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GS Paper: GS3-18.Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

  • Forest fire management for positive sustainable forest growth

    forest fireContext

    • Forest fires are becoming more common and wildfires are destroying nearly twice as much tree cover globally as they did in 2001.

    Why in news?

    • Climate change is driving more intense and widespread forest fire by fuelling more extreme heat and deepening drought, which dries out forests.

    How to define forest fire?

    • A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation starting in rural and urban areas.

    What causes forest fires?

    • Human activities: Forest fires can be caused by a number of natural causes, but officials say many major fires in India are triggered mainly by human activities.
    • Climate change: Emerging studies link climate change to rising instances of fires globally, especially the massive fires of the Amazon forests in Brazil and in Australia in the last two years. Fires of longer duration, increasing intensity, higher frequency and highly inflammable nature are all being linked to climate change.
    • Season: In India, wildfires are most commonly reported during March and April, when the ground has large quantities of dry wood, logs, dead leaves, stumps, dry grass and weeds that can make forests easily go up in flames if there is a trigger.
    • Natural reasons: Under natural circumstances, extreme heat and dryness, friction created by rubbing of branches with each other also have been known to initiate fire.

    forest fire

    Key fact

    7.4 million acres of forest are getting burnt annually now an area roughly the size of Belgium.

    What factors make forest fires a concern?

    • Carbon emission: They act as a sink, reservoir and source of carbon.
    • Livelihood loss: In India, with 1.70 lakh villages in close proximity to forests (Census 2011), the livelihood of several crores of people is dependent on fuelwood, bamboo, fodder, and small timber.
    • Destruction of animals’ habitat: Heat generated during the fire destroys animal habitats. Soil quality decreases with the alteration in their compositions.
    • Soil degradation: Soil moisture and fertility, too, is affected. Thus forests can shrink in size. The trees that survive fire often remain stunted and growth is severely affected.

    Measures to curb Forest fires

    1) National Action Plan on wild fires

    • The MoEFCC has prepared a National Action Plan on wild fire in 2018 after several rounds of consultation with all states and UTs.
    • The objective of this plan is to minimize forest fires by informing, enabling and empowering forest fringe communities and incentivizing them to work in tandem with the State Forest Departments.
    • The plan also intends to substantially reduce the vulnerability of forests across diverse forest ecosystems in the country against fire hazards, enhance capabilities of forest personnel and institutions in fighting fires and swift recovery subsequent to fire incidents.

    2) Forest Fire Prevention and Management scheme

    • The MoEFCC provides wildfire prevention and management measures under the Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention and Management (FPM) scheme.
    • The FPM is the only centrally funded program specifically dedicated to assist the states in dealing with forest fires.
    • The FPM replaced the Intensification of Forest Management Scheme (IFMS) in 2017. By revamping the IFMS, the FPM has increased the amount dedicated for forest fire work.
    • Funds allocated under the FPM are according to the 90:10 ratio of central to state funding in the Northeast and Western Himalayan regions and 60:40 ratio for all other states.
    • Nodal officers for forest fire prevention and control have been appointed in each state.

    forest fireWay forward

    • Awareness should be created among the villagers residing near the forests with respect to the long-term ill effects of forest fires.
    • Measures to prevent wildfires have to be taken before summer season when fires are prevalent.
    • Local people should be given skills to use online portals or mobile apps in order to monitor the forests for fires and inform forest authorities regarding the same.

    Mains question

    Q. Climate change is driving more intense and widespread forest fires by fueling more extreme heat and deepening drought. Why forest fires are cause of concern? Discuss our preparedness level for the same in the above context.

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  • Concept of ‘Lifestyle for the Environment’

    Context

    In the midst of a global climate crisis, and as India gets closer to hosting the G20 presidency, it is important to recognise our country’s leadership at both ends of the climate debate: By walking the talk on our climate commitments as well as leading people-powered climate action.

    Power of individual and collective action to address the climate change

    • Adopting eco-friendly behaviours: According to the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP), if one billion people out of the global population of close to eight billion adopt eco-friendly behaviours in their daily lives, global carbon emissions could drop by approximately 20 per cent. 
    • Such eco-friendly behaviours include turning off ACs, heaters and lights when not in use, as this, for instance, can conserve up to 282 kilowatts of electricity per day.
    • Avoiding food wastage can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by 370 kg per year.

