
river basin or coastal system, particularly if it is located in a trans-border location.

Specific criteria based on water birds

 If it can host 20,000 or more water birds on a regular basis.

 If it supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbirds on a regular basis.

Based of Flora and Fauna

 It should support a significant number of rare, vulnerable, or endangered plant or animal species or subspecies.

 It should have a significant number of individuals of any one or more of these species or it is of special value for
maintaining a region's genetic and ecological diversity due to the quality and peculiarities of its flora and fauna.

 It should have a value as the habitat of plants or animals at a critical stage in wetlands.

Based on water flow

 It should support large numbers of individuals from certain groups of waterfowl, indicating wetland values,
productivity, or diversity.

 With respect to population, it should support 1% of a population of one species or subspecies of waterfowl.

Based on Criteria of Fishes and Migratory birds

  It should support a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies.

 It should also include species or families, life-history stages, species interactions, and/or populations that are
representative of wetland benefits and/or values, contributing to global biological diversity.

 It should hold an important source of food for fishes, spawning grounds, and nurseries.

 Wetlands should have a clear migration path on which fish stocks.

Based on Water/Life and Culture

 It includes a significant supply of food and water, as well as improved recreational and eco-tourism opportunities.

 If it is a significant source of enhanced scenic qualities, educational opportunities, and cultural heritage
preservation (historic or religious sites).

RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLAND

RAMSAR CONVENTION

The Ramsar Convention, also known as the Convention on Wetlands, is an international treaty for the conservation and
wise use of wetlands. It was signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, hence the name. As of today, 171 countries have
signed the convention, making it one of the most successful environmental treaties in the world.

The Ramsar Convention has three main goals:

 To promote the wise use of all wetlands in all countries.

 To designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar List).
 To ensure the effective management of wetlands on the Ramsar List.

A Ramsar site is a wetland that has been designated as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
There are currently over 2,400 Ramsar sites around the world, covering an area of over 2.5 million square kilometers.

Ramsar sites are important for a variety of reasons, including:

 They provide habitat for a wide range of plants and animals, including many threatened species.
 They help to regulate water flow and quality, both locally and regionally.
 They play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
 They provide recreational opportunities and cultural values for people.

Here are some additional facts about the Ramsar Convention:

 The first Ramsar site was designated in 1971.

 The Ramsar Convention is the oldest of the modern environmental treaties.
 The Ramsar Secretariat is based in Gland, Switzerland.
 The Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention meets every three years.
 The Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) provides scientific and technical advice to the Convention.

Ramsar sites of India

S. No. State Location Name of Site Date of Area

Declaration
1 Andhra Pradesh Kolleru Lake 19.8.2002 901.00
2 Assam Deepor Beel 19.8.2002 40.00
 3 Bihar Kabartal Wetland 21.07.2020 26.20
4 Goa Nanda Lake 06.08.2022 0.42
5 Gujarat Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary 13.04.2021 5.12
6 Gujarat Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary 24.09.2012 120.00
7 Gujarat Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary 05.04.2021 6.99
8 Gujarat Wadhvana Wetland 05.04.2021 6.30
9 Haryana Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary 25.05.2021 4.12
10 Haryana Sultanpur National Park 25.05.2021 1.43
11 Himachal Pradesh Chandertal Wetland 8.11.2005 0.49
12 Himachal Pradesh Pong Dam Lake 19.8.2002 156.62
13 Himachal Pradesh Renuka Wetland 8.11.2005 0.20
14 Jammu and Kashmir Hokera Wetland 8.11.2005 13.75
15 Jammu and Kashmir Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve 13.08.2022 8.02
16 Jammu and Kashmir Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve 13.08.2022 16.75
17 Jammu and Kashmir Surinsar-Mansar Lakes 8.11.2005 3.50
18 Jammu and Kashmir Wular Lake 23.3.1990 189.00
19 Karnataka Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary 15.02.2022 5.18
20 Kerala Asthamudi Wetland 19.8.2002 61.40
21 Kerala Sasthamkotta Lake 19.8.2002 3.73
22 Kerala Vembanad Kol Wetland 19.8.2002 1512.50
23 Ladakh Tso Kar Wetland Complex 17.11.2020 95.77
24 Ladakh Tsomoriri Lake 19.8.2002 120.00
25 Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Wetlands 19.8.2002 32.01
26 Madhya Pradesh Sakhya Sagar 01.07.2022 2.48
27 Madhya Pradesh Sirpur Wetland 01.07.2022 1.61
28 Madhya Pradesh Yashwant Sagar 13.08.2022 8.23
29 Maharashtra Lonar Lake 22.7.2020 4.27
30 Maharashtra Nandur Madhameshwar 21.6.2019 14.37
31 Maharashtra Thane Creek 13.08.2022 65.21
32 Manipur Loktak Lake 23.3.1990 266.00
33 Mizoram Pala Wetland 31.08.2021 18.50
34 Odisha Ansupa Lake 13.08.2022 2.31
35 Odisha Bhitarkanika Mangroves 19.8.2002 650.00
36 Odisha Chilka Lake 1.10.1981 1165.00
37 Odisha Hirakud Reservoir 13.08.2022 654.00
38 Odisha Satkosia Gorge 10.12.2021 981.97
39 Odisha Tampara Lake 13.08.2022 3.00
40 Punjab Beas Conservation Reserve 26.9.2019 64.29
41 Punjab Harike Lake 23.3.1990 41.00
42 Punjab Kanjli Lake 22.1.2002 1.83
43 Punjab Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve 26.9.2019 3.44
44 Punjab Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary 26.9.2019 1.16
45 Punjab Ropar Lake 22.1.2002 13.65
46 Rajasthan Keoladeo Ghana NP 1.10.1981 28.73
47 Rajasthan Sambhar Lake 23.3.1990 240.00
48 Tamil Nadu Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary 13.08.2022 2.60
49 Tamil Nadu Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve 04.08.2022 526.72
50 Tamil Nadu Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary 13.08.2022 0.97
 51 Tamil Nadu Karikili Bird Sanctuary 04.08.2022 0.58
52 Tamil Nadu Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary 11.08.2021 0.72
53 Tamil Nadu Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest 04.08.2022 12.48
54 Tamil Nadu Pichavaram Mangrove 04.08.2022 14.79
55 Tamil Nadu Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary 19.8.2002 385.00
56 Tamil Nadu Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex 13.08.2022 0.94
57 Tamil Nadu Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary 04.08.2022 0.44
58 Tamil Nadu Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary 13.08.2022 1.13
59 Tamil Nadu Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary 04.08.2022 0.40
60 Tamil Nadu Vellode Bird Sanctuary 04.08.2022 0.77
61 Tamil Nadu Vembannur Wetland Complex 04.08.2022 0.20
62 Tripura Rudrasagar Lake 8.11.2005 2.40
63 Uttar Pradesh Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary 29.06.2021 28.94
64 Uttar Pradesh Haiderpur Wetland 8.12.2021 69.08
65 Uttar Pradesh Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary 19.9.2019 2.25
66 Uttar Pradesh Parvati Agra Bird Sanctuary 2.12.2019 7.22
67 Uttar Pradesh Saman Bird Sanctuary 2.12.2019 5.26
68 Uttar Pradesh Samaspur Bird Sanctuary 3.10.2019 7.99
69 Uttar Pradesh Sandi Bird Sanctuary 26.9.2019 3.09
70 Uttar Pradesh Sarsai Nawar Jheel 19.9.2019 1.61
71 Uttar Pradesh Sur Sarovar 21.8.2020 4.31
72 Uttar Pradesh Upper Ganga River 8.11.2005 265.90
73 Uttarakhand Asan Conservation Reserve 21.7.2020 4.44
74 West Bengal East Kolkata Wetlands 19.8.2002 125.00
75 West Bengal Sunderbans Wetland 30.1.2019 4230.00

In news

 India has submitted nominations of three cities - Indore, Bhopal and Udaipur - for Wetland City Accreditation
(WCA) under the Ramsar Convention. The accreditation is granted to cities that satisfy international criteria,
including having Ramsar sites within their jurisdiction and implementing exceptional conservation measures. The
environment ministry highlighted the benefits of wetlands in and around these cities, such as flood regulation,
livelihood opportunities, and recreational values. Currently, 75 wetlands in India are protected under the Ramsar
Convention.
 Globally, 43 cities including 13 from China and six from France are currently accredited under the WCA scheme
of the international convention.

Montreux Record

 The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the ‘List of Wetlands of International Importance’ where
variations in ecological character have happened, are happening, or are likely to happen as an outcome of
technological developments, pollution, or other human interference.
 Indian sites  Keoladeo National Park-Rajasthan, Loktak Lake – Manipur are included in Montreux
Record.

Wetlands international

It is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an
independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from around the world.
Wetlands International has been the driving force behind the development of the Central Asian Flyway initiative. The
Central Asian Flyway covers the areas used by species of birds with the main migratory routes through Central Asia. It has
also been referred to as “Central Asian-Indian Flyway” or as “Central Asian-South Asian Flyway”. As such, the area
extends from the Arctic Ocean in the North until the Indian Ocean in the South (including islands in that region) and thus
covers territories of 30 Asian and East European countries. It overlaps with the African Eurasian flyway in the West, and
the East Asian flyways in the East.
Mangrove Ecosystem

Introduction
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for
tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species.

Mangroves are a variety of species of broad-leaved trees (10–40 feet high) lying in muddy creeks and tidal
estuaries. They are located on the intermediate zone between the land and the sea and represent one of the best
examples of ecotone. They require warm saline water and so they are situated along tropical coastlines.
Mangrove plants survive in the saltwater zones between water and land.
 Mangroves have a “complex salt filtration system” and complex root system to cope with salt water
immersion and wave actio They are also adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S.
They require high solar radiation to filter saline water through their roots. Hence, mangroves are
confined to only tropical and sub-tropical coastal waters.
 It has been found that there are about 80 different species of mangrove trees. Mangroves grow in areas
with low-oxygen soil and in this soil slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to pile u Mangrove
forests only grow at tropical and subtropical latitudes near the equator as they cannot bear freezing
temperatures. Mangrove forests serve an important role in stabilizing and reinforcing coastlands. In this
way, they protect these coastlands from erosion that results from action of waves and tides that occur
regularly. They act as a shield against storms. This capability of the mangrove forests has saved
valuable property and countless lives around the world from imminent destruction.
 Mangrove plants have several unique adaptations that allow them to survive in harsh environments.
Mangroves are extremely important to the coastal ecosystems they inhabit. Physically, they serve as a
buffer between marine and terrestrial communities. They protect coastlines from damaging winds, waves,
and floods. Mangrove has an important role in improving water quality by filtering pollutants and
trapping sediments from the land. They reduce coastal erosion.
 Ecologically, they provide habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial and marine organisms. The area of
mangroves has greater species diversity as it is the junction of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. They
 have very high salt tolerance and so some species which require this ambience also thrive upon
mangroves. According to one of its oft-quoted definition, “Mangroves represent a characteristic littoral
(near the sea shore) forest ecosystem and they are mostly evergreen forests that grow in sheltered low
lying coasts, estuaries, mudflats, tidal creeks backwaters (coastal waters held back on land), marshes and
lagoons of tropical and subtropical regions”.

Adaptation Mechanism of Mangroves

 Mangrove environment is very vital and robust. The mangrove species are adapted to deal with these
severe environmental conditions in multifarious ways.
 Breathing roots: Oxygen for the purposes of respiration is needed by the underground tissue of any plant.
As far as the mangroves are concerned, oxygen in the soil is in very limited supply. This means that the
mangroves take up oxygen from the atmosphere. For this purpose, mangrove species have specialized
above ground roots called breathing roots or pneumatophores. These roots have numerous pores through
which oxygen enters into the underground tissues. In some plants buttress roots function as breathing
roots and also provide mechanical support to the tree.
 Stilt roots: In some mangrove species, roots emerge from stems and branches. Such roots get into the soil
some distance away from the main stem as in the case of banyan trees. These stilt roots are endowed with
many pores through which atmospheric oxygen enters into the roots.
 Vivipary: It is postulated that “saline water, unconsolidated saline soil with little or no oxygen is not a
conducive environment for seeds to germinate and flourish. To overcome this, mangrove species have a
unique way of reproduction, which is generally known as vivipary”. This is a very unique method of
reproduction. In this method, seeds germinate and develop into seedlings while the seeds are still attached
to the parent tree. These seedlings are normally known as propagules. They photosynthesize while still
attached to the mother tree. The parent tree supplies water and necessary nutrients. They remain buoyant
and float in the water for sometime before rooting themselves on suitable soil.
Distribution of Mangroves

Global Distribution
 “About 40% of [the] world’s mangrove cover is found in South East Asia and South Asia… India
has about 3% of the total Mangrove cover in South Asia”
 There are 15.9 million hectares of mangrove forests in the warm waters of tropical oceans all over
the world. Along the Atlantic coast they are found from Florida till Argentina in a vast expanse.
Mangroves grow on both the western and eastern coasts of Africa. They stretch into India, Burma,
and south-east Asia. Mangrove forests are also common in New Zealand and Australia.

Mangroves distribution in India

 “Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous
assessment.”
 “The current assessment shows that mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km [(1.2 million
acres)], which is 0.15% of the country’s total geographical area.”
 They are found in the following states and Union Territories in India: West Bengal, Odisha,
Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa,
Maharashtra and Gujarat.
 The major concentrations of mangroves are in the Sunderbans delta and Andaman & Nicobar
Islands. However, the mangroves are also found in the deltaic areas of Mahanadi, Godavari and
Krishna river basins.
 The Government of India formed an Indian Mangrove Committee in 1976. M.S. Swaminathan
Research Institute, Chennai is also engaged in management of mangroves in states of Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
 Importance of Mangroves

 Mangrove forests give sturdy support to the coastline by minimizing erosion from storm surges,
currents, waves, and tides. The intricate root system of mangroves is unique as they allow them to
shelter fish and other organisms in an ecologically benign environment. For example, the area of
Sunderbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest and they have wider species diversity.
This biodiversity hotspot is home to 180 species of trees and plants growing within its marshy
boundaries, the Gangetic dolphin, estuarine crocodiles, river terrapins, hawksbill turtles, horseshoe
crabs and the famous Bengal tiger. They are a World Heritage site and the biggest carbon-sink in
South Asia. They have an important role in carbon sequestration and hence climate management.
 Mangroves are the first line of defence against cyclones and rising seas. They also support coastal
communities in multiple ways.

