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Subject: Environment

  • COP26 Climate Conference and Why it is important

    The UK will host the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference from October 31 to November 12.

    Conference of Parties (CoP): A Backgrounder

    • The CoP comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
    • The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
    • It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
    1. Formulating measures to mitigate climate change
    2. Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change
    3. Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change
    • The UNFCCC has 198 parties including India, China and the USA. COP members have been meeting every year since 1995.

    COP1 to COP25: Key takeaways

    COP1: The first conference was held in 1995 in Berlin.

    COP3: It was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the famous Kyoto Protocol (w.e.f. 2005) was adopted. It commits the member states to pursue limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

    COP8: India hosted the eighth COP in 2002 in New Delhi. It laid out several measures including, ‘strengthening of technology transfer
 in all relevant sectors, including energy, transport and R&D,  and the strengthening of institutions for sustainable development.

    COP21: it is one of the most important that took place in 2015, in Paris, France. Here countries agreed to work together to ‘limit global warming to well below 2, preferably at 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.’

    Significance of COP26

    • The event will see leaders from more than 190 countries, thousands of negotiators, researchers and citizens coming together to strengthen a global response to the threat of climate change.
    • It is a pivotal movement for the world to come together and accelerate the climate action plan after the COVID pandemic.

    COP26 goals

    According to the UNFCCC, COP26 will work towards four goals:

    1. Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
    • The UNFCCC recommends that countries ‘accelerate the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles and encourage investment in renewables’ to meet this goal.
    1. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
    • Countries will work together to ‘protect and restore ecosystems and build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.’
    1. Mobilise finance
    • To deliver on first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.
    1. Work together to deliver
    • Another important task at the COP26 is to ‘finalise the Paris Rulebook’. Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.

    What India could do to reach its targets?

    • Update NDCs: It is time for India to update its Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs. (NDCs detail the various efforts taken by each country to reduce the national emissions)
    • Effective planning: Sector by sector plans are needed to bring about development. We need to decarbonise the electricity, transport sector and start looking at carbon per passenger mile.
    • Energy transition: Aggressively figure out how to transition our coal sector
    • Robust legal framework: India also needs to ramp up the legal and institutional framework of climate change.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1. The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
    2. The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2 degree Centigrade or even 5 degree Centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
    3. Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate dollar 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

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  • 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

     

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  • Climate finance

    Context

    In the run-up to the 26th UNFCCC media reports have claimed that developed countries are inching closer to the target of providing $100 billion annually. This view has been bolstered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which claimed that climate finance provided by developed countries had reached $78.9 billion in 2018.

    Issue of climate financing and claim of reaching the target of $100 billion

    • These claims reaching the target of $100 billion annually is erroneous.
    • First, the OECD figure includes private finance and export credits.
    • Public finance: Developing countries have insisted that developed country climate finance should be from public sources and should be provided as grants or as concessional loans.
    • However, the OECD report makes it clear that the public finance component amounted to only $62.2 billion in 2018, with bilateral funding of about $32.7 billion and $29.2 billion through multilateral institutions.
    • Nature of finance: Significantly, the final figure comes by adding loans and grants. Of the public finance component, loans comprise 74%, while grants make up only 20%.
    • The report does not say how much of the total loan component of $46.3 billion is concessional.
    • Non-concessional loans: From 2016 to 2018, 20% of bilateral loans, 76% of loans provided by multilateral development banks and 46% of loans provided by multilateral climate funds were non-concessional.
    • Between 2013 and 2018, the share of loans has continued to rise, while the share of grants decreased.
    • The OECD reports on climate finance have long been criticised for inflating climate finance figures.
    •  In contrast to the OECD report, Oxfam estimates that in 2017-18, out of an average of $59.5 billion of public climate finance reported by developed countries, the climate-specific net assistance ranged only between $19 and $22.5 billion per year.
    •  The 2018 Biennial Assessment of UNFCCC’s Standing Committee on Finance reports that on average, developed countries provided only $26 billion per year as climate-specific finance between 2011-2016.

