Environment

CARTAGENA BIO-SAFETY PROTOCOL (CPB)

  • The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) was negotiated under the aegis of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and adopted on 29th January 2000.
  • India is a party to the Protocol. The Protocol has come into force from 11th September As of date 163 countries are Parties to the Protocol.
  • The main objective of the Protocol is to ensure safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

MEETING OF PARTIES TO CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY (COP-MOP6)

  • India hosted CoP-MoP6 in Hyderabad in October,
  • COP-MOP6 took 15 important decisions and provided guidance for activities during the inter-sessional period (2012-14) i.e. till CoP-MoP7.
  • As the Protocol completed its 10 years after coming into force, several activities were also undertaken to highlight the achievements under the Biosafety Protocol.
  • At the national level, India has initiated the process of ratifying the Nagoya Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress.

 FOREST CONSERVATION

  • The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 came into effect from October 25, 1980 which provides for prior approval of the Central Government for diversion of forest lands for non-forestry purposes.
  • The objective of the Act is to regulate indiscriminate diversion of forest lands for non-forestry uses and to maintain a balance between developmental needs of the country and the conservation of natural heritage.

INTENSIFICATION OF FOREST MANAGEMENT SCHEME

  • The centrally sponsored ‘Intensification of Forest Management Scheme’ (IFMS) aims at strengthening forest protection machinery of the state/UT governments and providing support for area-specific forest management interventions.
  • The financial assistance is provided on cost sharing basis — all the north-eastern States including Sikkim and special category states, namely, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand share 10% of the cost, while the rest of the States/UTS share 25% of the cost of the annual plans of operations.
  • The major components of the scheme include, forest fire control and management, strengthening of infrastructure, survey, demarcation and working plan preparation, protection and conservation of sacred groves, conservation and restoration of unique vegetation and ecosystems, control and eradication of forest invasive species etc.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

  • The Wildlife Wing in the Ministry has two divisions, namely, Project Elephant Division and Wildlife Division.
  • In addition, there are three autonomous bodies,
  1. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for wildlife research and training,
  2. Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for conservation and zoo management,
  3. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
  • The NTCA has been constituted by converting the Project Tiger Directorate into an autonomous body for tiger conservation.
  • The National Zoological Park, New Delhi is also a part of the Wildlife Wing of the Ministry.
  • To combat wildlife related crimes, a Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Wildlife Preservation has been constituted with 5 regional offices viz, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Jabalpur and 3 sub-regional offices at Amritsar, Guwahati and Ramanathapuram.
  • Wildlife Division of the Ministry provides technical and financial support to the State/UT governments for wildlife conservation under the centrally sponsored schemes – Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Strengthening of Wildlife Division and Consultancies for Special Tasks and through grants-in-aid to the Central Zoo Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
  • Wildlife Division is the nodal Division for international conventions – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), International Whaling Commission (IWC), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization-World Heritage Convention (UNESCO-WHC) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
  • The Government of India signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in July 1976 which was ratified in October 1976.
  • India is also a member of World Heritage Convention responsible for inscribing suitable sites to the list of World Heritage which include both cultural and natural sites.
  • Wild Life wing of the Ministry is associated with the conservation of the Natural World Heritage sites. Currently, 7 properties from India are inscribed to the list of World Heritage Sites. These properties are:
  1. Nanda Devi National Park,
  2. Kaziranga National Park,
  3. Manas National Park,
  4. Keoladeo National Park,
  5. Sunderbans National Park and serial cluster of 39 sites from Western Ghats spread over 4 States,
  6. Part of the Valley of Flowers National Park has also been included in the list of World Heritage Sites as an extension to Nanda Devi National Park.
  7. Recently, Great Himalaya National Park has been inscribed in the World Heritage Sites.
UPSC Prelims 2025 Notes