TSUNAMI & MANGROVES Case Study

Pichavaram mangrove forest protected hamlets namely, T.S.Pettai, Vadakku Pichavaram, Therkku
Pichavaram, Meenavar Colony, MGR Nagar and Kalaingar Nagar against the fury of tsunami. Total
families in these hamlets are about 1228 and total population is about 6191. These hamlets are located
between 100 m to 1000 m from mangroves. In these hamlets seawater has not entered into the village and
there is no loss of property. However, 4 women belonging to MGR Nagar, who were fishing nearby the sea
were washed away and died. It is seen that mangrove trees in rows located close to the sea got uprooted
due to the impact of the tsunami and beyond that there is no damage. It seems mangrove forest reduced
the impact of the tsunami by two ways: a) velocity of the tsunami water greatly reduced after it entered
into the mangroves due to friction created by thick mangrove forest and b) volume of water reaching a
point is greatly reduced since tsunami water, after entering into the mangroves, is distributed to all the
canals and creeks that are present all over the mangroves. A number of fishers who were fishing in the
nearby the sea but moved into mangrove water after seeing huge wave of about 10 to 15 feet coming to the
beach experienced these. One of the fishers said, “we saved the mangroves by restoring them and it saved
our life and property by protecting us” of about 10 to 15 feet coming to the beach experienced these.)
 Mangroves provide important nesting and breeding sites for fish and shellfish, migratory birds and sea
turtles. This underscores their importance to coastal fishing communities. According to a global
research, an estimated 80% of the global fish catch relies on mangrove forests either directly or
indirectly.
 About 20 percent of India’s population lives on the coast. There are many big cities including
Mumbai, Chennai, Puducherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi etc. which lie on the sea shore. A
robust and dense cover of mangrove forests can protect these areas, which are vulnerable both to
sea level rise and to the more intense and frequent weather events caused by climate change.
 Mangroves also act as great carbon sinks. Some researchers at the global level have postulated that
mangroves “isolate carbon at two to four times the rate of tropical forests like the Amazon and
store three to five times more carbon per equivalent area than tropical forests”.
 Mangroves are used for timber, mining, agriculture, harbour development and human settlements.
Mangrove areas were used earlier for commercial shrimp farming. However, using mangrove
areas for shrimp farming has proved to be unsustainable now-a-days.
 Mangroves are an ecosystem with multi-dimensional use. It is held that they are the “best form of
coastal bioshield” as they perform a “critical role in reducing the impact of cyclonic storms,
hurricanes and tsunami on human lives and properties”.
 It controls/reduces soil erosion. It magnifies fishery productivity of the adjacent coastal waters.
This occurs as they act as a nursery ground for commercially important fish, prawn and crabs.
Additionally, they supply organic and inorganic nutrients. They are also rich in biodiversity and
act as habitats for wildlife.
 It is being held that “the physical environment lays the foundations and draw limits for how and
where mangroves thrive, as ‘ecosystem engineers’ mangroves themselves are partially responsible for
shaping their physical environment”.
 The highly intricate and very structured roots of mangroves promote the trapping of sediments (i.e.
from rivers) and organic debris helping them to adjust with the sea level rise, making them
invaluable in promoting climate resilient coasts.
 Mangroves create an excellent diverse habitat as they combine animal species of terrestrial and
marine environment in a single ecosystem. Major groups range from insects, molluscs and
crustaceans to fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Mangroves are rich in food and provide shelter to
offshore species which use their complex structures as nurseries. Mangroves also provide
terrestrial habitat for many species. For example, the vast mangroves of the Sundarbans currently
host the largest intact tiger population in the world.
 Mangroves have a seminal role in the ecosystem as they nurture and nourish biodiversity as
nursery grounds for many coastal and marine species and support fisheries.
THREATS TO MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

 They are destroyed for the conversion of the area for agricultural purposes, fuel, fodder and, salinization,
mining, oil spills, aquacultural (shrimp farming), use of chemical pesticides & fertilizers, industrial
purposes.
 From seas – Sea level rise, cyclones and tsunami, coastal erosion, oil spills
 From rivers – Polluted water
 From Communities– Destroyed for fuel, fodder
 Plastic bags and other waste is a major threat for mangroves.
 Goats can destroy mangrove seedlings and damage mature trees.

Need for Conserving Mangroves

 Mangroves are immensely beneficial but unfortunately half of the world’s mangroves (about 32 million
hectares) have already been cleared or destroyed and the remaining ones are also facing grave threat.
 The mangrove forests are important for food, carbon storage and sequestration, coastal protection,
tourism and water purification. Hence, there are efforts made to halt further losses as well as to
increase mangroves through restoration.
 Mangroves are faced with a lot of threats. For example, a large part of land has been cleared for
establishing shrimp farms in Latin America and Southeast Asia which have adversely impacted
mangroves. Climate change, changing land-use patterns and tourism also affect the future of the
mangrove plant.
 A serious impediment to the unhindered growth of mangroves is prompt and mostly unregulated coastal
development. Although India has framed laws to protect its coastline, they are breached quite often.
According to a research by the Indian Institute of Science, “India has lost 40% of its mangrove area in the
last century, mainly due to agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, urban development and overexploitation”.
 The State of Forest Report, released by the Forest Survey of India, says that “the mangrove cover in
the country is increasing only marginally in the past two decades”. These facts very clearly illustrate
that there is a lot to be done as far as the sustainable management and conservation of mangroves is
concerned. There is an urgent need to restore degraded mangroves by governmental action as well as
participation of local communities.
 Many countries have realized the immense value of mangroves to the overall environmental
sustainability. They have adopted mangrove restoration and conservation programs. Strict legislation to
protect mangroves is in place in many countries. For example, Indonesia has 25 percent of the world’s
mangrove population. Coastal fish farmers on the Indonesian island of Java are given 4–5 hectares of
land. However, the rider is that these farmers are required to plant mangroves on 20% of this land.
Seeds are gathered from budding sprouts and planted 6 to 9 feet apart. This sort of reforestation
improves the environment, while feeding people and encouraging the economy. This is a sustainable long
term solution devised in Indonesia.
 Many Mangroves sites are protected under the Ramsar convention at the global level. The IUCN and
The Nature Conservancy have laid down a global scientific map for the purpose of mangrove
restoration. It is being held that two billion hectares of deforested and degraded lands worldwide have
the potential for forest landscape restoration and this well-calibrated potential for restoration is related to
climate change adaptation and mitigation – including priority areas for mangrove restoration.
  The organizations like the Global Mangrove Watch are working tirelessly towards mangrove
conservation. It is providing mangrove extent at multiple points of time from the mid-1990s to the present
day. It is being postulated that “this time series of mangrove extent will allow us to identify areas of
recent mangrove loss, with the assumption that recently converted areas are more restorable than those
that were lost long ago”.
 The organization has outlined the following factors contributing towards mangrove degradation:
Urbanisation and industrial development, Conversion to agriculture and aquaculture ponds,
Deforestation for fuelwood or timber, Rapidly changing patterns of freshwater regimes, Pollution and
coastal erosion.
 Scientific studies have found that large areas in Southeast Asia were converted into shrimp cultivation
ponds but they were later abandoned. The Global Mangrove Watch in its study has found that these
ponds can be major areas of mangrove restoration.

Conservation of Mangroves

The State Forest Report 2019 mentions the following conservation techniques for Mangroves:
-The state of Gujarat uses direct seed sowing, raised bed plantations, and fishbone channel plantations to restore
degraded mangroves.
-State of Andhra Pradesh has established Eco-DEvelopment Committees and Van Samrakshan Samithi to
implement conservation projects in mangrove areas.
-The state of Maharashtra has been implementing restoration, protection, regeneration, and maintenance
techniques to conserve mangroves.
Mangrove-Conservation-and-Restoration

 The organization Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) is supporting the target of increasing mangrove
coverage by 20 percent over current extent by 2030.
 Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is an initiative co-chaired by IUCN and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). It is held that the organisation is “running mangrove restoration and
sustainable development projects with gender integration as a core strategy in several Asian countries.
Participatory, community-based project approaches ensure that women’s and men’s voices are considered
equally and aim to improve women’s social and economic empowerment”.
 Case Study The Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project is another bright example. It saw women take a
central leadership role with their efforts to increase the resilience of Guyana’s coasts against flooding and
coastal erosion. Women were most severely impacted upon by coastal flooding and erosion of Guyana’s
coast. Women were provided with resources for economic empowerment and capacity building trainings.
As a result of these positive measures, women got positively involved with various activities like honey
production, tourism activities and mangrove cultivation. The active participation of women catalysed the
formation of a women-led volunteer organisation for mangrove awareness and restoration as well as the
‘Mangrove Cooperative Society’ to support other women with training and resources on activities like
beekeeping.

Mangroves Conservation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Nurturing and nourishing mangroves helps fulfil multiple objectives like improving the life of aquatic animals,
reducing poverty and hunger, enhancing the quality of life of coastal communities etc. The importance of
restoration and protection of mangroves is amply reflected in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (which
focuses on sustainably governing our oceans and coasts and recognises mangroves’ immense value to local
communities). But restoring mangrove forests also supports the achievement of many other SDGs like:
 Eliminating poverty and hunger (SDG 1 and SDG 2),
 Ensuring livelihoods and economic growth (SDG 8),
 Taking actions against climate change impacts (SDG 13) and
 Halting biodiversity loss (SDG 15).
They do so in numerous ways. The mangroves have very rich species diversity. For example, India’s
mangroves are home to 4,011 species (the highest in the world). The mangroves give sufficient and nutritious
food to local coastal communities. This becomes particularly useful to poor and vulnerable populations. Various
income-generating opportunities are offered by mangroves. The sustainable harvest of mangrove products meant
for market sales present business opportunities for local communities. This benefits women, native tribes,
farmers, pastoralists etc. These local income opportunities can be enhanced through the creation of
management and planning jobs involved in restoration projects. Mangrove forests are important in climate
management as they are “carbon-rich protective buffer zones between land and sea”. The restoration of
mangrove forests is directly related to goals which are in sync with climate adaptation and mitigation. The
mangroves should be restored in order to promote the resilience of coastal communities from various climate-
induced threats. It is held that “mangrove restoration sites can also be strategically placed to contribute to
upgrading infrastructure with greater adoption of environmentally sound technologies through applying
infrastructures for coastal protection”. In this way, the resilience of coastal communities can be magnified by
minimizing their exposure to climate-induced environmental shocks and disasters. It has been acknowledged time
and again that mangroves are extremely “efficient carbon sinks”. Hence, well-calibrated actions meant for
mangrove restoration efforts help in adapting to adverse impacts of climate change. Various scientific studies
have attested the importance of restoration of mangroves in smart climate management. There is a need for an
integrated approach to mangrove restoration. By this approach the local coastal communities can emerge as
participatory stakeholders in the process of mangrove restoration. The local people can have sustainable
development lifestyles in harmony with nature and can also help the government in promoting sustainable
tourism. This will also enhance eco-friendly business opportunities for local communities in multiple ways.
 In 1976, the National Mangrove Committee was set up under the Environment Ministry.
 In 1979 it recommended focus on areas like mapping of mangroves using remote sensing, land
surveys, etc., to determine degradation rate, assessing sites for establishing reserve forests, conservation
program, afforestation, R&D etc.
 Several legislations like Environment (Protection) Act, Indian Forest Act, Wildlife Protection Act,
Forest Conservation Act, etc. are sources of protection (though mangroves are not specifically
mentioned in all of these).
 In 2018, the High Court called the destruction of mangroves an offence to the fundamental rights of the
citizens under article 21 of the Constitution. Since then, the government has been undertaking efforts to
conserve the mangroves.
 In 2018, India along with 7 other countries of the Bay of Bengal region came together to protect the
mangroves under the BOBLME (Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem) project. The UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation leads this project. The GEF (Global Environment Facility) approved a grant of
15 million USD for this project.
 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: CLIMATE CHANGE ANDPOLLUTION

Environmental change is usually defined as a change or disturbance of the environment most often caused by
human influences and natural ecological processes. Environmental change does not only encompass physical
changes, but also biotic changes in the ecosystem, such as those caused by infestation of invasive species.

Figure depicting environmental change and its impact

As depicted in the figure above environmental change can be of the following types:

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions identified by changes in temperature, precipitation,
winds, and other indicators.

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Any factor that causes a sustained change to the amount of incoming energy or the amount of outgoing energy can
lead to climate change.
Factors that cause climate change can be divided into two categories - those related to natural processes and those
related to human activity.

Natural Causes

The Earth's climate can be affected by natural factors that are external to the climate system, such as changes in
volcanic activity, solar output, and the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Of these, the two factors relevant on
 timescales of contemporary climate change are changes in volcanic activity and changes in solar radiation.
In terms of the Earth's energy balance, these factors primarily influence the amount of incoming energy.

Volcanic eruptions are episodic and have relatively short-term effects on climate. Changes in solar irradiance have
contributed to climate trends over the past century but since the Industrial Revolution, the effect of additions of
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere has been about ten times that of changes in the Sun's output.
Human Causes

• Increase in the level of greenhouse gases has led to considerable heating of Earth leading to global warming.
During the past century, the temperature of Earth has increased by 0.8o Celsius, most of it during the last three
decades.
• Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested ones. A number of human activities contribute
to it. Since forests are major consumers of Carbon Dioxide, therefore deforestation is a major contributor to
global warming.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING

The term ‘Greenhouse effect’ has been derived from a phenomenon that occurs in a greenhouse. In a greenhouse
the glass panel lets the light in, but does not allow heat to escape. Therefore, the greenhouse warms up, very much
like inside a car that has been parked in the sun for a few hours.
The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon that is responsible for heating of Earth’s surface and
atmosphere. Sunlight warms the surface of the Earth. Since the earth cannot store this heat forever, the warm Earth
sends energy back into space. The sunlight which hits the Earth's surface is made up of high energy ultra- violet
and visible radiation. The energy emitted from the surface of the Earth is infra-red or 'longwave radiation'
and is less energetic than sunlight.