    The concept of Lifestyle for Environment

    • In November 2021, at the CoP 26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in addition to announcing the panchamrit, or five climate-related commitments of the country, also articulated the concept of “Lifestyle for the Environment” (LiFE).
    • Mindful and deliberate utilisation: The concept advocate for mindful and deliberate utilisation by people worldwide, instead of “mindful and wasteful consumption”.
    • LiFE was launched on June 5, 2022, World Environment Day, by PM Modi, with a vision of harnessing the power of individual and collective action across the world to address the climate crisis.
    • The objective of the movement is to nudge individuals and communities to adopt simple and specific climate-friendly behaviours in their daily lifestyles.
    •  For instance, an individual can carry a reusable cloth bag instead of a plastic bag.
    • By making such daily actions an integral part of our collective social norms, LiFE aims to activate a global community of “Pro Planet People” and steer the world towards a sustainable model of development.
    • Global precedents: There are already precedents of pro-planet initiatives around the world.
    • For example, Denmark promotes the use of bicycles by limiting parking within the city centre and providing exclusive bike lanes.
    • Japan has its unique “walk-to-school” mandate, which has been in practice since the early 1950s.
    •  LiFE, however, is planned as a first-of-its-kind global movement, led by India in partnership with other countries, that will provide the world with a unique people-powered platform to relentlessly focus on bringing individual and collective actions to the core of the climate action narrative.

    How the LiFE moment can change people’s behaviour

    • 1] Consume responsibly: The prevailing perception that climate-friendly behaviour necessarily implies a frugal lifestyle has played a major role in preventing populations worldwide from adopting a sustainable lifestyle.
    • LiFE plans to methodically break down this mental model by nudging the world to consume responsibly, rather than consuming less.
    • Using behavioural technique: Building on the unique insights from Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), LiFE will deploy a range of tested behavioural techniques, including nudges, social and behaviour change communication and norm influencing to make mindful consumption a mass movement.
    • 2] Produce responsibly: Our society reflects our markets and vice versa.
    • If sustainable choices are not supported from the supply-side, any change in our consumption patterns will only be temporary.
    • By nudging the consumption patterns of the society at scale, LiFE can also trigger a huge boost for the sustainability market.
    • Several green industries and a large number of jobs are likely to be initiated as a positive externality of LiFE.
    • 3] Live responsibly: The Covid pandemic is a wake-up call to all of us that no matter how much technological progress we make as a global society, we all remain at the mercy of the natural world.
    • As a global community of people with a shared natural world, a threat to one is a threat to all.
    • In this context, through its multi-dimensional, multi-cultural and global approach, the LiFE movement can play a pivotal role in not merely reversing the effects of climate change but, at a broader level, mainstream a harmonious and mindful way of living.

    Conclusion

    As the world moves in fits and starts towards its shared commitment to achieve ambitious climate goals, the time is ripe for India to lead the LiFE movement and mainstream it into the climate narrative.

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  • Species in news: Great Indian Bustard

    The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) has adopted an altogether new behaviour of giving clutch of two eggs at a time after getting additional protein diet during the monsoon season.

    Great Indian Bustards

    • GIBs are the largest among the four bustard species found in India, the other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican, and the Bengal florican.
    • GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10 percent of it. Among the heaviest birds with flight, GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats.
    • GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland.

    Protection accorded

    • Birdlife International: uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered (2011)
    • Protection under CITES: Appendix I
    • IUCN status: Critically Endangered
    • Protection under Wildlife (Protection) Act: Schedule I

    Threats

    • Overhead power transmission
    • Poor vision: Due to their poor frontal vision, can’t detect powerlines in time and their weight makes in-flight quick maneuvers difficult.
    • Windmills: Coincidentally, Kutch and Thar desert are the places that have witnessed the creation of huge renewable energy infrastructure.
    • Noise pollution: Noise affects the mating and courtship practices of the GIB.
    • Changes in the landscape: by way of farmers cultivating their land, which otherwise used to remain fallow due to frequent droughts in Kutch.
    • Cultivation changes: Cultivation of cotton and wheat instead of pulses and fodder are also cited as reasons for falling GIB numbers.