    Broken commitments from the US on climate financing

    • U.S. President Joe Biden recently said that the U.S. will double its climate finance by $11.4 billion annually by 2024.
    • It is Congress that will decide on the quantum after all.
    • The U.S. also has a history of broken commitments, having promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) under President Barack Obama, but delivering only $1 billion.
    • The future focus of U.S. climate finance is the mobilisation of private sector investment.
    • The bulk of the money coming in would be through private funds, directed to those projects judged “bankable” and not selected based on developing countries’ priorities and needs.

    Finance skews toward mitigation

    • Climate finance has also remained skewed towards mitigation, despite the repeated calls for maintaining a balance between adaptation and mitigation.
    • The 2016 Adaptation Gap Report of the UN Environment Programme had noted that the annual costs of adaptation in developing countries could range from $140 to $300 billion annually by 2030 and rise to $500 billion by 2050.
    • Currently available adaptation finance is significantly lower than the needs expressed in the Nationally Determined Contributions submitted by developing countries.

    Conclusion

    Delivering on climate finance is fundamental to trust in the multilateral process. Regrettably, while developing countries will continue to pressure developed countries to live up to their promises, the history of climate negotiations is not in their favour.

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  • Kunming Declaration on Biodiversity Conservation

    The Kunming Declaration was adopted by over 100 countries at the first part of the ongoing virtual 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

    Kunming Declaration

    • It calls upon the parties to “mainstream” biodiversity protection in decision-making and recognise the importance of conservation in protecting human health.
    • The theme of the declaration is Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth.
    • By adopting this, the nations have committed themselves to support the development, adoption and implementation of an effective post-2020 implementation plan for the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety.
    • Signatory nations will ensure that the post-pandemic recovery policies, programs and plans contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

    About Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

    • The CBD (wef 1993) known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty.
    • The convention has three main goals:
    1. the conservation of biodiversity
    2. the sustainable use of its components
    3. the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources
    • Its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and it is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development.
    • It has two supplementary agreements, the Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol.

    (1) Cartagena Protocol

    • It is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another.

    (2) Nagoya Protocol

    • It deals with Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS).

     

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  • Mass Emission Standards for E12 AND E15 fuels

    The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has notified mass emission standards for E 12 (12% Ethanol with Gasoline) and E15 (15% Ethanol 12 with gasoline) fuels.

    What is the news?

    • The ministry has notified test standards for vehicles compliant with ethanol-blended fuel variants E12 and E15.
    • The ministry made it mandatory for all automobile manufacturers to put “clearly visible stickers” on every vehicle informing about its compatibility to the level of ethanol blend (E12, E15, E20).
    • Currently, India is using E10 fuel (petrol blended with 10% ethanol).

    Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme

    • Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in January, 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended Petrol.
    • The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
    • OMCs are advised to continue according priority of ethanol from 1) sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup, 2) B-heavy molasses 3) C-heavy molasses and 4) damaged food grains/other sources.
    • At present, this programme has been extended to whole of India except UTs of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 01st April, 2019 wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%.

    Why ethanol blending?

    • Agricultural waste management: Ethanol blending will solve the problem of agricultural waste as well as sugar rates due to excess production, therefore providing security to sugarcane farmers.
    • Reducing emission: It can help accomplish dual goal of strengthening energy security with low carbon emission.
    • Enhanced participation: It will enable local enterprises and farmers to participate in the energy economy.
    • Reducing import bill: It is another significant benefit. India imports 85% of crude oil.
    • Fuel efficiency: Ethanol blending increases octane number thereby increasing fuel quality in terms of anti-knocking tendency (engine sound)

    Also read:

    [RSTV ARCHIVE] Ethanol Blending: Significance & Road Ahead

     

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  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Plastic Waste Collection

    The Environment Ministry has issued draft rules that mandate producers of plastic packaging material to collect all of their produce by 2024 and ensure that a minimum percentage of it be recycled as well as used in subsequent supply.

    What is EPR?

    • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) means the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product (plastic packaging) until the end of its life.
    • India had first introduced EPR in 2011 under the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 and E-Waste Management and Handling Rules, 2011.

    What are the new EPR rules for Plastic Waste?