Particles and gases in the air absorb infrared heat radiation. The gases are called greenhouse gases. They let the
sunlight in, but they don't let the heat radiation from Earth back out into space. They trap the heat near the ground.
The greenhouse effect is very important for life on Earth. The average temperature of the Earth is 15 degree
Celsius and if there were no greenhouse gases in the air, the average temperature of the Earth would be about 30
degree Celsius lower.
We need a natural greenhouse effect. But by putting more and more greenhouse gases into the air, humans have
enhanced the natural greenhouse effect and are making the Earth warmer.

Greenhouse Gases and their Contribution

Different GHGs can have different effects on the Earth's warming.
Two key ways in which these gases differ from each other are their ability to absorb energy (their "radiative
efficiency"), and how long they stay in the atmosphere (also known as their "lifetime").

The most important greenhouse gas is water vapour (which accounts for about 60% of the greenhouse effect), but
have no major impact on recent increasing global warming.
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing about 60% of the
greenhouse effect (if water vapour is not counted).
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, contributing about 20% of the
greenhouse effect.
The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts of
different gases. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a
given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2). The larger the GWP, the more
that a given gas warms the Earth compared to CO2 over that time period.

Lifetime in Sources GW Potential over-

GHGatmosphere Sink share
Natural Anthropogenic 20 Years 100 years
s (years)
Burning fossil fuels,
CO2 Variable --- deforestation, aerobic Oceans, Forests 1 1 60%
fermentation of solid
waste and wastewater
Animal waste, paddy
Earth bacteria
fields, burning fossil
and chemical
12 Wetlands, Oceans fuels, anaerobic 56 21 20%
CH4 reactions in the
fermentation of solid
atmosphere
waste & wastewater
Microbial Soil
120 processes in Fertilized soil, Photochemical 280 310 6%
N2O oceans’ waters biomass and fossil fuel reactions in the
and natural soil burning atmosphere
Reaction with
Complex free radicals in
photochemical the atmosphere Several hours
---
O3 reactions in the and complex to days
atmosphere photochemical
reactions
 Industrial activities,
Chemical
CFC 45 --- refrigerators, pesticides, 7020 5350 14%
reactions in
s artificial solvents, and
ozone layer
foam products
HFC
264 9100 11700
-23
Table: Natural and anthropogenic greenhouse gases and their lifetime in the atmosphere

CO2 Emission Worldwide

About a third of the world's Carbon Dioxide emissions come from Asia, Australia and Oceania and 28% comes
from North America – almost 60% of the global CO2 emissions come from these two regions. However, even
though both regions emit almost the same amount of CO2 per year, the causes are quite different. About 3.9
billion people live in Asia, Australia and Oceania, that's 61% of the world population, whereas only about 323
million people live in North America (U.S.A. and Canada).
High CO2 emissions in Asia, Australia and Oceania are simply the result of the huge number of people living in
the region, in North America it is the very high consumption of energy which is the cause.19.7 tonnes of CO2 are
emitted per citizen in the USA, while in India it is only 1.1 tonnes. Such huge differences result from the different
degree of economic development. Higher the standard of living in a country, higher is the energy consumption.

OZONE HOLE AND GLOBAL WARMING

 About:
o An Ozone Hole refers to a severe depletion of the ozone layer—a region in the Earth's stratosphere
containing a higher concentration of ozone molecules.
o Ozone molecules (O3) in this layer play a crucial role in shielding the Earth from harmful
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
o The ozone layer depletion leads to the formation of an area with significantly reduced ozone
concentrations, often observed over Antarctica.
o This phenomenon occurs primarily during the Southern Hemisphere's spring months (August to
October), though it can also be influenced by global factors.
 Reasons for Ozone Hole:
o The depletion is caused by human-generated chemicals known as ozone-depleting substances
(ODS), including Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl
chloroform.
o These substances, once released into the atmosphere, rise to the stratosphere, where they break down
due to the sun's ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine and bromine atoms that destroy ozone
molecules.
 The Antarctic ozone hole is the most famous and severe example of this phenomenon. It's
characterized by a drastic reduction in ozone levels, allowing increased amounts of
harmful UV radiation to reach the Earth's surface.
 Impact:
o The increased UV radiation poses health risks to humans, including higher rates of skin cancers,
cataracts, and compromised immune systems.
o UV radiation can harm various organisms and ecosystems. Ozone depletion can indirectly influence
 climate change. Changes in the stratosphere due to ozone depletion can impact atmospheric
circulation patterns, potentially affecting weather and climate in certain regions.

Antarctic Ozone Hole in news

According to a recent study, published in Nature Communications, stated that the Antarctic Ozone Hole has
been massive in the last four years.

What are the Key Highlights of the Study?

 Ozone Depletion:
o The Antarctic ozone hole has been consistently large and has shown thinning over recent
years, contrary to the expected recovery trend observed since the 2000s.
o The concentration of ozone at the center of the hole has notably reduced, indicating significant
thinning of the ozone layer.
 The concentration of ozone at the core of the ozone hole has decreased by 26% from 2004
to 2022, despite the efforts outlined in the Montreal Protocol, which aimed to reduce
human-generated chemicals that deplete the ozone layer.
 Polar Vortex Influence:
o The Antarctic ozone hole exists within the polar vortex, a circular wind pattern in the stratosphere
that forms during winter and is maintained until late spring.
o Within this vortex, the Antarctic air from the mesosphere (the atmospheric layer above the
stratosphere) falls into the stratosphere. This intrusion of air brings natural chemicals (nitrogen
 dioxide, for example) which impact ozone chemistry in October.
 Factors Affecting Ozone Depletion:
o The role of meteorological conditions, such as temperature, wind patterns, aerosols from wildfires
and volcanic eruptions, and changes in the solar cycle, influenced the size and behavior of the
Antarctic ozone hole.

FEEDBACK EFFECTS

When the Earth warms up, a large number of changes take place in the atmosphere, the oceans and on the land
surface. Some of these changes can, in turn, affect the temperature. These are called feedback effects. Some of these
feedback effects increase global warming, while others reduce it.
Feedback from water vapor

Water vapor is one of the most important feedback effects. A slight warming of the Earth due to more sunlight or an
increased greenhouse effect, will lead to an increase in the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. As water vapor
is also a greenhouse gas, the extra water vapor will increase the greenhouse effect even more, leading to even greater
warming. Thus water vapor has an amplifying effect on global warming.
Feedback from snow and ice cover

The feedback effects from ice and snow-covered surfaces are similar. When the climate is cold, there is a lot of ice
and snow on Earth. These shiny surfaces reflect sunlight away from the ground and make it even colder. A warmer
climate means less ice and snow. This leads to less reflection of solar radiation to outer space and increased
warming.
Feedback from clouds

When it gets warmer on Earth, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere increases and more clouds may be
formed. This can either increase or decrease warming, depending on what type of clouds they are. All clouds both
cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight back into space and warm it up by absorbing heat from the surface in the same
way that greenhouse gases do. Thin cirrus clouds (which appear high up in the atmosphere when the weather is
fine) generally have a warming effect. Low cumulus and stratus clouds, on the other hand, have a cooling
effect.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND OCEANS

Water has a very high specific heat capacity. Heat is stored by the ocean in summer and released back to the
atmosphere in winter. Oceans, therefore, moderate climate by reducing the temperature differences between seasons.

The largest carbon store on Earth is in sediments, both on land and in the oceans, and it is held mainly as
calcium carbonate. The second biggest store is the deep ocean where carbon occurs mostly as dissolved carbonate and
hydrogen carbonate ions. About a third of the carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning is stored in the oceans and it
enters by both physical and biological processes:

1. Physical Process: Carbon dioxide dissolves more easily in cold water than in warm water. It also dissolves
more easily in seawater compared to pure water because seawater naturally contains carbonate ions.
2. Biological Process: Carbon dioxide is also taken up by phytoplankton in photosynthesis and converted into
plant material. Land plants and marine phytoplankton take up about the same amounts of carbon dioxide as
each other but marine phytoplanktons grow much faster than land plants.
By burning fossil fuels, we are releasing carbon about a million times faster than natural biological cycles do.
Forests and phytoplankton can't take up the carbon dioxide fast enough to keep up with the increases in emissions
and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have, therefore, risen dramatically over the past few decades.
Consequences of Global Warming on Oceans

Global warming is likely to have a number of effects on the ocean:

Carbon dioxide dissolves more easily in cold water than in warm water so warmer temperatures will
reduce the ability of the oceans to take up carbon dioxide and this will further enhance the greenhouse effect.
Warmer temperatures also cause expansion of water and, along with the additional water from ice melt, will
result in a rise in sea level and may cause flooding.
Excess CO2 absorbed by the oceans will lead to formation of carbonic acid. This acidification will have
detrimental effect shell forming creatures like the corals because it will reduce the ability of carbonate ions in
the ocean needed to form shell.

AGRICULTURE AND GLOBAL WARMING

Intensive ploughing of agricultural land and deforestation are also ways to increase CO2 emissions. Soil contains
a large amount of organic matter and is, therefore, also an important carbon store. When the soil is intensively
ploughed, more oxygen can get into it. This extra oxygen increases the rate at which the organic matter is broken
down into CO2.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is produced biologically in soils, water and animal wastes. Over the last two centuries,
human activities have increased N2O concentrations by 13%. The main sources of N2O are fossil fuel
combustion, agricultural soil management, industry and the use of nitrogen based fertilizers.
The main sources of methane (natural gas) (CH4) are ruminant livestock (cows and sheep) and rice cultivation.
Methane is produced by microscopic organisms which grow in anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic means that there is
no oxygen present. Anaerobic conditions occur in waterlogged soils. Rice is grown in flooded fields so rice
paddies are an ideal environment for these methane producing organisms to grow. About a third of the total
amount of methane in the atmosphere comes from agricultural sources. Other natural sources of methane are
coal and petroleum fields.
Climate Smart Agriculture

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient
agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security in a changing climate.
CSA provides the means to help stakeholders from local to national and international levels identify agricultural
strategies suitable to their local conditions.
Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigation can often be a significant co-benefit of
actions to strengthen adaptation and enhance food security, and thus mitigation action compatible with national
development priorities for agriculture is an important aspect of CSA.
Different elements of climate-smart agricultural systems include:
Management of farms, crops, livestock, aquaculture and capture fisheries to balance near-term food security
and livelihoods needs with priorities for adaptation and mitigation.
Ecosystem and landscape management to conserve ecosystem services that are important for food security,
agricultural development, adaptation and mitigation.
Services for farmers and land managers to enable better management of climate risks/impacts and mitigation
actions.
Changes in the wider food system including demand-side measures and value chain interventions that enhance
the benefits of CSA.
CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Because the Earth’s climate system is too large to undertake controlled experiments, scientists use mathematical
models, known as Global Circulation Models (GCMs) to forecast climate trends over the coming decades.
Major predictions are as below:
● Global climate models predict an increase in average global rainfall ranging from about 5 to 20% because a
warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapour.
● High latitude regions (particularly the Polar Regions) and high elevations are likely to experience greater
warming than the global mean warming, especially in winter.
● Winter time and night time minimum temperatures will continue to rise faster than average temperatures.
● The hydrological cycle is likely to further intensify, bringing more floods and more droughts.
● More winter precipitation is predicted to fall as rain, rather than snow. This will decrease snow pack and
spring runoff, potentially worsening spring and summer droughts.
● Global warming will also affect sea level. Recent estimates suggest that average sea levels will rise by around
half a metre by 2100.
● The amount of oxygen dissolved in the oceans may decline, with adverse consequences for ocean life.
● Ocean acidification and climate change would impair a wide range of planktonic and shallow marine
organisms such as corals and marine snails (pteropods), with significant impacts particularly in the Southern
Ocean.
● movements of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the Northern Hemisphere;

METHODS TO HINDER CLIMATE CHANGE

● Burn less fossil fuel,. Technological improvements and lifestyle changes can reduce the amount of energy we
use on transportation, heating, cooling, lighting, appliances that run on electricity, industrial production and so
on. Alternative energy resources such as wind, solar, hydro, biomass and nuclear power should be exploited.
● Stop deforestation to prevent release of stored Carbon. Today deforestation is especially prevalent in
developing countries, where forests are cut down for agriculture, industrialization and real estate.
● Garbage dumps (landfills) release methane (CH4) from rotting organic waste. By capturing this gas and using
it as fuel, we get both heat and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.
● Building an energy and resource efficient economy- especially the polluting agriculture and industrial sector.

CARBON SEQUESTRATION
Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric CO2.
It can be done in the following ways:
 Afforestation
 Wetland Restoration
 Sustainable Agriculture
 Growing Seaweed that can be used to produce bio-methane.
 Bio-char produced by pyrolysis of bio waste. It can be used as landfill and increase soil fertility.
 Subterranean injection which involves injecting CO2 into depleted oil and gas reservoirs and other
geological features, or into the deep ocean.
 Iron Fertilization of Oceans encouraging the growth of planktons and thus capturing CO2.
Geo-Engineering
It is large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climatic system with the aim of limiting climate change.
Theoretically, there are two major types of interventions – Carbon Sequestration and solar radiation
management. Solar Radiation Management techniques include firing sulphur dioxide into atmosphere, putting
huge mirrors in the space, creating pale coloured rooftop and other structures which have high albedo.
DEFORESTATION
Forest clearance or Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a
non-forest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.

CONSEQUENCES OF DEFORESTATION
Climate Change: Forests are some of the largest reserves of carbon. Amazon rainforests are called lungs of the earth
because of their ability absorb carbon dioxide and release fresh oxygen.