    On the brink of extinction

    • The GIB population in India had fallen to just 150.
    • Pakistan is also believed to host a few GIBs and yet openly supports their hunting.

    Supreme Court’s intervention

    • The Supreme Court has ordered that all overhead power transmission lines in core and potential GIB habitats in Rajasthan and Gujarat should be undergrounded.
    • The SC also formed a three-member committee to help power companies comply with the order.

    Conservation measures

    • In 2015, the Central government launched the GIB species recovery program.
    • Under the program, the WII and Rajasthan Forest departments have jointly set up conservation breeding centers where GIB eggs are harvested from the wild.
    • They have been incubated artificially and hatchlings raised in a controlled environment.

    Try this PYQ

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Protected Area: Well-known for

    1. Bhiterkanika, Odisha — Salt Water Crocodile
    2. Desert National Park, Rajasthan — Great Indian Bustard
    3. Eravikulam, Kerala — Hoolock Gibbon

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (CSP 2014)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 1 and 2

    (c) 2 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”vnzgy9fcv3″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

     

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  • African cheetahs still stuck in transit

    India’s ambitious project to translocate African cheetahs has missed an unofficial deadline of August 15.

    Asiatic Cheetah

    • Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
    • The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
    • It was expected to be re-introduced into the country after the Supreme Court lifted curbs for its re-introduction.

    Distribution of cheetahs in India

    • Historically, Asiatic cheetahs had a very wide distribution in India.
    • There are authentic reports of their occurrence from as far north as Punjab to Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu, from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to Bengal in the east.
    • Most of the records are from a belt extending from Gujarat passing through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.
    • There is also a cluster of reports from southern Maharashtra extending to parts of Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
    • The distribution range of the cheetah was wide and spread all over the subcontinent. They occurred in substantial numbers.
    • The cheetah’s habitat was also diverse, favouring the more open habitats: scrub forests, dry grasslands, savannahs and other arid and semi-arid open habitats.

    What caused the extinction of cheetahs in India?

    • The major reasons for the extinction of the Asiatic cheetah in India:
    1. Reduced fecundity and high infant mortality in the wild
    2. Inability to breed in captivity
    3. Sport hunting and
    4. Bounty killings
    • It is reported that the Mughal Emperor Akbar had kept 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie and collected as many as 9,000 cats during his half-century reign from 1556 to 1605.
    • The cheetah numbers were fast depleting by the end of the 18th century even though their prey base and habitat survived till much later.
    • It is recorded that the last cheetahs were shot in India in 1947, but there are credible reports of sightings of the cat till about 1967.

    Conservation objectives for their re-introduction

    • Based on the available evidence it is difficult to conclude that the decision to introduce the African cheetah in India is based on science.
    • Science is being used as a legitimising tool for what seems to be a politically influenced conservation goal.
    • This also in turn sidelines conservation priorities, an order of the Supreme Court, socio-economic constraints and academic rigour.
    • The issue calls for an open and informed debate.

    Issues in re-introduction

    • Experts find it difficult whether the African cheetahs would find the sanctuary a favorable climate as far as the abundance of prey is concerned.
    • The habitat of cheetahs is needed to support a genetically viable population.

     

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  • Development vs sustainability

    Context

    • According to NITI Aayog, “600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress with nearly 70% of water being contaminated; India is placed at 120th amongst 122 countries in the water quality index”.
    • The latest global environmental ranking by Yale and Columbia Universities puts India at the bottom among 180 countries.

    What is development?

    • Economic development means different things to different people. On a broad scale, anything a community does to foster and create a healthy economy can fall under the auspice of economic development.

    What is sustainability?

    • The integration of environmental health, social equity and economic vitality in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse and resilient communities for this generation and generations to come. The practice of sustainability recognizes how these issues are interconnected and requires a systems approach and an acknowledgement of complexity.
    • Sustainability is the balance between the environment, equity, and economy.

    What sustainability do for us?

    • Sustainable practices support ecological, human, and economic health and vitality.
    • Sustainability presumes that resources are finite, and should be used conservatively and wisely with a view to long-term priorities and consequences of the ways in which resources are used.
    • In simplest terms, sustainability is about our children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them.

