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Subject: Conservation & Mitigation

1. Conservation Progs.
2. Worldwide initiatives
3. Mitigation Strategies
4. Conventions and Protocols

  • Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

     

    States in the National Capital Region were directed to be ready to implement actions under the ‘emergency’ category of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to control air pollution, said an official order.

    Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

    • In 2014, when a study by the WHO found that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, panic spread in the Centre and the state government.
    • Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, the plan was formulated after several meetings that the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) held with state government and experts.
    • The result was a plan that institutionalized measures to be taken when air quality deteriorates.
    • GRAP works only as an emergency measure.

    How does it work?

    • As such, the plan does not include action by various state governments to be taken throughout the year to tackle industrial, vehicular and combustion emissions.
    • When the air quality shifts from poor to very poor, the measures listed under both sections have to be followed since the plan is incremental in nature.
    • If air quality reaches the severe+ stage, GRAP talks about shutting down schools and implementing the odd-even road-space rationing scheme.

    Measures taken under GRAP

    1) Severe+ or Emergency

    (PM 2.5 over 300 ”g/cubic metre or PM10 over 500 ”g/cu. m. for 48+ hours)

    • Stop entry of trucks into Delhi (except essential commodities)
    • Stop construction work
    • Introduce odd/even scheme for private vehicles and minimise exemptions
    • Task Force to decide any additional steps including shutting of schools

    2) Severe

    (PM 2.5 over 250 ”g/cu. m. or PM10 over 430 ”g/cu. m.)

    • Close brick kilns, hot mix plants, stone crushers
    • Maximise power generation from natural gas to reduce generation from coal
    • Encourage public transport, with differential rates
    • More frequent mechanized cleaning of road and sprinkling of water

    3) Very Poor

    (PM2.5 121-250 ”g/cu. m. or PM10 351-430 ”g/cu. m.)

    • Stop use of diesel generator sets
    • Enhance parking fee by 3-4 times
    • Increase bus and Metro services
    • Apartment owners to discourage burning fires in winter by providing electric heaters during winter
    • Advisories to people with respiratory and cardiac conditions to restrict outdoor movement

    4) Moderate to poor

    (PM2.5 61-120 ”g/cu. m. or PM10 101-350 ”g/cu. m.)

    • Heavy fines for garbage burning
    • Close/enforce pollution control regulations in brick kilns and industries
    • Mechanized sweeping on roads with heavy traffic and water sprinkling
    • Strictly enforce a ban on firecrackers

    Has GRAP helped?

    • The biggest success of GRAP has been in fixing accountability and deadlines.
    • For each action to be taken under a particular air quality category, executing agencies are clearly marked.
    • In a territory like Delhi, where a multiplicity of authorities has been a long-standing impediment to effective governance, this step made a crucial difference.

     

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  • India’s first Fishing Cat Collaring Project

    The Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) Conservation Biologists will begin collaring ten Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) in Andhra Pradesh.

    About Fishing Cats

    • About twice the size of a typical house cat, the fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
    • It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
    • It is known to even dive to catch fish.
    • It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
    • It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.

    Conservation status

    • IUCN Red List: Endangered
    • CITES: Appendix II
    • Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

    Various threats

    • One of the major threats facing the fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands, which is its preferred habitat.
    • As a result of human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution, and wood-cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction.
    • Another threat to the fishing cat is the depletion of its main prey-fish due to unsustainable fishing practices.
    • It is also occasionally poached for its skin.

     

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  • Froth formation in Yamuna

    The visuals of devotees taking a dip in the froth-filled waters of the Yamuna River sent chills down the spine of the residents of Delhi.

    What is Froth Formation?

    • This is a phenomenon that takes place on many lakes and streams.
    • Foam bubbles are produced when organic matter decomposes.
    • These foam-producing molecules have one end that repels water and another that attracts water and they work to reduce the surface tension on the surface of the water.
    • These foam bubbles are lighter than water, so they float on the surface as a thin film that gradually accumulates.

    What causes the froth?