Pollution of Air, Water and Soil: Toxic gases and chemicals released into the environment are absorbed by the
forests. Deforestation reduces this capacity and increases the impact of the pollution.

Water Cycle: Forests intercept moisture and cause rainfall. They play an important part in water cycle through
transpiration and facilitation of cloud formation.

Soil: Deforestation generally increases rates of soil loss, by increasing the amount of runoff and reducing the
protection of the soil from tree litter. increases the risk of landslides, which can threaten people living nearby.
Deforestation reduces soil cohesion.
Deforestation on a human scale results in decline in biodiversity, and on a natural global scale is known to cause the
extinction of many species.

LAND DEGRADATION AND DESERTIFICATION

Land degradation is caused by multiple forces, including extreme weather conditions particularly drought, and human
activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility. It negatively affects food production, livelihoods,
and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services.

Land degradation has accelerated during the 20th and 21st century due to increasing and combined pressures of
agricultural and livestock production (over-cultivation, overgrazing, forest conversion), urbanization, deforestation,
and extreme weather events such as droughts and coastal surges which salinate land. Desertification, is a form of land
degradation, by which fertile land becomes desert.
The potential impacts of desertification on health include:

 Higher threats of malnutrition from reduced food and water supplies;

 More water- and food-borne diseases that result from poor hygiene and a lack of clean water;
 Respiratory diseases caused by atmospheric dust from wind erosion and other air pollutants;
 Spread of infectious diseases as populations migrate.

WETLANDS LOSS AND DAMAGE

URBANIZATION
Rapid, unplanned and unsustainable patterns of urban development are making developing cities focal points for many
emerging environment and health hazards.
DAMAGE TO CORAL REEFS

Coral reefs are underwater ecosystems made up of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates known as coral. Coral
reefs are one of the world's most biologically diverse marine ecosystems. Coral reefs are colonies of small living animals
found in the oceans. They are underwater formations composed of coral polyps bound together by calcium
carbonate. Coral reefs serve a vital function in marine ecosystems by providing habitat for marine plants and wildlife.

What are Corals?

 Coral is actually a living creature. Coral has a symbiotic relationship with 'zooxanthellae,' microscopic
algae that live on coral [i.e., instead of living on the sea floor, the algae lives up on the coral, which is closer to
the ocean surface and thus gets enough light].
 Through their photosynthetic activities, zooxanthellae aid the coral in nutrient production.
 These activities provide fixed carbon compounds to the coral for energy, promote calcification, and mediate
elemental nutrient flux.
 The coral tissues themselves are not the beautiful colours of the coral reef, but rather clear (white). Corals get
their colour from the zooxanthellae that live within their tissues.
 In exchange, the host coral polyp provides its zooxanthellae with a safe environment to live in as well as a
steady supply of carbon dioxide for photosynthetic processes.
 Coral reefs are built by tiny animals known as polyps.
 As these polyps thrive, grow, and die, their limestone (calcium carbonate) skeletons are left behind.
 New polyps are colonising the limestone. As a result, a coral reef is composed of layers of these skeletons that
are eventually covered by living polyps.

Features of Coral Reefs

 They are found in shallow tropical areas with clean, clear, and warm sea water.
 The coral reef cover in Indian waters is estimated to be up to 19,000 square kilometres.
 Coral reefs are among the most productive and complex coastal ecosystems, with a wide range of biological
diversity.
  Many invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants live in close association with the corals, with tight resource
coupling and recycling, allowing coral reefs to have extremely high productivity and biodiversity, earning
them the nickname "the Tropical Rainforests of the Oceans."

Conditions Required for Growth of Coral

 Shallow water: Coral reefs require shallow water to grow. The surface of the Reef should not be more than 80
m above the surface of the water. Zooxanthellae require adequate sunlight to perform photosynthesis.
 Semi-hard or hard surface: The semi-hard or hard surface is required for coral polyp skeleton compaction,
cementation, and solidification.
 Low range of temperature: Coral cannot tolerate a high range of temperature and hence require 20-22°C
mean annual temperature as they are lying in tropical and subtropical regions (stenothermal).
 Clear water: Beautiful coral polyps are destroyed in sediment-filled waters. They also disappear in shallow
water. This is because of the presence of sediments and opaque water that restricts the flow of sunlight to the
algae, which sustains their survival.
 Saline waters: The moderate salinity of ocean waters is critical for the development of coral polyps. To
protect their bones, the polyps collect calcium from the water. Hence, mild salinity is required for coral
reefs to grow (27-30 PPT).
 Rich supply of nutrients: Coral reefs grow in seawater because ocean waves provide a continuous source of
rich nutrients. Coral polyps multiply more quickly when nutrients are supplied.

Classification of Coral Reefs

Fringing Reefs (Shore Reefs)

 Fringing reefs form near the continent and stay close to the coastline. Small, shallow lagoons separate these
reefs from the coastline.
 They are the most common among all corals.
  Eg: Andaman and Nicobar Island, Gulf of Kutch, Mannar and Palk Bay.

Barrier Reefs

 It is the largest, highest and widest reef among the coral reefs.
 Barrier reefs are linear offshore reef structures running parallel to continental margin and are separated by
wide and deep non navigable barriers.
 The water body between reef and the shore is termed as lagoon.
 Barrier reefs extend as a broken, irregular ring around the coast or an island, running almost parallel to it.
 Largest coral of the world is the great barrier reef, present on eastern coast of Queensland of australia.

Atoll Reefs
  Atoll is a ring of narrow growing coral generally in the form of horse shoe pattern or elliptical manner.
 Corals are found on submarine bench or platform and in the middle of coral lagoon is food i.e., no land is
found within Atoll.
 A chain of various Atoll collectively are called as Faros.
 Ex: Lakshadweep

Functions of Coral Reefs

 As coral reefs are found in shallow water of tropical or subtropical regions they are characterised by high
biomass production and rich floral & faunal activity.
 Corals are a natural protective barrier against erosion.
 Some corals are a source of high quality proteins.
 Coral is a large hot spot of marine biodiversity & fishery resources.
 It is also the largest biogenic calcium carbonate producer.
 They provide substrate for mangroves.
 Coral reefs provide habitat for a large variety of animals & plants including avifauna.
 Coral play a remarkable role in insitu or conservation of marine biodiversity.
 Coral is used as bone substitute in reconstructive bone Surgery as pores & channels are some corals
resembling that of human bone.

Threats to Coral Reef

 Natural causes could include the emergence of reef-destroying mechanisms, "bleaching," and the depletion of
essential symbiotics.
 Chemical pollution (pesticides, cosmetics, etc.), industrial pollution, mechanical damage, nutrient loading or
sediment loading, dredging, shipping, tourism, mining or collection, thermal pollution, intensive fishing, and
so on are examples of anthropogenic causes.
 Coral reef ecosystems around the world have suffered unprecedented degradation in recent decades. Coral reef
disturbances include both anthropogenic and natural events.
 Natural disturbances that cause coral reef damage include violent storms, flooding, extreme temperature
swings, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, subaerial exposures, predatory outbreaks, and
epizootics.
 Coral reef bleaching is a common stress response of corals to many of the above-mentioned disturbances.

Causes of Decline in Coral Reefs

Temperature

 Coral Species live within a relatively narrow temperature merging and anomalously low & high sea
temperature can induce coral bleaching.
 Bleaching is much more frequently reported from elevated seawater temperatures.
 Bleaching event also occurs during sudden temperature drops accompanying intense upwelling episodes,
seasonal cold air outbreaks

Solar Irradiance

 Bleaching during the summer months, during seasonal temperature & irradiance maxima open occurs
disproportionately in shallow living corals & on the exposed summits of colonies.
 Solar radiation has been suspected to play a role in coral bleaching.

Subaerial exposure

 Sudden exposure of reef flat corals to the atmosphere during events such as extreme low tides.
  ENSO related Sea level drops or tectonics uplift can potentially induce bleaching.

Conservation of Corals

 Environmental protection act, 1986 prohibits the use of corals and sands from the beaches & coastal water for
construction & other purposes.
 India is participatory to green Coast project.
 Coastal regulation zone rules (CRZ) bans the collection and destruction of corals along with dredging and under
water blasting in and around coral formation.
 Concepts of marine protected areas & marine national parks help in coral conservation.
o For example: Flist national marine park gulf of Mannar (Gujrat), Great nicobar Biosphere Reserve,
Mahatma Gandhi Marine National park (Andaman) are playing an important role in Conservation of
corals.
 India has ratified the Paris agreement and became the 62nd country of the world to do so, a step toward Climate
change mitigation.
 India has ratified the second commitment period of Kyoto protocol (2013-20).

Coral Bleaching

 Bleaching, or coral colour paling, occurs when the density of zooxanthellae decreases and/or the concentration
of photosynthetic pigments within the zooxanthellae decreases.
 Corals commonly lose 60-90 percent of their zooxanthellae when they bleach, and each zooxanthella may lose
50-80 percent of its photosynthetic pigments.
 If the stress-induced bleaching is not too severe and fades over time, the affected corals usually regain their
symbiotic algae within a few weeks or months.
 If zooxanthellae loss continues, i.e. if the stress persists and depleted zooxanthellae populations do not recover,
the coral host will eventually die.
 High temperature and irradiance stressors have been linked to the disruption of enzyme systems in
zooxanthellae that provide oxygen toxicity protection.
 At temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, photosynthesis pathways in zooxanthallae are impaired, which
could lead to the disassociation of the coral/algal symbiosis.
 Low or high temperature shocks cause zooxanthellae to die due to cell adhesion dysfunction.
 This involves the separation of cnidarian endodermal cells from their zooxanthellae, followed by the expulsion
of both cell types.
Air Pollution

Aggravated because of four developments: Increasing traffic, growing cities, rapid economic development, and
industrialization contamination of air by the discharge of harmful substances.

Major air pollutants and their sources

1. Carbon monoxide (CO)

 It is a colourless, odourless gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon - based fuels including petrol,
diesel, and wood.
 It is also produced from the combustion of natural and synthetic products such as cigarettes.
 It lowers the amount of oxygen that enters our blood. It can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy.

2. Carbon dioxide CO2

 Principe greenhouse gas
3. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
Gases that are released mainly from air-conditioning systems and refrigeration. When released into the air, CFCs
rise to the stratosphere, where they come in contact with few other gases, which lead to a reduction of the ozone
layer that protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

4. Lead
 Present in petrol, diesel, lead batteries, paints, hair dye products, etc. Affects children in particular.
 Cause nervous system damage and digestive problems and, in some cases, cause cancer.

5. Ozone
 Occurs naturally in the upper layers of the atmosphere.
 At-the ground level, it is a pollutant with highly toxic effects.
 Vehicles and industries are the major source of ground-level ozone emissions. Ozone makes our eyes itch, burn,
and water. It lowers our resistance to cold and pneumonia.

6. Nitrogen oxide (Nox)

 Causes smog and acid rain. It is produced from burning fuels including petrol, diesel, and Coal.
 Nitrogen oxide can make children susceptible to respiratory diseases in winters.

7. Suspended particulate matter (SPM)

 Consists of solids in the air in the form of smoke, dust, and vapour that can remain suspended for extended periods
 The kner of these particles when breathed in can lodge in our lungs and cause lung damage and respiratory
problems.

8. Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

 A gas produced from burning coal, mainly in thermal power plants.
 Some industrial processes, such as production of paper and smelting of metals, produce sulphur dioxide.
 A major contributor to smog and acid rain.
 Sulphur dioxide can lead to lung diseases

9. Smog

 A combination of the words fog and smoke. Smog is a condition of fog that had soot or smoke in it.
 Interaction of sunlight with certain chemicals in the atmosphere.
 Primary components of photochemical smog is ozone.
 Oxides, and sunlight. It is formed when pollutants released from gasoline.
 Ozone is formed through a complex reaction involving hydrocarbons, nitrogen diesel- powered vehicles and oil-
based solvents react with heat and sunlight from biofuels, the four most serious pollutants are particulates, carbon
monoxide, polycyclic organic matter, and formaldehyde.
Pollutants

1. Volatile organic compounds

 The main indoor sources are perfumes, hair sprays, furniture polish, glues, air fresheners, moth
repellents, wood preservatives, and other products.
 Biological pollutants - It includes pollen from plants, mite, and hair from pets, fungi, parasites, and
some bacteria.
2. Formaldehyde
Mainly from carpets, particle boards, and insulation foam. It causes irritation to the eyes and nose and
allergies.
3. Radon
It is a gas that is emitted naturally by the soil. Due to modern houses having poor ventilation, it is conkned
inside the house and causes lung cancers.

4. Fly Ash
o Ash is produced whenever combustion of solid material takes place.
o Aluminium silicate (in large amounts) Silicon dioxide (SiO2) and Calcium oxide (CaO)
o Fly ash particles are oxide rich and consist of silica, alumina, oxides of iron, calcium, and magnesium and
toxic heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cobalt, and coppers.

Policy measures of MoEF

The Ministry of Environment and Forests vide its notification in 2009, has made it mandatory to use Fly Ash based
products in all construction projects, road embankment works and low lying land filling works within 100 kms radius of
Thermal Power Station.

To use Fly Ash in mine filling activities within 50 kms radius of Thermal Power Stations.

Arresters: These are used to separate particulate matters from contaminated air. Scrubbers: These are used to clean air for
both dusts and gases by passing it through a dry or wet packing material.