    Definition of carrying capacity of earth

    • Carrying capacity: Carrying capacity is the maximum number of a species an environment can support indefinitely. Every species has a carrying capacity, even humans. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates. If these needs are not met, the population will decrease until the resource rebounds.

    Mother earth has reached its carrying capacity now

    • No species has altered the Earth’s natural landscape the way humans have.
    • Global climate change, mass extinction, and overexploitation of our global commons are all examples of the ways in which humans have altered the natural landscape.
    • Our growing population, coupled with rising affluence and per capita impact, is driving our planet closer to its tipping point.
    • With population expected to reach 5 billion by 2050, many wonder if our natural resources can keep up with our growing demands.

    Enrich your mains answer with this

    8 Billion dreams, ambitions, aspirations and only one earth to support them all . Human population, now nearing 8 billion, cannot continue to grow indefinitely. There are limits to the life-sustaining resources earth can provide us. In other words, there is a carrying capacity for human life on our planet.

    Development vs environment issues

    • Unemployment: For India, the national context is shaped by high youth unemployment, millions more entering the workforce each year, and a country hungry for substantial investments in hard infrastructure to industrialise and urbanise.
    • Growth with low emission footprint: India’s economic growth in the last three decades, led by growth in the services sector, has come at a significantly lower emissions footprint.
    • Infrastructure: But in the coming decades, India will have to move to an investment-led and manufacturing-intensive growth model to create job opportunities and create entirely new cities and infrastructure to accommodate and connect an increasingly urban population.

    Why a Carbon Fee and Dividend is Imperative

    It is clear that we will soon pass the limit on carbon emissions, because it requires decades to replace fossil fuel energy infrastructure with carbon-neutral and carbon negative energies.

    What could India do to pursue an industrialization pathway that is climate-compatible?

    • A coherent national transition strategy is important in a global context where industrialised countries are discussing the imposition of carbon border taxes while failing to provide developing countries the necessary carbon space to grow or the finance and technological assistance necessary to decarbonise.
    • What India needs is an overarching green industrialisation strategy that combines laws, policy instruments, and new or reformed implementing institutions to steer its decentralised economic activities to become climate-friendly and resilient.
    Case study for value addition

    • Bhutan: Bhutan remains, for example, the first and only carbon-negative country in the world, and they have also recently prevented the COVID-19 pandemic from overwhelming its population, with only one Bhutanese citizen  passing away from the virus to date.

     

     

    Way forward

    • India should set its pace based on its ability to capitalise on the opportunities to create wealth through green industrialisation.

    Mains question

    Do you think mother earth has reached its carrying capacity? Discuss this in context of development vs environment debate.

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  • Centre to file review petition on Eco-Sensitive Zones in SC

    Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said that the Ministry will file a review petition in the Supreme Court urging a relook into its judgment on eco-sensitive zones.

    Why in news?

    • The Supreme Court has earlier directed that every protected forest, national park and wildlife sanctuary across the country should have a mandatory eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of a minimum one km starting from their demarcated boundaries.

    Why such move?

    • The purpose of declaring ESZs around national parks, forests and sanctuaries is to create some kind of a “shock absorber” for the protected areas.
    • These zones would act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to those involving lesser protection.

    What are the Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)?

    • Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
    • The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
    • They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

    How are they demarcated?

    • The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does not mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
    • However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.
    • Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.
    • The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).

    Defining its boundaries

    • An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
    • Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.
    • Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.

     

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  • Coastal ecosystem norms

    This week, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled a report in Parliament on whether steps taken by the Union Environment Ministry to conserve India’s coastal ecosystems have been successful.

    Why in news?

    • The CAG frequently undertakes ‘performance audits’ of government programmes and ministries.

    Centre’s obligations on conserving the coastline

    • The government has issued notifications under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to regulate activities along India’s coasts particularly regarding construction.
    • The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ), 2019 implemented by the Ministry, classifies the coastal area into different zones to manage infrastructure activities and regulate them.

    The three institutions responsible for the implementation of the CRZ are:

    1. National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) at the Centre,
    2. State/Union Territory Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs/UTCZMAs) in every coastal State and Union Territory
    3. District Level Committees (DLCs) in every district that has a coastal stretch and where the CRZ notification is applicable

    Functions under CRZ rules

    • These bodies examine if CRZ clearances granted by the government are as per procedure, if project developers are once given the go-ahead are complying with conditions and if the project development objectives under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP) are successful.
    • They also evaluate the measures taken up by the government towards achieving the targets under Sustainable Development Goals.