    (A) Plastic packaging

    • The new EPR guidelines covers three categories of plastic packaging including:
    1. Rigid plastic
    2. Flexible plastic packaging of single layer or multilayer (more than one layer with different types of plastic), plastic sheets and covers made of plastic sheet, carry bags (including carry bags made of compostable plastics), plastic sachet or pouches
    3. Multi-layered plastic packaging which has at least one layer of plastic and at least one layer of material other than plastic.
    • It has also specified a system whereby makers and users of plastic packaging can collect certificates — called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) certificates — and trade in them.

    (B) Ineligible plastics for EPR

    • Only a fraction of plastic that cannot be recycled will be eligible to be sent for end-of-life disposal such as road construction, waste to energy, waste to oil and cement kilns.
    • Only methods prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board will be permitted for their disposal.

    Targets for recycling

    • In 2024, a minimum 50% of their rigid plastic (category 1) will have to be recycled as will 30% of their category 2 and 3 plastic.
    • Every year will see progressively higher targets and after 2026-27, 80% of their category 1 and 60% of the other two categories will need to be recycled.
    • If entities cannot fulfil their obligations, they will on a “case by case basis” be permitted to buy certificates making up for their shortfall.

    Effects on non-compliance

    • Non-compliance, however, will not invite a traditional fine.
    • Instead, an “environmental compensation” will be levied, though the rules do not specify how much this compensation will be.

    Challenges in mandatory EPR

    There are several challenges faced by both producers and bulk consumers that hinder proactive participation.

    • Consumer awareness: Waste segregation has been the greatest challenge in India owing to lack of consumer awareness.
    • Lack of compliance: The plastic producers do not wish to engage in the process holistically and take the effort to build awareness.
    • Large scale involvement: The EPR doesn’t take into account the formalization of informal waste pickers, aggregators and dismantlers.
    • Lack of recycle infrastructure: These challenges range from lack of handling capacity to illegitimate facilities in the forms of multiple accounting of waste, selling to aggregators and leakages.

    Way forward

    • Tracking mechanism: What India needs is to develop tracking mechanisms and provide oversight of waste compliance, in order to ensure that the mechanism of waste disposal is streamlined.
    • Strict enforcement: While enforcement strictness is of paramount importance, it is also vital to build an incentive structure around this to ensure better complicity by the producers.
    • Innovation: The time is ripe for innovators to come up with an alternative for plastics and the strong will of the Government to rid the toxic waste in a sustainable and safe manner.

    Try answering 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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    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Ban on Single Use Plastics

     

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  • Amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980

    The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has published proposed amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

    The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

    The FCA is the principal legislation that regulates deforestation in the country.

    • It prohibits the felling of forests for any “non-forestry” use without prior clearance by the central government.
    • The clearance process includes seeking consent from local forest rights-holders and from wildlife authorities.
    • The Centre is empowered to reject such requests or allow it with legally binding conditions.
    • In a landmark decision in 1996, the Supreme Court had expanded the coverage of FCA to all areas that satisfied the dictionary definition of a forest; earlier, only lands specifically notified as forests were protected by the enforcement of the FCA.

    The FCA is brief legislation with only five sections of which-

    • Section 1 defines the extent of coverage of the law,
    • Section 2 restrictions of activities in forest areas and the rest deals with the creation of advisory committees, powers of rule-making and penalties.

    Why is the Act being amended now?

    • The current definition of forests has locked land across the country; even private owners cannot utilise their own property for non-forestry purposes.
    • The pressure for forest land diversion has been coming from — Ministries such as Rail and Roads.
    • Under the Act, any diversion of any forest land for any purpose, including assignment of leases, needs prior approval of the Centre.

    What defines ‘Forest’ under this act?

    • Previously, the Act had applied largely to reserve forests and national parks.
    • In 1996, ruling in T N Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India Case, the Supreme Court had expanded the definition and scope of forest land.
    • It would thus include all areas recorded as forest in any government record, irrespective of ownership, recognition and classification.
    • The court also expanded the definition of forests to encompass the “dictionary meaning of forests”.
    • This would mean that a forested patch would automatically become a “deemed forest” even if it is not notified as protected, and irrespective of ownership.
    • The Act would also be applicable over plantations in non-forest land.

    What are the proposed amendments?

    (A) Exemptions for Road and Railways

    • The MoEFCC has proposed that all land acquired by the Railways and Roads Ministries prior to 1980 be exempted from the Act.
    • Once the lands had been acquired for expansion, but subsequently, forests have grown in these areas, and the government is no longer able to use the land for expansion.
    • The Ministries will no longer need clearance for their projects, nor pay compensatory levies to build there.