Government Initiatives

National Air Quality Monitoring Programme

 In India, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been executing a nationwide programme of ambient air
quality monitoring known as National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP).
 The National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) is undertaken in India:
(i) To determine status and trends of ambient air quality.
(ii) to ascertain the compliance of NAAQS.
(iii) to identify non-attainment cities.
(iv) to understand the natural process of cleaning in the atmosphere; and
(v) to undertake preventive and corrective measures.
 Annual average concentration of SOx levels are within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS).
 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAas) were notified in the year 1982, duly revised in 1994 based on
health criteria and land uses.
 The NAAQS have been revisited and revised in November 2009 for 12 pollutants, which include, Sulphur dioxide
(S02), nitrogen dioxide (N02), particulate matter having size less than 10 micron.
 (PM 10),particulate matter having size less than 2.5micron (PM2.5), ozone, lead, carbon monoxide (CO), arsenic,
 nickel, benzene, ammonia, and. Benzopyrene.
Water Pollution

Addition of certain substances to the water such as organic, inorganic, biological, radiological, heat, which degrades the
quality of water so that it becomes unfit for use.

 Putrescibility is the process of decomposition of organic matter present in water by microorganisms using oxygen.
 Water having DO (dissolved oxygen) content below 8.0 mg/L may be considered as contaminated. Water having
DO content below. 4.0 mg/L is considered to be highly polluted.
 Water pollution by organic wastes is measured in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand-(BOD). BOD is the
amount of dissolved oxygen needed by bacteria in decomposing the organic wastes present in water.
 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is a slightly better mode used to measure pollution load in water. It is the
measure of oxygen equivalent to the requirement of oxidation of total organic matter (i.e. biodegradable and non-
biodegradable) present in water.
 A crippling deformity called Minamata disease due to consumption of fish captured from mercury contaminated
Minamata Bay.
 Water contaminated with cadmium can cause itai-itai disease also called ouch-ouch disease (a painful disease of
bones and joints) and cancer of lungs and liver.
 The compounds of lead cause anaemia, headache, loss of muscle power and bluish line around the gum.
 Excess nitrate in drinking water reacts with hemoglobin to form non -functional
 methaemoglobin, and impairs oxygen transport. This condition is called methemoglobinemia or blue baby
syndrome.
 Over exploitation of ground water may lead to leaching of arsenic from soil and rock sources and contaminate
ground water. Chronic exposure to arsenic causes black foot disease. It also causes diarrhoea, -peripheral neuritis,
hyperkeratosis and also lung and skin cancer.
Soil Pollution

Industrial waste includes chemicals such as mercury, lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, cyanides, thiocynates, chromates, acids,
alkalies, organic substances etc.

Four R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Noise Pollution

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). An increase of about 10 dB is approximately double the increase in loudness.

A person's hearing can be damaged if exposed to noise levels over 75 dB over a prolonged period of time.

The World Health Organization recommends that the sound level indoors should be less than 30 dB .

Noise Level Monitoring - Noise Pollution (Control and Regulation) Rules, 2000 define ambient noise levels for various
areas as follows-

(i) Industrial Area- 75DB to 70Db (Day time-6 am to 10 pm and night time 10pm to 6am..75 is day time
and 70 is night time)
(ii) Commercial Area- 65 to 55
(iii) Residential Area- 55 to 45
(iv) Silence Zone- 50 to 40

The Government of India on Mar 2011 launched a Real time Ambient Noise Monitoring Network.

 Under this network, in phase- 1, five Remote Noise Monitoring Terminals each have been installed in different
noise zones in seven metros (Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Lucknow).
 In Phase II another 35 monitoring stations will be installed in the same seven cities. Phase III will cover installing
90 stations in 18 other cities.
 Phase-II cities are Kanpur, Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal,
 Ludhiana, Guwahati, Dehradun, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Gandhinagar, Ranchi, Amritsar and
Raipur.
 Silence Zone is an area comprising not less than 100 metres around hospitals,
 educational institutions, courts, religious places or any other t area declared as such by a competent authority.
Radio Active Pollution

 Non-ionising radiations affect only those components which absorb them and have low penetrability. They include
short-wave radiations such as ultraviolet rays, which forms a part of solar radiation. Sunburns is due to these
radiation
 Ionising radiations have high penetration power & cause breakage of macro molecules They include X-rays,
cosmic rays and atomic radiations -(radiations emitted by radioactive elements
 Alpha particles, can be blocked by a piece of paper and human skin. Beta particles can penetrate through skin,
while can be blocked by some pieces of glass
 Gamma rays can penetrate easily to human skin and damage cells on its way
 through, and metal.
 Reaching far, and can only be blocked by a very thick, strong, massive piece of concrete radium-224, uranium-
238, thorium-232, potassium-40, carbon-14, etc.
 The nuclear arms use uranium-235 and plutonium-239 for fission and hydrogen or lithium as fusion material
 The radio nuclides with long half-time are the chief source of environmental radioactive pollution.

E-Waste

 E-waste is not hazardous if it is stocked in safe storage or recycled by scientific methods or transported from one
place to the other in parts or in totality in the formal sector. The e-waste can be considered hazardous if recycled
by primitive methods
 Survey was carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) during 2005 In India, among top ten cities;
Mumbai ranks first in generating e-waste followed by Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmadabad,
Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Nagpur.

Solid Waste

 The discarded (abandoned or considered waste-like) materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges,
Conventional plastics have been associated with reproductive problems in both.
 Does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved humans and wildlife.
Solid Waste Management

 Dioxin (highly carcinogenic and toxic) by-product of the manufacturing process is one of the chemicals believed
to be passed on through breast milk to the nursing infant.
 Burning of plastics, especially PVC releases this dioxin and also furan into the atmosphere.
 Pyrolysis-It is a process of combustion in absence of oxygen or the material burnt under controlled atmosphere of
oxygen. It is an alternative to incineration. The gas and liquid thus obtained can be used as fuels.

Waste Minimization Circles (WMC)

 Helps Small and Medium Industrial Clusters in waste minimization in their industrial plants, assisted by the World
Bank with the Ministry of Environment and Forests acting as the nodal ministry.
 Being implemented with the assistance of National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi.
 Aims to realise the objectives of the Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution (1992), which states that the
government should educate citizens about environmental risks, the economic and health dangers of resource
degradation and the real economic cost of natural resources.

Bioremediation

The use of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) to degrade the environmental contaminants into less toxic forms.
Phytoremediation is use of plants to remove contaminants from soil and water.

Rhizofiltration

A water remediation technique that involves the uptake of contaminants by plant roots. Used to reduce contamination in
natural wetlands and estuary areas.

MARINE POLLUTION

Marine pollution defined as contamination of oceans or seas, due to presence of unwanted materials or pollutants. The
most common pollutants include chemicals, oils, toxic bio-matter, plastics etc.

Cause of Marine pollution

(i) Rivers receive huge amount of sewage, garbage, pesticides, toxic chemical from industries ends up in the sea.

(ii) Dumping of radioactive elements, discharge of oils and petroleum product into the sea also causes marine
pollution.

(iii) Large amount of plastic bags dumped into sea also causes marine pollution.

(iv) The waste material from container ships like gases, chemicals, and sewage also causes marine pollution.

(v) Greenhouse gases releases from burning of fossil fuel, dissolve in the sea water and making sea water more
acidic.

(vi) Deep sea mining also causes marine pollution.

Effect of marine pollution

a) Dumping of sewage, chemicals, organic matters into ocean can results in depletion of oxygen. Due to depletion of
oxygen, it is hard to survive aquatic plants and animals.

b) Discharge of oil and petroleum products into the ocean, can block the sunlight which is used by aquatic plants for
photosynthesis.

c) Many aquatic animals and marine birds ingest small piece of plastic, causes gastro-intestinal disorder and damage
the tissue of eggs.

d) When greenhouse gas like CO2 when dissolve, increase the acidity of sea water ad affect the aquatic plant and
animal.

Control measure for marine pollution

i) Waste water must be treated before dumping.

ii) Reduce the use of single use plastic.

iii) To minimize the greenhouse gases use alternative energy resources.

iv) Chemical fertilizers may be replacing by organic fertilizers.

v) Proper monitoring of sea water.

vi) Various campaigns should be done to prohibit marine pollution.

Air Freshener

Many air fresheners employ carcinogens, volatile organic compounds and known toxins such as phthalate
esters in their formulas. Most of the products that have been studied contain chemicals that can aggravate
asthma and affect reproductive development.
 Emission factor is a representative value that attempts to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the
atmosphere with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. These factors are usually expressed as
the weight of pollutant divided by a unit weight, volume, distance, or duration of the activity emitting the
pollutant (e. g., kilograms of particulate emitted per megagram of coal burned). Such factors facilitate
estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution.

1. London type smog: Burning coal leads to emissions of Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide and dust. When these
pollutants mix with fog, droplets of highly corrosive Sulphuric Acid are produced in the air. It occurs at very cold
temperatures.

2. Los Angeles type or Photochemical Smog: This type of smog forms on sunny days and is the result of emissions
from traffic. Nitrogenous oxides from car exhausts and hydrocarbons react in the presence of sunlight to produce a
noxious mixture of aerosols and gasses.
Secondary pollutants: Derived from Primary Air Pollutants. In
bright sunlight, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides, oxygen and
hydrocarbons undergo photochemical reaction. As a result,
powerful oxidants – Ozone, Aldehydes, Sulphuric acid, Peroxy
acetyl nitrate (PAN), Peroxides, etc. re produced. They form
photochemical Smog.

Acid Rain

Clean rain is slightly acidic naturally but when the pH of rain falls below 5.6, we call it acid rain. Emissions of the two
air pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are the main reasons for acid rain formation. Nitrogen
oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are emitted during fossil fuel combustion and then undergo
reactions with water in the air to form the nitric acid (HNO3) and the sulphuric acid (H2SO4) found in acid rain.

 When soil becomes acidified, essential nutrients such as calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) are leached out
before the trees and plants can use them to grow. This reduces the soil's fertility.
 It leads to acidification of water bodies. Some 14,000 Swedish lakes, located in acidic crystalline rocks, have
been affected by acidification.
 Soil acidification releases metals that can harm microorganisms in the soil as well as birds and mammals higher
up in the food chain. Acid rain also disturbs the natural cycles of sulphur and nitrogen.

Toxic hotspots are locations where emissions from specific sources such as water or air pollution may expose
local populations to elevated health risks, such as cancer. Urban, highly populated areas around pollutant
emitters such as old factories and waste storage sites are often toxic hotspots. Some toxic hotspots in India are
Bhopal, Pantacheru, AP and Eloor in Cochin.
 (a) If coal is washed before pulverization, then fly-ash emissions are considerably reduced.

(b) If air intake of boiler furnace is adjusted, then excess Fly-ash emissions at power plants can be reduced.

1. Pollution Control Equipment:

Sometimes pollution control at source is not possible by preventing the emission of pollutants. Then it becomes necessary
to install pollution control equipment to remove the gaseous pollutants from the main gas stream.

Pollution control equipment’s are generally classified into two types:

Control Devices for Particulate Contaminants:

(1) Gravitational Settling Chamber: For removal of particles exceeding 50 µm in size from polluted gas streams,
gravitational settling chambers are put to use. The gas stream polluted with particulates is allowed to enter from one
end. The particulates having higher density obey Stoke’s law and settle at the bottom of the chamber from where they
are removed ultimately.
(2) Cyclone Separators (Reverse flow Cyclone): Instead of gravitational force, centrifugal force is utilized by cyclone
separators, to separate the particulate matter from the polluted gas.

(3) Fabric Filters (Baghouse Filters): In a fabric filter system, a stream of the polluted gas is made to pass through a
fabric that filters out the particulate pollutant and allows the clear gas to pass through.

(4) Electrostatic Precipitators: Electrically charged particulates present in the polluted gas are separated from the gas
stream under the influence of the electrical field.

(5) Wet Collectors (Scrubbers): In wet collectors or scrubbers, the particulate contaminants are removed from the
polluted gas stream by incorporating the particulates into liquid droplets.

New industries, as far as possible, should be established away from larger cities (this will also keep a check on increasing
concentration of urban population in a few larger cities only) and the locational decisions of large industries should be
guided by regional planning. The industrial estate of Bangalore is divided into three zones namely light, medium and large
industries. In Bangalore and Delhi very large industries are not permitted.
Bharat Stage emission standards

The standards, based on European regulations were first introduced in 2000. Progressively stringent norms have been
rolled out since then. All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of the norms have to be compliant with the
regulations. Since October 2010, Bharat stage III norms have been enforced across the country. In 13 major cities, Bharat
stage IV emission norms for cars have been in place since April 2010. Government has announced that all two-wheelers,
three-

wheelers and four-wheelers will have to comply with Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) norms from April 1, 2017. It has announced
plans to skip BS V norms and directly implement BS VI norms by April 2020. However, compliance with the norms leads
to increase in the cost of the vehicles.

National Air Quality Index (AQI)

It has been launched for monitoring the quality of air in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis and
enhancing public awareness for taking mitigative action. The AQI has been at present launched for 10 cities -- Delhi, Agra,
Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Government proposes to extend
the measurement of air quality to 22 state capitals and 44 other cities with a population exceeding one million.

There are six AQI categories, namely: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very poor and Severe.

The index considers eight pollutants -- PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 and Pb). The likely health
implications of the six categories would also be provided with a colour code.

With this step, India has joined the global league of countries like the US, China, Mexico and France that have
implemented smog alert systems.

Off-shore Oil Drilling: This pollution is mainly due to the loss of oil during off-shore exploration, oil drilling and
extraction of mineral oil, leakage of oil and natural gas from under-water pipelines and oil spills from oil tankers.
The waste oil also reaches the oceans and seas due to leakage during loading and unloading of oil tankers, run off
from the roads at seaports and washing of oil tankers.

Thermal Pollution: Most of the large-scale industrial units, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, oil
refineries, etc., are located along the banks of rivers. These industries use large quantities of fresh water for
cooling purposes. The hot water is generally discharged in the rivers. This increases the temperature of river
water by about 10 Degree Celsius, and this leads to thermal pollution of water. This has a harmful effect on the
aquatic organisms, such as fishes and algae. The increase in temperature of river water also decreases the level of
dissolved oxygen, which results in the release of foul and toxic gases.

The marine pollution has the following effects:

The nuclear wastes are disposed off in sealed containers in the deep seas. The leakage can cause serious damage to
flora and fauna in marine habitat.