    Why did the CAG undertake this audit?

    • The CAG has a constitutional mandate to investigate and report on publicly funded programmes.
    • The CAG conducted “pre-audit studies” and found that there were large-scale CRZ violations in the coastal stretches.
    • Incidences of illegal construction activities (reducing coastal space) and effluent discharges from local bodies, industries and aquaculture farms had been reported by the media and this prompted it to undertake a detailed investigation.

    What did the recent audit find?

    The audit pointed out various categories of violations.

    • There were instances of the Expert Appraisal Committees —who evaluate the feasibility of an infrastructure project and its environmental consequences — not being present during project deliberations.
    • There were also instances of the members of the EAC being fewer than half of the total strength during the deliberations.
    • The SCZMA had not been reconstituted in Karnataka and there was delayed reconstitution in the States of Goa, Odisha and West Bengal.
    • The DLCs of Tamil Nadu lacked participation from local traditional communities. In Andhra Pradesh, DLCs were not even established.
    • There were instances of projects being approved despite inadequacies in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports.

    What problems did the CAG find in the States?

    • Lack of strategy: Tamil Nadu didn’t have a strategy in place to conserve the Gulf of Mannar Islands.
    • Lack of monitoring: In Goa, there was no system for monitoring coral reefs and no management plans to conserve turtle nesting sites.
    • No scientific oversight: In Gujarat, instruments procured to study the physiochemical parameters of soil and water of the inertial area of the Gulf of Kutch weren’t used.
    • Monitoring issues: Sea patrolling in Gahirmatha Sanctuary, in Kendrapara, Odisha did not happen.
    • No information in public domain: There was no website to disseminate the information related to the NCZMA, the CAG found, which is a clear violation of the mandated requirements of the Authority.

    What lies ahead?

    • These reports are placed before the Standing Committees of Parliament, which select those findings and recommendations that they judge to be the most critical to public interest and arrange hearings on them.
    • In this case, the Environment Ministry is expected to explain omissions pointed out by the CAG and make amends.

    Back2Basics: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India

    • The CAG is the Constitutional Authority, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India.
    • They are empowered to Audit all receipts and expenditure of the GoI and the State Governments, including those of autonomous bodies and corporations substantially financed by the Government.
    • The CAG is also the statutory auditor of Government-owned corporations.
    • It conducts supplementary audit of government companies in which the Government has an equity share of at least 51 per cent or subsidiary companies of existing government companies.
    • The reports of the CAG are laid before the Parliament/Legislatures and are being taken up for discussion by the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and Committees on Public Undertakings (COPUs).

     

     

  • How to stop illegal mining of minor minerals

    Context

    While laws and monitoring have been made stringent for the mining of major minerals consequent to the unearthing of several related scams across the country, the fact is that rampant and illegal mining of minor minerals continues unabated.

    What are minor minerals?

    •  “Minor minerals” means building stones, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand other than sand used for prescribed purposes, and any other mineral which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a minor mineral;
    • Regulation exclusively by States: Unlike major minerals, the regulatory and administrative powers to frame rules, prescribe rates of royalty, mineral concessions, enforcement, etc. are entrusted exclusively to the State governments.
    • The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notifications of 1994 and 2006 made environmental clearance compulsory for mining in areas more than or equal to five hectares.
    • The EIA was amended in 2016 which made environmental clearance mandatory for mining in areas less than five hectares, including minor minerals.
    • The amendment also provided for the setting up of a District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) and a District Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).

    The problem of illegal mining of minor minerals

    • The United Nations Environment Programme, in 2019, ranked India and China as the top two countries where illegal sand mining has led to sweeping environmental degradation.
    • No comprehensive assessment: Despite this, there is no comprehensive assessment available to evaluate the scale of sand mining in India.
    • Damage to the environment: Regional studies such as those by the Centre for Science and Environment of the Yamuna riverbed in Uttar Pradesh have observed that increasing demand for soil has severely affected soil formation and the soil holding ability of the land, leading to a loss in marine life, an increase in flood frequency, droughts, and also degradation of water quality.
    • Loss to exchequer: It is not just damage to the environment. Illegal mining causes copious losses to the state exchequer.
    • A State-wide review of the reasons behind non-compliance suggests a malfunction of governance due to weak institutions, a scarcity of state resources to ensure enforcement, poorly drafted regulatory provisions, inadequate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and excessive litigation that dampens state administrative capacity.