    (B) Relaxation

    • It distinguishes individuals whose lands fall within a state-specific Private Forests Act or comes within the dictionary meaning of forest as specified in the 1996 Supreme Court order.
    • The government proposes to allow the “construction of structures for bona fide purposes’’ including residential units up to 250 sq m as a one-time relaxation.

    (C) Defense and other projects

    • Defence projects near international borders will be exempted from forest clearance.
    • Oil and natural gas extraction from forested lands will be permitted, but only if technologies such as Extended Reach Drilling are used.
    • Strip plantations alongside roads that would fall under the Act will be exempted.

    What are the concerns?

    • Legalizing private ownership of forests: The rules will facilitate corporate ownership.
    • Deforestation: The exemption of forests on private land will lead to the disappearance of large tracts of forests.
    • Fragmentation: Exemption for private residences on private forest will lead to fragmentation of forests, and open areas such as the Aravalli mountains to real estate.
    • Tribal concerns: The amendments do not address what will happen to tribals and forest-dwelling communities over the cleared lands.
    • Threat to wildlife: Exemption for roads and railways on forest land acquired prior to 1980 will be detrimental to forests as well as wildlife – especially elephants, tigers and leopards.

    Positives with the amendment

    • It has proposed making forest laws more stringent for notified forests, making offences non-bailable with increased penalties including imprisonment of up to one year.
    • It has disallowed any kind of diversion in certain forests.
    • It has attempt to define and identify forests once and for all — something that has been often ambiguous.

     

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  • Species in news: Dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog

    A recent study has identified some priority talukas/tehsils where habitats can be consolidated to enhance population connectivity for the dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus).

    About Dhole

    Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule II (Absolute protection – offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties.)

    IUCN: Endangered

    • The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
    • India perhaps supports the largest number of dholes, with key populations found in three landscapes — Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India.
    • It is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females.

    Their significance

    • Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
    • Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition with other species, persecution due to livestock predation and disease transfer from domestic dogs.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?

    (a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass

    (b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard.

    (c) Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey, Saras (Crane)

    (d) Lion Tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur, Cheetah

     

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  • Using Paddy Straw as Cattle Feed

    Punjab has now proposed to use the paddy crop residue as fodder for animals, especially cattle.

    Why such a move?

    • In Punjab, the total availability of paddy straw is about 20 million tones per annum.
    • The total value of this straw is Rs 400 crore approx., calculated on an average rate of Rs 200/quintal. Almost all of it is burnt in fields.
    • This accounts for economic loss apart from the loss of 77,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 5.6 million tonnes of Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) which could be used for ruminant production.
    • Also nearly 30.4 per cent of rice straw is used for animal feed in Southeast Asia, Mongolia and China.

    Economics behind paddy straw

    • High silica and lignin content reduces its digestive properties.
    • Higher selenium content in paddy straw also limits its use as fodder in animals as compared to wheat straw.
    • However, if given in moderate quantities (up to 5 kg per animal per day), selenium poses no health hazard to the animal.
    • Paddy straw also contains oxalates (2-2.5%) which leads to calcium deficiency so mineral mixture should always be fed along with the straw.

    Treatments for feeding paddy straw to animals

    • Paddy Straw cannot be directly fed to animals. It has to undergo some treatments.
    • Two of them are: Urea-only treatment and urea plus molasses treatment.

    [A] Urea treatment of paddy straw

    • 14 kg of urea is dissolved in 200 litres water and spray on chopped paddy straw.
    • The fermented straws have soft texture with 6.0-8.0 per cent crude protein, 3.0-4.0 percent DCP and 55-60 per cent TDN.
    • This involves a combination of physical, chemical and biological treatments.
    • The paddy straw is chaffed and moistened (physical) with urea solution (chemical).
    • The breakdown of urea release ammonia gas, a part of which is utilised by microbes (biological) for their proliferation (enriching the straw with microbial protein).
    • This in turn results in breakage of lingo-cellulosic bonds making cellulose and hemi-cellulose assessable for utilization by microbes in the rumen.
    • The digestibility of cellulose increases from 40-45% in untreated paddy straw to 70-75 per cent in fermented wheat straw.