Oil spills cause frequent death of plankton, fish, coral reef, sea food and marine birds. The oil spreads on water and
forms a layer, which is harmful for marine life. Some chemicals in the oil form a black layer on the surface which
can coat the feathers of birds and fur of marine mammals. All of them die or drown. When the oil spill reaches the
coast, it affects fishing activities and tourism.
 Biological oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i. e., demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to
break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. BOD can be used
to gauge the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants. Pristine rivers, where there is very little microbial growth have very
less values of BOD (~1mg/L); untreated sewerage, which has high nutrients, and therefore, supports high micro-organism growth,
has values ranging from 200-600mg/L.

P.S. - Dissolved oxygen depletion is most likely to become evident during the initial aquatic microbial population explosion in
response to a large amount of organic material. If the microbial population deoxygenates the water, however, that lack of
oxygen imposes a limit on population growth of aerobic aquatic microbial organisms resulting in a longer term food surplus and
oxygen deficit.

Eutrophication

One of the main problems affecting coastal waters is the high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous based pollutants entering
the water. These pollutants come mainly from human activities. Excessive discharge of nutrients into coastal water results
in accelerated phytoplankton growth. Eutrophication is defined as ‘enhanced plankton growth due to excess supply of
nutrients’. Large growths of phytoplankton are known as blooms and these large blooms can have undesirable effects.

Major problems associated with eutrophication are:

● These blooms occur throughout the water and prevent light reaching the waters below. This stops the growth of
plants deeper in the water and reduces biological diversity.

● When the blooms are really large, this bacterial decomposition can use up so much oxygen in the deep waters that
there isn't enough left for fish to breathe and they have to swim away or else they die. Animals living on the sea
floor can't easily move away and they also die.

● Excess nutrients can sometimes encourage the growth of phytoplankton species which produce harmful toxins.
These toxins may cause the death of other species including fish in fish farms.

● Large phytoplankton blooms can cause huge ugly foams on beaches. These blooms are not toxic but temporarily
ruin the beach, reducing its recreational value.

Remedial Measures

1. Sewage treatments: Adequate care should be taken to ensure that effective sewage treatment process is in place
and that contaminated water does not get mixed with the environment.

Sewage contains large amounts of organic matter and microbes. Many of which are pathogenic. Treatment of waste
water is done by the heterotrophic microbes naturally present in the sewage. This treatment is carried out in two
stages:

Primary treatment: These treatment steps basically involve physical removal of particles- large and small- from the
sewage through filtration and sedimentation.

Secondary treatment or Biological treatment: The primary effluent is passed into large aeration tanks where it is
constantly agitated mechanically and air is pumped into it. This allows vigorous growth of useful aerobic microbes into
flocs (masses of bacteria associated with fungal filaments to form mesh like structures). While growing, these microbes
consume the major part of the organic matter in the effluent. This significantly reduces the BOD (biochemical oxygen
demand) of the effluent.

2. Treatment of wastes before discharge: Factories are expected to treat its effluent wastes prior to discharge. Toxic
material must be treated chemically and converted into harmless materials.

3. Strict adherence to water laws

4. Treatment of drainage water

5. Routine cleaning: Ponds, lakes and wells meant for human use should be routinely cleaned and treated, so that it
remains fit for human use..

6. Don’t pour insecticides in sinks and toilets

7. Public Awareness

Naturally decontaminating water

The cleaning occurs in two stages. Firstly, the conventional sedimentation, filtering and chlorine treatments are given.
After this stage, lots of dangerous pollutants like dissolved heavy metals still remain. This water is then passed through
large marshy area containing appropriate plants, algae, fungi and bacteria which neutralise, absorb and assimilate the
pollutants. Hence, as the water flows through the marshes it gets purified naturally.

The process of using fungal mycelia to filter toxic waste and microorganisms from water in soil is called Mycofiltration.

Similarly use of plants to eliminate toxic waste from the water or other polluted medium is called phytoremediation.
Many plants such as mustard plants, alpine pennycress, hemp, and pigweed have proven to be successful at
hyperaccumulating contaminants at toxic waste sites.

 Chlorine, Chloramine, Chlorine dioxide, Ozone and UV rays are commonly used as water disinfectant.

Bioamagnification, Bioaccumulation and Bioconcentration

Biomagnification (or Bioamplification) refers to an increase in the concentration of a substance as you move up the
food chain. This often occurs because the pollutant is persistent, meaning that it cannot be, or is very slowly, broken
down by natural processes. These persistent pollutants are transferred up the food chain faster than they are broken
down or excreted. In contrast, bioaccumulation occurs within an organism, where a concentration of a substance
builds up in the tissues as it is absorbed faster than it is removed. Bioaccumulation often occurs in two ways,
simultaneously: by eating contaminated food, and by absorption directly
 from water. This second case is specifically referred to as bioconcentration.
For example: phytoplankton and other microscopic organisms take up methylmercury and then retain it in their
tissues. Here, mercury bioaccumulation is occurring: mercury concentrations are higher in the organisms than it is in
the surrounding environment. As animals eat these smaller organisms, they receive their prey’s mercury burden.
Because of this, animals that are higher in the food chain have higher levels of mercury than they would have due to
regular exposure. With increasing trophic level, mercury levels are amplified.

Irreparable computers and other electronic goods are known as electronic wastes (e-wastes). E-wastes are buried in
landfills or incinerated. Over half of the e-wastes generated in the developed world are exported to developing countries,
mainly to China, India and Pakistan, where metals like copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold are recovered during recycling
process. Unlike developed countries, which have specifically built facilities for recycling of e-wastes, recycling in
developing countries often involves manual participation thus exposing workers to toxic substances present in e-wastes.
Recycling is the only solution for the treatment of e-waste, provided it is carried out in an environment friendly manner.

The e-waste substances found in large quantities include epoxy resins, fiberglass, PCBs, PVC (polyvinyl chlorides),
thermosetting plastics, lead, tin, copper, silicon, beryllium, carbon, iron and aluminium. Elements found in small amounts
include cadmium, mercury, and thallium. Other elements are also present in trace amounts.

Regulation of E-Waste in India

As per the survey carried out by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) during the year 2005, 1,46,800 MT of e- waste
was generated in the country. The Ministry of Environment & Forests has notified e-waste (Management and
Handling) Rules, 2011 which have become effective from 1st May, 2012. These Rules provide for mandatory
authorization of producer, collection center, dismantler and recycler of e-waste; registration of dismantler and recycler
of e-waste from the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee of Union territories; and ‘Extended
Producer Responsibility’ under which producers will be responsible for collection and channelization of e-waste
generated from the ‘end of life’ of their products to registered dismantler or recycler.
Import and export of e-waste are regulated under Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Trans- boundary
Movements) Rules, 2008. Under the Rules no permission for import of e-waste has been granted during last three
years by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. However, permission for export of 10,575 MT of e-waste has been
granted for export of e-waste to various countries viz. Belgium, Germany, Japan, Singapore Hong Kong, Sweden, UK
and Switzerland.

RADIATION POLLUTION

Radiation, that is given off by nuclear waste is extremely damaging to organisms, because it causes mutations at a very
high rate. At high doses, nuclear radiation is lethal but at lower doses, it creates various disorders, the most frequent of all
being cancer. Therefore, nuclear waste is an extremely potent pollutant and has to be dealt with utmost caution.

The natural sources of radiation pollution include cosmic rays, ultraviolet rays and infra-red rays, which reaches the earth
from the sun and other heavenly bodies. It also includes radioactive rays from unstable atoms of uranium, thorium and
radium. The human-made radiations come from the use of radioactive materials, which are widely used in the production
of nuclear weapons, nuclear fuel and electric power.

It has been recommended that storage of nuclear waste, after sufficient pre-treatment, should be done in suitably shielded

Bioremediation

It is a treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or
non-toxic substances. It uses microorganisms to degrade organic contaminants in soil, groundwater, sludge, and
solids. The microorganisms break down contaminants by using them as an energy source or cometabolizing
them with an energy source. When Fungi are used, it is called mycoremediation. Bioremediation may be
 conducted in situ or ex situ.
It has been relied up on to clean oil spills in the recent past using the bacteria of family Pseudomonas and other
bacteria like Alcanivorax or Methylocella Silvestris.
Not all contaminants are easily treated by bioremediation using microorganisms. For example, heavy metals
such as cadmium and lead are not readily absorbed or captured by microorganisms. Phytoremediation is useful
in these circumstances because plants are able to bioaccumulate these toxins in their above-ground parts, which
are then harvested for removal.
Genetic engineering has been used to create organisms designed for specific purposes. For e.g. bacterium
Deinococcus radiodurans (the most radioresistant organism known) has been modified to consume and digest
toluene and ionic mercury from highly radioactive nuclear waste. However, releasing GM organisms into the
environment may be problematic as tracking them can be difficult; bioluminescence genes from other species
may be inserted to make this easier.

NOISE POLLUTION

Sound, which is measured in decibels (dB), is a form of energy having wave motion. Any sound, which is unwanted or
unpleasant to our ears, is called noise. Thus any undesirable sound which adversely affects the physical and mental health
of its recipient is called noise pollution. The noise pollution can be due to natural processes or human activities. It is caused
by industries, mining, transport vehicles, thunder, households, defence sector, loudspeakers, supersonic jet aircrafts and
others. Loud noise can cause impairment of hearing or total deafness.

Consequences

Hearing impairment.

It causes anxiety and stress reaction and in extreme cases, fright.

There is increase in heart rate.

Increase in cholesterol and blood pressure due to constriction of blood vessels.

Stomach disorders and digestive spasm.

Dilation of pupil of the eye.

It also interferes with peace of mind, behaviour and proper communication.

Nervousness, headache, irritability, fatigue and decrease in work efficiency can be caused due to noise pollution.

It also affects the development of embryo in mother's womb.

Effects on Wildlife: It can lead to changes in the delicate balance in predator and prey detection, interferes with the
sounds of communication and in the relations to reproduction and navigation and overexposure to noise can lead to
temporary or permanent loss of hearing.

Green Mufflers are barriers grown near noisy places to reduce the impact of noise. Normally 4 to 5 rows of green plants
are grown near the noisy places like highways or industrial areas so that they obstruct the sound noise.
International Environmental Conventions

A Conference is consulting together formally; a type of negotiations, there is only a broad theme. In a conference the
principle bodies are established for further deliberations if any is required on the broad theme for which the conference is
called for.

A Convention is a meeting or gathering to formulate or deliberate on a generally accepted principle, a framework in which
the parties decide the basic guidelines.

(Note: Sometimes, the line between conference and a convention is very thin and sometimes they are interchangeably used
because the outcome document of convention is arrived at the conference)

A Protocol to the convention is an agreement that diplomatic negotiators formulate and sign as the basis for a final
convention where the parties set specific aims or legal obligations. Usually, when a major provision is to be incorporated
on regulations of the convention, a protocol is called among the countries, who are signatory of the original convention
when it was signed and approved.

Under the UNO

 The UN Charter does not specifically mention the environment or sustainable development.

 Both the General Assembly (UNGA) and the Economic and Social Council(ECOSOC –which is one of the 6 main
organs of the United Nations) consider environmental questions.

 The lead organization under the United Nations charter that deliberates on the environment related issues is the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP is under the UN General Assembly organ of the UN)and theCommission on
Sustainable Development is another forum for the countries to discuss the issues.

 The World Meteorological Organization and UN Environment established the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988.

 UN Environment is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and
the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

Economic and Social Council adopts a resolution to recommend the UN General Assembly to consider convening a UN
conference on problems of the environment or UNGA may on its own pass a resolution to convene a conference on the
issue.

Example:

 Sweden first suggested to ECOSOC in 1968 the idea of having a UN conference to focus on human interactions
with the environment.

 ECOSOC passed a resolution supporting the idea and recommended the General Assembly consider convening a
UN conference.

 General Assembly Resolution in 1969 decided to convene a conference in 1972 and suggesting that the conference
focus on “stimulating and providing guidelines for action by national government and international organizations”
facing environmental issues.

 The UN Conference on the Human Environment (1972) at Stockholm was held.This led to the establishment
of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) – the leading global environmental authority that sets
the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of
 sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global
environment.

IUCN

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature
conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

 In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of
nature in Brunnen (Switzerland).

 Afterwards, the IUCN was established on 5 October 1948, in Fontainebleau, France

 Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland

 It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature– IUPN (1948–1956) and the World
Conservation Union (1990–2008).

 IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several
international conventions on nature conservation and biodiversity. (Note: It is not a member or part of the UN)

 It is best known for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List, which assesses the conservation status of
species worldwide.

 IUCN was established in 1948.

IUCN was one of the few NGOs formally involved in the preparations of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment (Stockholm, 1972). The Stockholm Conference eventually led to three new international conventions, with
IUCN involved in their drafting and implementation:

 To establish a stable financial basis for its work, IUCN participated in setting up the World Wildlife Fund
(1961) now called the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF.

 Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972). IUCN provides technical
evaluations and monitoring

 CITES– the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1974) IUCN is a
signatory party and the CITES secretariat was originally lodged with IUCN

 Ramsar Convention – Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (1975). The secretariat is still
administered from IUCN’s headquarters.

 In 1975 IUCN started work on the World Conservation Strategy.

The Strategy was followed in 1982 by the World Charter for Nature, which was adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly, after preparation by IUCN.

TIMELINE

Convention Name Y

RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands 19

Stockholm Conference 19

Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage 19

CITES 19

Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals 19

World Conservation Strategy 19

Nairobi Declaration 19

World Charter of Nature 19

Vienna Convention for Ozone Layer 19

Montreal Protocol for ODS 19

Helsinki Declaration 19

Basel Convention on Hazardous wastes 19

Earth Summit 19

UNFCCC 19

CBD 19

UN Convention on Desertification 19

Kyoto Protocol 19

Stockholm Convention on POPs 20

Johannesburg Declaration 20

UN World Summit 20

Bali Summit on Climate Change 20

RAMSAR CONVENTION, 1971

 The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the
framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and
their resources.