    Way forward: Use of technology

    • Use of satellite imagery: Satellite imagery can be used to monitor the volume of extraction and also check the mining process.
    • Recently, the NGT directed some States to use satellite imagery to monitor the volume of sand extraction and transportation from the riverbeds.
    • Drones, IoT and blockchain: Additionally, drones, the internet of things (IoT) and blockchain technology can be leveraged to monitor mechanisms by using Global Positioning System, radar and Radio Frequency (RF) Locator.
    • State governments such as Gujarat and judicial directions such as the High Court of Madras have employed some of these technologies to check illegal sand mining.

    Conclusion

    Protecting minor minerals requires investment in production and consumption measurement and also monitoring and planning tools. To this end, technology has to be used to provide a sustainable solution.

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  • Wildlife Protection Bill gets LS nod

    The Lok Sabha passed the Wildlife (Protection), Amendment Bill, with no significant modifications to the version of the Bill presented in the House for discussion.

    What is the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972?

    • WPA provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security.
    • It provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
    • It provides for various types of protected areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks etc.
    • The act is also against Taxidermy, which is the preservation of a dead wild animal as a trophy, or in the form of rugs, preserved skins, antlers, horns, eggs, teeth, and nails.
    • In the case of wild birds and reptiles, the act also forbids disturbing or damaging their eggs.
    • The act was amended in the year 2006 and its purpose is to strengthen the conservation of tigers and other endangered species by combating crimes against them through the special Crime Control Bureau.

    There are six schedules provided in the WPA for protection of wildlife species which can be concisely summarized as under:

    Schedule I: These species need rigorous protection and therefore, the harshest penalties for violation of the law are for species under this Schedule.
    Schedule II: Animals under this list are accorded high protection. They cannot be hunted except under threat to human life.
    Schedule III & IV: This list is for species that are not endangered. This includes protected species but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules.
    Schedule V: This schedule contains animals which can be hunted.
    Schedule VI: This list contains plants that are forbidden from cultivation.

    Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill: Key Features

    (1) CITES

    • CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
    • Under CITES, plant and animal specimens are classified into three categories (Appendices) based on the threat to their extinction.
    • The Convention requires countries to regulate the trade of all listed specimens through permits.
    • It also seeks to regulate the possession of live animal specimens. The Bill seeks to implement these provisions of CITES.

    (2) Obligations under CITES:  

    • The Bill provides for the central government to designate a: (i) Management Authority, which grants export or import permits for trade of specimens, and (iii) Scientific Authority, which gives advice on aspects related to impact on the survival of the specimens being traded.
    • Every person engaging in trade of a scheduled specimen must report the details of the transaction to the Management Authority.
    • As per CITES, the Management Authority may use an identification mark for a specimen.
    • The Bill prohibits any person from modifying or removing the identification mark of the specimen.
    • Additionally, every person possessing live specimens of scheduled animals must obtain a registration certificate from the Management Authority.

    (3) Rationalising schedules

    • Currently, the Act has six schedules for specially protected plants (one), specially protected animals (four), and vermin species (one).
    • Vermin refers to small animals that carry disease and destroy food.
    • The Bill reduces the total number of schedules to four by:
    1. Reducing the number of schedules for specially protected animals to two (one for greater protection level)
    2. Removes the schedule for vermin species
    3. Inserts a new schedule for specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES (scheduled specimens)

    (4) Invasive alien species

    • The Bills empowers the central government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of invasive alien species.
    • Invasive alien species refers to plant or animal species which are not native to India and whose introduction may adversely impact wild life or its habitat.
    • The central government may authorise an officer to seize and dispose the invasive species.