    • The presence of phosphates and surfactants in untreated sewage from Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is a major reason behind frothing.
    • While these two components comprise of 1 per cent, the remaining 99 percent is air and water.

    What are the sources of pollution that cause foam formation?

    • Untreated sewage may contain soap-detergent particles.
    • The other sources are industrial effluents, organic matter from decomposing vegetation, and the presence of filamentous bacteria.
    • The pollution from the sugar and paper industries in Uttar Pradesh also causes pollution in the Yamuna.

    What are its health hazards?

    • Short-term exposure can lead to skin irritation and allergies.
    • If ingested, these chemicals may cause gastrointestinal problems and diseases like typhoid.
    • Long-term exposure to heavy metals in industrial pollutants can cause neurological issues and hormonal imbalances.

     

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  • The right time for India to have its own climate law

    Context

    The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26, from October 31 to November 12, 2021), at Glasgow, Scotland is important as it will call for practical implementation of the 2015 Paris Accord, setting the rules for the Accord.

    Indian proposals

    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, on November 1 at Glasgow, a ‘Panchamrit solution’ which aims at reducing fossil fuel dependence and carbon intensity.
    • This also includes ramping up India’s renewable energy share to 50% by 2030.
    • Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has reasserted the call for the promised $100 billion a year as support (from the developed world to the developing world).
    • But as we consider new energy pathways, we must also consider the question of climate hazard, nature-based solutions and national accountability.
    • This is the right time for India to mull setting up a climate law while staying true to its goals of climate justice, carbon space and environmental protection.

    Why India needs climate law

    • There are a few reasons for this.
    • Existing laws not adequate: Our existing laws are not adequate to deal with climate change.
    • We have for example the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
    • Yet, climate is not exactly water or air.
    • The Environment (Protection) Act is grossly inadequate to deal with violations on climate. Clause 24 of the Act, “Effect of Other Laws”, states that if an offence is committed under the EPA or any other law, the person will be punished under the other law (for example, Code of Criminal Procedure).
    • This makes the EPA subordinate to every other law. 
    • There is a need to integrate climate action: Integration includes adaptation and mitigation — and monitoring progress.
    • Comprehensive climate action is not just technological such as changing energy sources or carbon intensity, but also nature-based such as emphasising restoration of ecosystems.
    • India’s situation is unique: Climate action cannot come by furthering sharpening divides or exacerbating poverty, and this includes our stated renewable energy goals.
    • The 500 Gigawatt by 2030 goal for renewable can put critically endangered grassland and desert birds such as the Great Indian Bustard at risk, as they die on collision with wires in the desert.

    Suggestions on climate law

    • A climate law could consider two aspects.
    • Commission on climate change: Creating an institution that monitors action plans for climate change.
    • A ‘Commission on Climate Change’ could be set up, with the power and the authority to issue directions, and oversee implementation of plans and programmes on climate.
    • The Commission could have quasi-judicial powers with powers of a civil court to ensure that its directions are followed in letter and spirit.
    • System of liability and accountability: We need a system of liability and accountability at short-, medium- and long-term levels as we face hazards.
    • This also means having a legally enforceable National Climate Change Plan that goes beyond just policy guidelines.
    • A Climate Commission could ideally prevent gross negligence in fragile areas and fix accountability if it arises.

    Conclusion

    We have an urgent moral imperative to tackle climate change and reduce its worst impacts. But we also should Indianise the process by bringing in a just and effective law — with guts, a spine, a heart, and, most importantly, teeth.

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  • Guidelines released for safe rescue, release of Ganges River Dolphins (GRDs)

    The Jal Shakti Ministry has released a guide for the safe rescue and release of stranded Ganges River Dolphins.

    Gangetic Dolphin

    • The Gangetic river system is home to a vast variety of aquatic life, including the Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica).
    • The species, whose global population is estimated at 4,000, are (nearly 80%) found in the Indian subcontinent.
    • It is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.
    • It is one of five species of river dolphin found around the world.
    • Only three species of freshwater dolphins are remaining on the earth after the functional extinction of the Chinese river Dolphin (Baiji) in 2006.