 The Convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975 after UNESCO
(the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the Convention’s depositary received the
instruments of accession from the countries.

 The RAMSAR Secretariat is based at the headquarters of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) in Gland, Switzerland.

 World Wetlands Day is celebrated on February 2nd.

Criteria for Selecting a RAMSAR site:

 Criterion 1:If the site is representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found
within the appropriate biogeographic region.

 Criterion 2: if it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological

communities.

 Criterion 3: if it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological
diversity of a particular biogeographic region.

 Criterion 4: if it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge
during adverse conditions.

 Criterion 5: if it regularly supports 20,000 or more water-birds.

 Criterion 6: if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of water-
bird.

 Criterion 7: if it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history
stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby
contributes to global biological diversity.

 Criterion 8: if it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on
which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.

 Criterion 9: if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-
dependent non-avian animal species.

The Montreux Record

 The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance
where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of
technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.

RAMSAR SITES in India

The aim of the Ramsar list is “to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the
conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem
components, processes and benefits”.

 The convention entered into force in India on 1 February 1982.

 The 46 Ramsar sites in India include the Chilika Lake in Odisha, Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, Harike
Lake in Punjab, Loktak Lake in Manipur and Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir.

 Keoladeo National Park, Loktak Lake, are designated in Montreux record, and Chilka lake was designated but
removed in 2002.

RAMSAR WETLANDS SITES

The World Heritage Convention, 1972

 The Convention recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the
balance between the two.

 The Convention defines the kind of natural or cultural sites which can be considered for inscription on the World
Heritage Listed Under UNESCO

 Established in 1992, the World Heritage Centre ensures the day-to-day management of the Convention.

 The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it links together in a single document
the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The Convention recognizes the way
in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.

 At present, there are 40 World Heritage Sites located in India. Out of these, 32 are cultural, 7 are natural, and
1 is mixed (meeting both cultural and natural criteria), as determined by the organization’s selection criteria. India
has the sixth largest number of sites in the world.

The list of UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites in India is given below:

Natural World Heritage Site State Year of No

Kaziranga National Park Assam 1985

Keoladeo Ghana National Park Rajasthan 1985

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary Assam 1985

Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers Uttarakhand 1988, 2005

Sundarbans National Park West Bengal 1987

Maharashtra,

Goa,

Western Ghats Karnataka, 2012

Tamil Nadu and

Kerala

Great Himalayan National Park Himachal Pradesh 2014

The list of UNESCO Cultural World Heritage sites in India is given below:

Cultural World Heritage Site State Year of No

Dholavira Gujarat 2021

Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple Telangana 2021

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to
Chandigarh 2016
the Modern Movement

Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai Maharashtra 2018

Historic City of Ahmedabad Gujarat 2017

Jaipur City Rajasthan 2020

Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) Bihar 2016

Rani-Ki-Van Gujarat 2014

Hill Forts of Rajasthan Rajasthan 2013

The Jantar Mantar Rajasthan 2010

Red Fort Complex Delhi 2007

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park Gujarat 2004

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Maharashtra 2004

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka Madhya Pradesh 2003

Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya Bihar 2002

Mountain Railways of India Tamil Nadu 1999

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi Delhi 1993

Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi Delhi 1993

Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi Madhya Pradesh 1989

Elephanta Caves Maharashtra 1987

Great Living Chola Temples Tamil Nadu 1987

Group of Monuments at Pattadakal Karnataka 1987

Churches and Convents of Goa Goa 1986

Fatehpur Sikri Uttar Pradesh 1986

Group of Monuments at Hampi Karnataka 1986

Khajuraho Group of Monuments Madhya Pradesh 1986

Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu 1984

Sun Temple, Konarak Orissa 1984

Agra Fort Uttar Pradesh 1983

Ajanta Caves Maharashtra 1983

Ellora Caves Maharashtra 1983

Taj Mahal Uttar Pradesh 1983

Mixed World Heritage Site

 Khangchendzonga National Park (2016)

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm June 1972

 Generally called the ―Stockholm Conference.

 It Was the first declaration of international protection of the environment. In the conference

 The Stockholm Declaration contains 26 principles. These principles provide the basis of anInternational Policy for
the Protection and improvement of the environment.

 The United Nations Environment Programme has been established by the UNGA in pursuance of the
Stockholm Conference.

 The Environmental Programmewas set up in Geneva in June 1972.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild flora and fauna(CITES) 1973

 It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

 The Conference aims to control or prevent international commercial trade in endangered species or products
derived from them.

 The Convention does not seek to directly protect endangered species, rather it seeks to reduce the economic
incentive to poach endangered species and destroy their habitat by closing off the international market.

 India became a party to the convention in 1976. International trade in all wild flora and fauna in general and
species covered under convention is regulated through the provisions of the Wild life (protection) Act 1972.

 Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place of national laws.

CONVENTION ON MIGRATORY SPECIES, 1979 (BONN CONVENTION)

 The Convention on the Conservation of MigratorySpecies of Wild Animals (also known as the BonnConvention)
aims to “conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range.”

 The Conventionfacilitates the adoption of strict protection measures for endangered migratory species, the
conclusion of multilateral agreements for the conservation and management of migratory species, and cooperative
research activities.

 The Convention has two appendices:

 o Appendix I lists migratory species that are classified as endangered and where urgent international
cooperation is necessary to address the issue.

o Appendix II lists other species that require or would benefit significantly from international agreements
under the Convention.

 Signed in 1979 in Bonn, West Germany, the Convention entered into force in 1983. As of September 2020, there
are 131 Member States to the Convention. The depositary is the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

 Marine Turtles, Siberian and Dugong are a part of the conservation under this convention which are related to
India.

CMS- COP 13

India hosted 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (CMS) from 17th to 22nd February, 2020 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

 The Logo of COP 13 was inspired by ‘Kolam’– a traditional art form Southern India used to depict key
migratory species in India like Amur Falcon, and Marine Turtles.

 It highlighted the importance of ecological connectivity (unimpeded movement of species and flow of natural
processes) to better protect migratory wildlife and their habitats.

o CMS has focused on the connectivity concept to be integrated into the new Global Biodiversity
Framework (which will be adopted in 2021 in China).

o Also, countries can integrate biodiversity and migratory species considerations with their national energy
and climate policy actions.

 COP 13, proposes to include ten new species for protection under CMS:

o Three Indian Species: Asian Elephant, Bengal Florican, Great Indian Bustard.

o Other 7 from around the world: Jaguar (proposed by Costa Rica, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay), Whitetip
shark (Brazil), Little Bustard (EU Nations), Urial (Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan), Antipodean
Albatross (New Zealand, Australia, Chile), Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Brazil), and Tope Shark (EU
Nations).

 COP 13 highlighted the threats to biodiversity:

o Loss and fragmentation of habitats, and habitat destruction & degradation.

o Climate change.

WORLD CONSERVATION STRATEGY, 1980

 In 1975 IUCN started work on the World Conservation Strategy.

 Stopping illegal trade of wildlife is one of IUCN’s priorities

 The drafting process – and the discussions with the UN agencies involved – led to an evolution in thinking within
IUCN and growing acceptance of the fact that conservation of nature by banning human presence no longer
worked.
  The World Conservation Strategy was launched in 35 countries simultaneously on 5 March 1980.

 It set out fundamental principles and objectives for conservation worldwide, and identified priorities for national
and international action.

 It is considered one of the most influential documents in 20th century nature conservation and one of the first
official documents to introduce the concept of sustainable development.

 The Strategy was followed in 1982 by the World Charter for Nature, which was adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly, after preparation by IUCN.

WORLD CHARTER FOR NATURE, 1982

 World Charter for Nature was adopted by United Nations member nation-states on October 28, 1982. It proclaims
five “principles of conservation by which all human conduct affecting nature is to be guided and judged.”

o Nature shall be respected and its essential processes shall not be impaired.

o The genetic viability on the earth shall not be compromised; the population levels of all life forms, wild
and domesticated, must be at least sufficient for their survival, and to this end necessary habitats shall be
safeguarded.

o All areas of the earth, both land and sea, shall be subject to these principles of conservation; special
protection shall be given to unique areas, to representative samples of all the different types of ecosystems
and to the habitats of rare or endangered species.

o Ecosystems and organisms, as well as the land, marine and atmospheric resources that are utilized by man,
shall be managed to achieve and maintain optimum sustainable productivity, but not in such a way as to
endanger the integrity of those other ecosystems or species with which they coexist.

o Nature shall be secured against degradation caused by warfare or other hostile activities.

Nairobi Declaration 1982 to Stockholm Conference

 The Nairobi Declaration was adopted at Nairobi for celebrating the 10thAnniversary of the Stockholm
conference on human Environment in 1972.

 The Declaration envisaged the creation of a special commission to frame long term environment strategies for
achieving sustainable developments upto the year 2000 and beyond.

Vienna convention for the protection of ozone layer (1985)

 The convention was adopted on 22nd March, 1985 by the conference ofThe Vienna Convention for the Protection
of the Ozone Layer is a Multilateral Environmental Agreement.

 The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement signed
in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production of chlorofluorocarbons due to their
contribution to the destruction of the ozone layer, resulting in an increased threat of skin cancer
  It is under The Vienna convention of 1985 was the starting point of the global cooperation for protection of ozone
layer. Later,adoption of Montreal protocol on substances that deplete ozone layer on 1987, the amendment in
Montreal protocol in London (1990) and Vienna (1995).

Montreal protocol on substances that deplete ozone layer, 1987 to the Vienna Convention

 The Protocol came into force in 1989.

 The protocol set targets for reducing the consumption and production of a range of ozone depleting substances.

 The 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its succeeding amendments were
subsequently negotiated to control the consumption and production of anthropogenic ozone-depleting substances
(ODSs) and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

 ODSs include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), bromine containing halons and methyl bromide, HCFCs, carbon
tetrachloride (CCl4), and methyl chloroform.

 These ODSs are long-lived (e.g., CFC-12 has a lifetime greater than 100 years) and are also powerful GHGs.

 The adoption of the 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase down the production and
consumption of some HFCs and avoid much of the projected global increase and associated climate change.

 In a major innovation the protocol recognized that all nations should not be treated equally. The agreement
acknowledges that certain countries have contributed to ozone depletion more than others.

 It also recognizes that a nation‘s obligation to reduce current emissions should reflect its technological and
financial ability to do so. Because Of this, the agreement sets more stringent standards and accelerated the phase-
out timetable to countries that have contributed most to ozone depletion.

 India accepted this protocol along with its London Amendment in September 1992.

 The Ministry of Environmentand Forest has established an ozone cell and a steering committee on the protocol to
facilitate implementation of the India country program, for phasing out ozone depleting substances production by
2010 to meet the commitments India has also taken policy decisions.

 The Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000 were drafted under Environment
(protection) Act, 1986.

Amendment to Montreal Protocol, 2017

 170 countries have reached a historic deal to phase out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) after years of protracted and at
times seemingly intractable negotiations in Kigali, Rwanda accepted an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that
will see developed countries reduce their use of HFCs from 2019.

 HFCs are potent greenhouse gases with a significantly higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide and
are widely used as refrigerants, aerosol sprays and in solvents. HFCs have been widely used as an alternative to
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) since the Montreal Protocol came into effect to prevent ozone depletion.

Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol

  On October 15, 2016, with the United States’ leadership, 197 countries adopted an amendment to phase down
HFCs under the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, Rwanda.

 The Kigali Amendment aims for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by cutting their production and
consumption.

 The goal is to achieve over 80% reduction in HFC consumption by 2047.

 Given their zero impact on the depletion of the ozone layer, HFCs are currently used as replacements of
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in air conditioning, refrigeration and
foam insulation, however they are powerful greenhouse gases.

 The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is legally binding and will come into force from January 1,
2019.

 Under the amendment :

o developed countries will reduce HFC consumption beginning in 2019.

o most developing countries will freeze consumption in 2024,

o some developing countries including India with unique circumstances will freeze consumption in 2028.

 The plan also provides financing to certain countries, to help them transition to climate-friendly alternatives.

 Developed countries must reduce HFCs use by 10% by 2019 from 2011-2013 levels, and 85% by 2036.

 A second group of developing countries, including China and African nations, are committed to launching the
transition in 2024. A reduction of 10% compared with 2020-2022 levels should be achieved by 2029, and 80% by
2045.

 A third group of developing countries, including India, Pakistan and Arab Gulf states, must begin the process in
2028 and reduce emissions by 10% by 2032 from 2024-2026 levels, and then by 85% by 2047.

World Commission on Environment and Development (1987)

 It was started by the UN General Assembly resolution in 1983 and based on a four-year study entitled “Our
Common Future”, also known as the Brundtland report in 1987 was put out.

 It developed the theme of sustainable development. It was the first time Sustainable Development was officially
defined;

 This commission is also called the Brundtland commission.

Basel convention on trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes, 1989

 The industrialized world in the 1980s had led to increasing public resistance to the disposal of hazardous wastes –
in accordance with what became known as the NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) syndrome – and to an increase of
disposal costs. This in turn led some operators to seek cheap disposal options for hazardous wastes in the
developing countries, where environmental awareness was much less developed and regulations and enforcement
mechanisms were lacking
  Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste
between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed
countries (LDCs).

 It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.

 The Convention came into force in 1992.

 The objectives of the convention are to reduce trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes, to minimize the
creation of such wastes and to prohibit their shipment from Developed countries to the LDCs

 India ratified the convention and enacted Hazardous Wastes Management Rules Act 1989, encompassing some of
theBasal provisions related to the notification of import and export of hazardous wastes,illegal traffic and liability.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), 1992

 In continuation of the Stockholm Declaration, 1972 and the Nairobi Declaration,1982 the third major Declaration
was held in Rio-de-Janeiro in Brazil in the year 1992.

 Hence it is termed as Rio-Declaration and attended by over 150 countries. Hence, it is also well known as ―Earth
Summit.

 It discussed global and environmental problems very widely.