    [B] Urea plus molasses treatment

    • Also called “Urea-Molasses impregnated straw”, this method involves treating paddy straw with urea and molasses.
    • Urea 1 kg and molasses 3 kg was mixed thoroughly and mixed with water 10 kg. This is mixed with chaffed paddy straw and fed to animals on same day.
    • The experts however clarify that for maintenance of body weight in animals, paddy straw alone is not sufficient.
    • Minerals and green fodder supplementation is required.

    How does the nutritional value of paddy straw increase after urea treatment?

    • The TDN values in urea treated paddy straw increased manifold as compared to untreated straw.
    • Crude protein (CP) increased from 4.5% to 8%, digestible crude protein (DCP) from 1.5% to 4% and total digestible nutrients (TDN) from 40% to 55%.
    • The feeding of urea treated straw (6 kg/day) to lactating buffaloes giving about 10 kg milk/day can result in saving about 60 per cent of oilseed cake in the ration.
    • Feeding of paddy straw should be mixed with berseem, cowpea or Lucerne as it forms a maintenance ration.
    • The straw should be fed with concentrate mixture and additional DCP or limestone should be given to the animals to reduce the effect of oxalates.
    • Oxalates also interfere in carbohydrate metabolism perhaps due to non-availability of calcium as cofactor.

    What are the potentially harmful effects?

    • The intake of siliceous forages has been associated with urinary siliceous calculi in drier regions where water may be limited.
    • There have been no definitive studies in India, but urinary calculi are associated with rice straw consumption.
    • It has high selenium (0.5 to 4.5 % ) content which can cause serious health problems in dairy animals.

     

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  • Who was Hermann Bacher?

    Hermann Bacher, popularly known as the ‘father of community-led watershed development in India’, passed away at the ripe old age of 97 years in Switzerland September 14, 2021.

    Hermann Bacher

    • Born in 1924, Bacher, came to India in 1948 at the young age of 24 years.
    • He was to spend the next 60 years of his life here, most of it in Maharashtra.
    • Struck by the poverty he saw in rural Maharashtra, he dedicated his life to the upliftment of the poor, the landless and rural women.
    • Bacher was given Germany’s highest civilian award, the Federal Cross of the Order of Merit in 1994, in recognition of his outstanding efforts.
    • In 2017, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertifiucation (UNCCD) awarded WOTR the prestigious ‘Land for Life Award 2017’.
    • He is widely regarded and respected as a true ‘man of God’ for whom selfless service of the poor was worship at its most sublime. He is fondly remembered as ‘Bacher Baba’.

    Notable works

    • The 1972 droughts in Maharashtra led him to re-calibrate his developmental approach.
    • This meant that in rain-dependent rural Maharashtra, a shift had to be made from ‘resource exploitation’ to sustainable resource use, or ‘resource mobilisation’, as he described it.
    • He helped thousands of landless labourers’ secure title to land under the Land Reforms Act, 1957, beginning in 1965.
    • He also organised lakhs of farmers to develop their farms and increase their agricultural productivity by helping them access irrigation, improved and hybrid seeds etc.

    Pioneering water harvest

    • Since rain fell in the watersheds and landscapes villagers lived in, the only way to harvest and conserve rainwater wherever it fell was to undertake watershed development measures.
    • The idea was that “running water must be made to walk; walking water made to stop and sink underground”.
    • This meant, planting trees and grasses, conserving forests, undertaking soil and water conservation works such as digging contour trenches, raising farm bunds, etc.
    • It also meant building water harvesting structures on the streams (check dams, earthen bunds, etc) in a systematic manner across the entire landscape of the village, beginning from the top.

    Establishing the IGWDP

    • Through his work, was born the idea which later became the large-scale Indo-German Watershed Development Program (IGWDP) that he conceived and launched in Maharashtra in 1989.
    • This was in collaboration with and the support of the Governments of India, Maharashtra and Germany, NABARD and the non-profit sector.
    • Its unique and ground-breaking feature was that it put the villagers in the driver’s seat — the community would plan the programme, implement it and maintain the watershed assets.
    • Funds, substantial amounts, would be given directly to them and they would have to manage and account

     

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