    Conservation status

    1. The GRDs have been designated the National Aquatic Animal of India since 2010.
    • It is listed as:
    1. Endangered under IUCN Red List
    2. Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972)
    3. Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

    About the guidelines

    • The document has been prepared by the Turtle Survival Alliance, India Program and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department (EFCCD), Uttar Pradesh.
    • The guide has been drawn from years of experience of the organization while rescuing 25 Ganges River Dolphins (GRDs) stranded in irrigation canals.

    Various threats

    • They often accidentally enter canal channels in northern India and are often entrapped, and die as they are unable to swim up against the gradient.
    • They are eventually harassed by the locals.
    • Opportunistic poaching for meat and oil in certain pockets of the country is another big threat.

     

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  • US research highlights Indian farming practices

    A paper has recently published in the US has found that Integrated farming with intercropping increases food production while reducing environmental footprint.

    What is the finding?

    This work found that:

    1. Relay planting enhances yield
    2. Within-field rotation or strip rotation allowing strips for planting other plants (such as grass, fruits) besides the major crop was more fruitful
    3. Soil munching that is, available means such as crop straw, in addition to the major crop such as wheat or rice, and
    4. No-till or reduced tillage, which increases the annual crop yield up by 15.6% to 49.9%, and decreasing the environmental footprint by 17.3%, compared with traditional monoculture cropping

    Various terms mentioned

    [A] Relay planting

    • Relay planting means the planting of different crops in the same plot, one right after another, in the same season.
    • Examples of such relay cropping would be planting rice (or wheat), cauliflower, onion, and summer gourd (or potato onion, lady’s fingers and maize), in the same season.
    • Benefits: It is less risk since you do not have to depend on one crop alone. It also means better distribution of labour, insects spread less, and any legumes actually add nitrogen to the soil.

    [B] Strip cropping

    • Strip cropping has been used in the U.S. (where the fields are larger than those in India), where they grow wheat, along with corn and soybean, in the same farm in an alternative manner.
    • However, this needs large lands. The land is divided into strips, and strips of grass are left to grow between the crops.
    • Benefits: Planting of trees to create shelters has helped in stabilising the desert in Western India.

    [C] Soil mulching and no-till

    • Soil mulching requires keeping all bare soil covered with straw, leaves, and the like, even when the land is in use.
    • Benefits: Erosion is curtailed, moisture retained, and beneficial organisms, such as earthworms, kept in place. The same set of benefits are also offered by not tilling the soil.

    Significance of the findings

    • This research has led to the conclusion that small farm holders can grow more food and have reduced environmental footprint.
    • Current statistics reveal that our country has a significant population of small farmers, many owning less than 2 hectares of land.
    • About 70% of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82% of farmers being small and marginal.

     

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  • Podu Land issue in Telangana

    The Telangana government has decided to move landless, non-tribal farmers engaged in Podu shifting cultivation inside forests to peripheral areas as it looks to combat deforestation.

    What is Shifting Cultivation?

    • Shifting cultivation is a form of agriculture or a cultivation system, in which, at any particular point in time, a minority of ‘fields’ are in cultivation and a majority are in various stages of natural re-growth.
    • Over time, fields are cultivated for a relatively short time, and allowed to recover, or are fallowed, for a relatively long time.
    • Eventually, a previously cultivated field will be cleared of the natural vegetation and planted in crops again.
    • Fields in established and stable shifting cultivation systems are cultivated and fallowed cyclically.
    • This type of farming is also called jhumming in India.

    What is Podu?

    • Podu is a traditional system of cultivation used by tribes in India, whereby different areas of jungle forest are cleared by burning each year to provide land for crops.
    • The word comes from the Telugu language.
    • Podu is a form of shifting agriculture using slash-and-burn methods.