 It was the biggest International Conference in the history of International Relations – was also called
the “Parliament of the planet”

The formal process of UNCED culminated in the adoption of five documents, namely

 Rio Declaration– a statement of broad principles to guide national

conduct on environmental protection and development.

 Agenda-21, a massive document containing a detailed action-plan for sustainable development.

 Legally Non-Binding Principles of Forestry.

 Convention on Climate Change and

 Convention onBiodiversity.

The Rio Declaration

 The Rio Declaration was adopted in the conference recognizing the universal and integral nature of Earth and by
establishing a global partnership among states and enlisting general rights and obligations on environmental
protection.

 The RioDeclaration is a statement of 27 principles for the guidance of national environmental behaviour and
enlisting general rights and obligations on environmental protection.

 Rio principles placed human beings at the centre of sustainable development concerns by stating that humans are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature
  The gist of those principles are happy and healthy life to all people in the world in order to achieve this goal,
concept of sustainable development has been established.

 To achieve sustainable development, states shall reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and
consumption, exchange of scientific and technological knowledge, compensation for adverse effects of
environmental damage caused by activities with in their jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their jurisdiction,
precautionary approach shall be widely applied by states polluter should bear the cost of pollution, Environmental
impact assessment as an instrument to monitor the likely environmental effects.

Agenda-21

 Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development.

 It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in 1992.

 It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world
that can be executed at local, national, and global levels.

 One major objective of the Agenda 21 initiative is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda
21.

 Its aim initially was to achieve global sustainable development by 2000, with the “21” in Agenda 21 referring to
the original target of the 21st century.

 It is a comprehensive action plan which gives a future plan in relation to

environment and development.

 The Agenda emphasizes on issues like poverty, health consumption patterns, natural resource use, financial
resources human settlements and technological

 It also includes energy, climate and other wide range of issues concerning
environment and development.

 Agenda-21 is not a binding document but it constitutes the key document of the Rio

U.N. FrameWork Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 1992

 In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
as a framework for international cooperation to combat climate change by limiting average global temperature
increases and the resulting climate change, and coping with impacts that were, by then, inevitable.

 The primary goals of the UNFCCC were to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at levels that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the global climate.

 The convention embraced the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities which has guided the
adoption of a regulatory structure.

 India signed the agreement inJune 1992 which was ratified in November 1993. As per the convention the
reduction/limitation requirements apply only to developed countries. The only reporting obligation for developing
countries relates to the construction of a GHG inventory.

 The UNFCCC entered into force on 21st March 1994, and has been ratified by 197 countries.

 It is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
  The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global
response to the threat of climate change. It is located in Bonn, Germany.

COP’s with Significant Outcomes

 1995: COP1 (Berlin, Germany)

 1997: COP 3 (Kyoto Protocol)

o It legally binds developed countries to emission reduction targets.

 2002: COP 8 (New Delhi, India) Delhi Declaration.

o Focuses on the development needs of the poorest countries and the need for technology transfer for
mitigating climate change.

 2007: COP13 (Bali, Indonesia)

o Parties agreed on the Bali Road Map and Bali action plan, which charted the way towards a post-2012
outcome. The Plan has five main categories: shared vision, mitigation, adaptation, technology and
financing.

 2010: COP 16 (Cancun)

o Resulted in the Cancun Agreements, a comprehensive package by governments to assist developing

nations in dealing with climate change.

o The Green Climate Fund, the Technology Mechanism and the Cancun Adaptation Framework were
established.

 2011: COP 17 (Durban)

o Governments commit to a new universal climate change agreement by 2015 for the period beyond 2020
(Resulted in the Paris Agreement of 2015).

 2015: COP21 (Paris)

o To keep global temperature well below 2.0C above pre-industrial times and endeavor them to limit them
even more to 1.5C.

o It requires rich nations to maintain USD 100bn a year funding pledge beyond the year

 2016: COP22 (Marrakech)

o To move forward on writing the rule book of the Paris Agreement.

o Launched the Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action.

  2017: COP23, Bonn (Germany)

o Countries continued to negotiate the finer details of how the agreement will work from 2020 onwards.

o First set of negotiations since the US, under the presidency of Donald Trump, announced its intention
earlier this year to withdraw from the Paris deal.

o It was the first COP to be hosted by a small-island developing state with Fiji taking up the presidency,
even though it was being held in Bonn.

 2018: COP 24, Katowice (Poland)

o It finalized a “rulebook” to operationalise the 2015 Paris Agreement.

o The rulebook covers climate financing facilities and the actions to be taken as per Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDC).

 2019: COP25, Madrid (Spain)

o It was held in Madrid (Spain).

o There were no concrete plans regarding the growing climatic urgency.

COP27

At the COP 27, nations joined forces to take concrete steps toward meeting the global climate targets set forth in the Paris
Agreement and the Convention.

The conference was held at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh.

Since COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2016, this is the first COP to be hosted in a developing nation.

Through increased flows of suitable financing, increased adaptation efforts, and reduced emissions, it aims to hasten global
climate action.

Kyoto protocol, 1997

 The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise
that (a) global warming exists and (b) human-made CO2 emissions have caused it.

 The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16
February 2005.

 There are currently 192 parties to the Protocol.

Some of the principal concepts of the Kyoto Protocol are:

 The main feature of the Protocol is that it established legally binding commitments to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases for parties that ratified the Protocol. The commitments were based on the Berlin Mandate, which
was a part of UNFCCC negotiations leading up to the Protocol.
  In order to meet the objectives of the Protocol, Parties are required to prepare policies and measures for the
reduction of greenhouse gases in their respective countries. In addition, they are required to increase the absorption
of these gases and utilize all mechanisms available, such as

o joint implementation

o Clean development mechanism and

o Emissions trading, in order to be rewarded with credits that would allow more greenhouse gas emissions
at home.

 Minimizing Impacts on Developing Countries by establishing an adaptation fund for climate change.

 Accounting, Reporting and Review in order to ensure the integrity of the Protocol.

 Establishing a Compliance Committee to enforce compliance with the commitments under the Protocol.

PARIS AGREEMENT, 2016

 The Paris Agreement (French: Accord de Paris) is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance
starting in the year 2020.

 It was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 (Earth Day) at a ceremony in New York. As of December 2016, 194
UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 131 of which have ratified it.

 The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions pledged during the 2015 Climate Change Conference
serve—unless provided otherwise—as the initial nationally determined contribution.

 The emission reduction efforts will be made in order to hold the increase in the global average temperature
to below 2 ̊C by reducing emissions to 40 gigatonnes or to 1.5 ̊

 The implementation of the agreement by all member countries together will be evaluated every 5 years, with the
first evaluation in 2023.

 The Paris Agreement has a ‘bottom up’ structure in contrast to most international environmental law treaties which
are ‘top down’, characterised by standards and targets set internationally, for states to implement.

 Unlike, the Kyoto Protocol, which sets commitment targets that have legal force, the Paris Agreement, with its
emphasis on consensus-building, allows for voluntary and nationally determined targets.

 The Paris Agreement still emphasizes the principle of “Common but Differentiated Responsibility”—the
acknowledgement that different nations have different capacities and duties to climate action—it does not provide
a specific division between developed and developing nations.

 The SDM is considered to be the successor to the Clean Development Mechanism, a flexible mechanism under
the Kyoto Protocol, by which parties could collaboratively pursue emissions reductions for their INDCs. The
Sustainable Development Mechanism lays the framework for the future of the Clean Development Mechanism
post-Kyoto (in 2020).

 Not part of the Paris Agreement (and not legally binding)is a plan to provide US$100 billion a year in aid to
developing countries for implementing new procedures to minimize climate change with additional amounts to be
provided in subsequent years (The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund within the framework of the
UNFCCC )
  The agreement stated that it would enter into force (and thus become fully effective) only if 55 countries that
produce at least 55% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. (US and China together contribute 40% of the
emissions.)

Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992

The 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 utilization of genetic resources

 The Convention was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (the Rio “Earth Summit”).

 This convention is a legally binding framework treaty that has been ratified by180 countries.

 The CBD Secretariat is based in Montreal, Canada and it operates under the United Nations Environment
Programme.

 The areas that are dealt by convention are conservation of biodiversity,sustainable use of biological resources and
equitable sharing of benefits arising fromtheir sustainable use.

 The convention came into force in 1993. Many biodiversity issuesare addressed including habitat preservation,
intellectual property rights, biosafety andindigenous people‘s rights.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to CBD

 The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is 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 January 2000 and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing

 The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising
from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims at
sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way. It entered into
force on 12 October 2014, 90 days after the date of deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification.

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets are:

 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.

 India enacted Biological Diversity Act in 2002 for giving effect to the provisions of the CBD.

 The National Biodiversity Authority is a statutory body, which was established by the Central Government in
2003 to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002).

o It performs 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.

o The NBA is headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

U.N. Convention on Desertification, 1994

 An intergovernmental negotiating committee for the elaboration of an international convention to combat

desertification in countries experiencing serious drought and/ or desertification was recommended in 1992 U.N.
Conference onEnvironment and Development.

 The U.N. The General Assembly established a committee in1992 which helped formulate the convention on
desertification.

 It is a legally binding convention linking development and environment to sustainable land management.

 The UNCCD addresses particularly the arid, semi-arid & dry sub-humid areas, called drylands, where some of the
most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples are found.

 The convention endorses and employs a bottom-up approach to international environmental cooperation.

 The Convention aims at tackling desertification through national, regional and sub-regional action programmes.
India hosts the network on agroforestry and soil conservation.

The 14th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
ended on 13th September 2019.

 Held in Greater Noida, this was the first time that India hosted an edition of the UNCCD COP.

 The theme of the Conference was ‘Restore land, Sustain future’.

 India being the global host for COP 14 has taken over the COP Presidency from China for the next two
years till 2021.

 India is among the select few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on climate change,
biodiversity and land.

Key Takeaways
  Delhi Declaration: Commitment for a range of issues, including gender and health, ecosystem restoration, taking
action on climate change, private sector engagement, Peace Forest Initiative and recovery of five million
hectares of degraded land in India.

o The country parties have agreed to make the Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land
degradation neutrality by 2030, a national target for action.

o Peace Forest Initiative: It is an initiative of South Korea to use ecological restoration as a peace-
building process. It aims at addressing the issue of land degradation in conflict-torn border areas and
would go a long way in alleviating tensions and building trust between communities living there and
between enemy countries in particular.

 Drought Toolbox: It is launched as a one-stop-shop for all actions on drought. It is a sort of knowledge bank
which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought
effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land
management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.

 International coalition for action on Sand and Dust storms (SDS): The coalition will develop an SDS source
base map with the goal of improving monitoring and response to these storms. SDS affects approximately 77% of
UNCCD country Parties or approximately 151 countries.

 Initiative of Sustainability, Stability and Security (3S): Launched by 14 African countries to address
migration driven by land degradation. It aims at restoring land and creating green jobs for migrants and
vulnerable groups.

 Cooperation From Youth: The global Youth Caucus on Desertification and Land convened its first official
gathering in conjunction with the UNCCD COP14 to bring together youth advocates from different parts of the
world, to build their capacity, share knowledge, build networks and to engage them meaningfully in the UNCCD
processes.

World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002)

 The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4
September 2002. It was convened to discuss [sustainable development] organizations, 10 years after the first Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was therefore also informally nicknamed “Rio+10”.)

 Reviewed progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 since its adoption in 1992

ROTTERDAM CONVENTION, 1998

 The Rotterdam Convention (formally, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade) signed in 1998 is a multilateral treaty to
promote shared responsibilities in relation to importation of hazardous chemicals, effective from 2004.

 The convention promotes open exchange of information and calls on exporters of hazardous chemicals to use
proper labelling, include directions on safe handling, and inform purchasers of any known restrictions or bans.

 Signatory nations can decide whether to allow or ban the importation of chemicals listed in the treaty, and
exporting countries are obliged to make sure that producers within their jurisdiction comply.

 In 2012, the Secretariats of the Basel and Stockholm conventions, as well as the UNEP-part of the Rotterdam
Convention Secretariat, merged to a single Secretariat with a matrix structure serving the three conventions.
  The three conventions now hold back to back Conferences of the Parties as part of their joint synergies decisions.

Stockholm Convention on POPs, 2004

 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty, signed in 2001
and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic
pollutants (POPs).

 In 1995, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) called for global action to
be taken on POPs, which it defined as “chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate
through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment”.

UN Conference on Sustainable Development (2012)

 It was the third international conference on sustainable development aimed at reconciling the economic and
environmental goals of the global community.

 It is also known as Rio 2012 / Rio+20 / held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 20th anniversary of Earth Summit

 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.

The future we want

From 20 to 22 June 2012, world leaders and representatives met for intense meetings which culminated in finalizing the
non-binding document, “The Future We Want: Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20–22 June 2012”, which opens with, “We the Heads of State and Government and
high-level representatives”, having met at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to 22 June 2012, with the full participation of
civil society, renew our commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically,
socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet and for present and future generations.

PAGE, launched in 2013, is a direct response to the Rio+20 Declaration, The Future We Want.Partnership for
Action on Green Economy (PAGE)

 Rio+20 Declaration called upon the UN system and the international community to aid interested countries in
developing, adopting and implementing green economy policies and strategies.

 PAGE supports nations in reframing economic policies and practices around sustainability.

 PAGE seeks to assist countries in achieving SDG (2030 Agenda), especially SDG 8: “Promote sustained,
inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment.”

 PAGE brings together the expertise of five UN agencies – UNEP, ILO, UNIDO, UNDP and UNITAR.

UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

 The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was launched in 2015.

  The UN 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aim at eradicating poverty in all forms and
“seek to realize the human rights of all and achieve gender equality”.

 The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals, and their 169 targets, set by the
United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030 (UNGA resolution “2030 Agenda”).

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

 IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations.

 It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

 Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP.

 The IPCC produces reports that support the UNFCCC.

 IPCC reports cover all relevant information to understand the 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.

Global Environment Facility

 The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil
society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting
national sustainable development initiatives.

 An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity,
climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.