    (5) Control of sanctuaries

    • The Act entrusts the Chief Wild Life Warden to control, manage and maintain all sanctuaries in a state.
    • The Chief Wild Life Warden is appointed by the state government.
    • The Bill specifies that actions of the Chief Warden must be in accordance with the management plans for the sanctuary.
    • These plans will be prepared as per guidelines of the central government, and as approved by the Chief Warden.
    • For sanctuaries falling under special areas, the management plan must be prepared after due consultation with the concerned Gram Sabha.
    • Special areas include a Scheduled Area or areas where the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is applicable.
    • Scheduled Areas are economically backward areas with a predominantly tribal population, notified under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution.

    (6) Conservation reserves

    • Under the Act, state governments may declare areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries as a conservation reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and their habitat.
    • The Bill empowers the central government to also notify a conservation reserve.

    (7) Surrender of captive animals

    • The Bill provides for any person to voluntarily surrender any captive animals or animal products to the Chief Wild Life Warden.
    • No compensation will be paid to the person for surrendering such items.
    • The surrendered items become property of the state government.

    Back2Basics: CITES

    • CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
    • It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
    • It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
    • It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
    • The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
    • India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.

    CITES Appendices

    • CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
    • All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.

    It has three appendices:

    • Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
    • Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
    • Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2022:

    Q. With reference to Indian laws about wildlife protection, consider the following statements:

    1. Wild animals are the sole property of the government.
    2. When a wild animal is declared protected, such animal is entitled for equal protection whether it is found in protected areas or outside.
    3. Apprehension of a protected wild animal becoming a danger to human life is sufficient ground for its capture or killing.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

     

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  • E-waste management

    A proposed framework by the Centre for regulating e-waste in India has upset a key link of India’s electronic waste collection system and threatens the livelihood of thousands of people.

    Menace of E-Waste in India

    • Electronic waste, or electronic goods that are past their productive life and old parts, is largely handled by India’s vast informal sector.
    • Spent goods are dismantled and viable working parts refurbished, with the rest making their way into chemical dismantling units.
    • Many of these units are run out of unregulated sweatshops that employ child labour and hazardous extraction techniques.

    Remedy against this: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

    • To address all of this, the Environment Ministry brought the E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016.
    • This introduced a system of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compelling makers of electronic goods to ensure a proportion of the goods they sold every year was recycled.
    • They are expected to maintain records annually demonstrating this.
    • Most companies however did not maintain an in-house unit in charge of recycling and this gave rise to a network of government-registered companies, called Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO).

    How PROs work?

    • PROs act as an intermediary between manufacturers and formal recycling
    • They are (expected to be) technologically equipped to recycle end-of-life electronic goods safely and efficiently.
    • The PROs typically bid for contracts from companies and arrange for specified quantities of goods to be recycled.
    • They provide companies certified proof of recycling that they then maintain as part of their records. Several PROs work on consumer awareness and enable a supply chain for recycled goods.

    Functional PROs in India

    • As of March 2022, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has registered 74 PROs and 468 authorised dismantlers.
    • They have a collective recycling capacity of about 1.3 million tonnes.

    What is the extent of E-Waste production in India?

    • The Ministry estimated 7.7 lakh tonnes of e-waste to have been generated in 2018-19.
    • Around one million tonnes in 2019-20 of which only a fifth (about 22% in both years) has been confirmed to be “dismantled and recycled”.

    What is the controversy now?

    • This May, the Ministry issued a draft notification that does away with the PROs and dismantlers and vests all responsibility of recycling with authorised recyclers.
    • Only a handful of authorised recyclers exist in India.
    • Recyclers will source a quantity of waste, recycle them and generate electronic certificates.
    • Companies can buy these certificates equivalent to their annual committed target and thus do not have to be involved with engaging the PROs and dismantlers.
    • Dismantling a fledgling system was detrimental to the future of e-waste management in India.

    What is the rationale behind?

    • The Centre has not explained its rationale for dismantling the existing system in its draft notification.
    • However, a final policy is yet to emerge.
    • The new rules would track the material that went in for recycling with the output claimed by a recycler when they claimed GST (Goods and Services Tax) input credit.

    Also read this comprehensive article:

    [Yojana Archive] E-waste Management

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.In India, ‘extended producer responsibility’ was introduced as an important feature in which of the following?

    (a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998

    (b) The Recycled Plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999

    (c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

    (d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011

     

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