    Issue in Telangana

    • Shifting cultivation continues to be a predominant agricultural practice in many parts of India, despite state discouragement and multipronged efforts.
    • Telangana government has red-flagged encroachment of forests by non-tribals, who are indulging in the practice of shifting agriculture (podu).
    • Several political leaders have raised the issues of shifting agriculture and deforestation wherein encroachers clear a portion of land.
    • The government now wants to shift out all farmers from the forests to the periphery by allotting lands to them for cultivation.

    Impact of the move

    • Tribal farmers who have been traditionally cultivating for decades will not be affected by this drive against illegal encroachers.
    • The government has, in fact, given land ownership titles to tribals.
    • Other encroaching farmers will be shifted out.

    Back2Basics: Various shifting cultivation in India

    Type Place of practice
    Jhum North-eastern India
    Vevar and Dahiyaar Bundelkhand Region (Madhya Pradesh)
    Deepa Bastar District (Madhya Pradesh)
    Zara and Erka Southern States
    Batra South-eastern Rajasthan
    Podu Andhra Pradesh
    Kumari Hilly Region of the Western Ghats of Kerala
    Kaman, Vinga and Dhavi Odisha

     

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  • Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana (PK3Y)

    Women farmers in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh are gradually turning to non-chemical, low cost “natural farming”, under the Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana (PK3Y).

    Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Yojana

    • Launched in 2018, the State’s PK3Y is promoting the climate resilient Subhash Palekar Natural Farming (SPNF), also called ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’.
    • Over 1.5 lakh farmers have been trained in natural farming in the State so far, with substantial numbers of women participants.

    About Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)?

    • ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
    • Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
    • According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
    • Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
    • The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil, after microorganisms convert them from “non-

    Four Wheels of ZBNF

    The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

    • Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
    • This isn’t a fertiliser, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
    • Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
    • Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
    • Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

    Astra’s of ZBNF against pest attacks

    • ZBNF advocates the use of special ‘Agniastra’, ‘Bramhastra’ and ‘Neemastra’ concoctions.
    • They are based on cow urine and dung, plus pulp from leaves of neem, white datura, papaya, guava and pomegranates — for controlling pest and disease attacks.

    Is it organic farming?

    • ZBNF uses farmyard manure or vermicompost.

    However, not all farmers are convinced about ZBNF. Why?

    • Cost of labour: The cost of labour for collection of dung and urine, apart from the other inputs used in preparation of Jiwamrita, Neemastra or Bramhastra is quit higher.
    • Bovine cost: Keeping cows is also a cost that has to be accounted for. Farmers cannot afford to keep desi cows that yield very little milk.
    • Vulnerability to pest attacks:  ZBNF is scarcely practiced.  The crop grown would be vulnerable to attacks by insects and pests have already become pest-immune.

     

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  • Species in news: Bengal Florican

    Environmentalists have recently written to the Assam government on the urgent need to prevent land-use changes at Kokilabari Seed Farm in the state to protect Bengal floricans and other species.

    Bengal Florican

    • The Bengal florican also called Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
    • Fewer than 1,000 individuals were estimated to be alive as of 2017.
    • It has two disjunct populations, one in the Indian subcontinent, another in Southeast Asia.
    • The former occurs from Uttar Pradesh (India) through the Terai of Nepal to Assam (where it is called ulu mora) and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh.
    • It has a very small, rapidly declining population largely as a result of the widespread loss of its grassland habitat.

    Conservation status

    • IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
    • CITES: Appendix I
    • Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972: Schedule I

  • Places in news: Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

    P

    PC: MapsOfIndia

    A tiger believed to have been responsible for the death of two herders in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve was finally captured.

    Read all the tiger reserves in India through this map. Put more focus on South Indian states and the NE region.

    Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

    • Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu.
    • It is located in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala.
    • It is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and was declared a tiger reserve in 2007.
    • It harbours several endangered and vulnerable species including Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, Indian elephant and gaur.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Recently there was a proposal to translocate some of the lions from their natural habitat in Gujarat to which one of the following sites?

    (a) Corbett National Park

    (b) Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary

    (c) Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary

    (d) Sariska National Park

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”57b43o5jkg” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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