2 Environment

ENVIRONMENT
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❖ Context:
1. Van Mahotsav, a week-long festival, is being celebrated in different parts of
India. It is usually celebrated between 1 July to 7 July.
2. Programmes like screening of short films and documentaries, seminars and
exhibition, painting and poster competitions are organised to mark the occasion.
 Van Mahotsav:
1. Van Mahotsav began in 1950, with a tree plantation drive, in which
national leaders participated.
2. The festival of tree plantation was started by Dr. K.M. Munshi, the then
Union Minister for Agriculture & Food to create enthusiasm among masses
for forest conservation and planting trees.
3. Van Mahotsav is usually observed in the first week of July every year and is
celebrated on different days in different parts of India.
 It is classified as a moist tropical forest.
 It is a UNESCO world heritage site.
 Recognized under Ramsar wetland site
 Dominated by “ Sundri tree”
 Largest single block of halophytic mangrove forest in the
world.
 It has common features of the both estuarine and mangrove
ecosystem.
 It area lies both in India and Bangladesh (Largest in
Bangladesh).
 It acts as shelter belt to protect the people from storms,
cyclones, tidal surges, sea water seepage and intrusion.
 A regional initiative, being coordinated by United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
 It aims at promoting coastal ecosystem conservation in six
tsunami-hit countries including India.
 Mangrove for the Future (MFF) programme in India provides focus
on promoting conservation and management of coastal and marine
biodiversity,
 while mangrove ecosystems are at centre-stage, on
 three important aspects:
 1. Coastal restoration;
 2. coastal livelihoods; and
 3. Integrated coastal zone management
❖ Context:
1. A rare ‘white tiger’ with a pale skin color has been spotted for the first time in
the Nilgiris by a wildlife photographer, arousing interest among
conservationists and forest officials on whether it is a true genetic mutant.
2. Mukurthi National Park (MNP) located in western corner of Nilgiris Plateau &
Park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
3. Home to several endangered and vulnerable species including Indian

elephant, Bengal tiger, gaur & Indian leopard including critically endangered
Indian white-rumped vulture and long-billed vulture.
4. White Tiger is listed by the IUCN in the Endangered Category.
❖ Context:
1. The building has scored 103 points out of 110 under LEED certification
2. The building uses 100% renewable energy.
3. Sierra has also installed a 100% water recycling system.
4. It uses the recycled water for watering the fauna that is set up in
nearly 25% of the premises.
5. This watering system too is controlled, restricting the flow according to the
requirement.
6. The Green Building Council Inc. (GBCI) has honoured Sierra with the platinum
certificate.
7. Address: Annamalai Industrial Estate, Kalapatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
❖ Context:
1. Ahmedabad become India’s first World Heritage City
2. The 606-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad, which was founded by Sultan
Ahmed Shah. World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO announced this.
3. The decision was taken during the ongoing 41st session of the World
Heritage Committee in the Polish city of Krakow, which acknowledged the
preservation efforts made by the city in keeping its historical fabric intact.
4. The city’s historic characteristics include densely-packed traditional houses
(‘pols’) in gated traditional streets (‘puras’) with features such as bird feeders,
public wells and religious institutions.
5. The Walled City of Ahmedabad will now join the likes of Paris, Cairo, and
Edinburgh. Of 287 World Heritage Cities across the globe, only two were
hitherto on Indian subcontinent: Bhaktpur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka.
❖ Context:
1. IROAF is a unique organization in the Government space which was
established by Ministry of Railways.
2. Aim to explore new environment friendly fuels/ renewable energy and eco-
friendly technologies like substitution of diesel with CNG/LNG in train sets,
replacing acetylene/LPG by CNG/LNG for metal cutting in Railway Workshops,
proliferating and promoting use of Bio-Diesel in Railway Locomotives, roof top
solar generation systems in Railway Workshops, use of solar energy on roof
top of passenger and freight trains, setting up of waste to energy plants for
converting Bio-Waste into Bio gas/electrical energy, Hydrogen based fuel cell
technologies, Geo-Thermal Technologies and converting waste/bio mass to
fuel.
❖ Context:
1. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has formed a new

institution, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management
2. The centre is located in Chennai and established with the objective of
creating a new National Coastal Mission.
3. NCSCM‘s core strength is the coastal system research for the well-being of
coastal communities and promoting sustainable development.
4. NCSCM‘s researches will be useful for arriving at policy decisions and for
capacity building of coastal communities.
5. Along with other Ministries and State/UT governments, it will scientifically
map the cumulative vulnerability of coastal environment to climate change
and consequent threats to ecology, lives and livelihoods.
❖ Context:
1. Green Tribunal for ‘No Development Zone’ close to river
2. An area of 100 metres from the edge of the Ganga between Haridwar and
Unnao has been declared a ‘No Development Zone,’ with the National Green
Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday prohibiting dumping of waste within 500 metres of
the river.
3. An environment compensation of Rs.50,000 will be imposed on anyone
dumping waste in the river.
4. The NGT also directed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to
formulate guidelines for religious activities on the ghats of the Ganga and its
tributaries.
5. The order said: “Till the demarcation of floodplains and identification of
permissible and non-permissible activities by the State government.
6. NGT by Giving its verdict on a 1985 PIL petition of environment activist.
❖ Context:
1. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will be formally launching third phase
of Telangana ku Haritha Haaram programme
2. Telangana CM, has launched it on July 5 2015 with an aim to increase the tree
cover in the Telangana State.
3. It is a flagship programme of the Telangana Government envisages to increase
the present 24% tree cover in the State to 33% of the total geographical area
of the State
4. The thrust areas to achieve the above are two-fold; one, initiatives in notified
forest areas, and the other, initiatives in areas outside the notified forest
areas.
❖ Context:
1. Live displays, •ashing lights alert people to wild elephant movement in
Karnataka.
2. It is an early warning system for wild elephant movement in and around
habitations that uses crowdsourced information, digital displays and mobile
phone technology.
3. People in Karnataka’s Sakaleshpur taluk, who face frequent conflicts with

elephants, see the alerts on a public digital display.
4. They also get help from special lights that flash as an alert when a herd is
spotted in the area.
5. The system is run by the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), with

support from the Planters’ Association and the Forest Department.
1. The Nature Conservation Foundation is a non-governmental wildlife
conservation and research organisation based in Mysore, India.
2. They promote the use of science for wildlife conservation in India
3. At the Nature Conservation Foundation, our goal is to contribute to the

knowledge and conservation of India’s unique wildlife heritage with
innovative research and imaginative solutions.
4. NCF works largely as a 'federation' of Programmes.

5. The different Programmes are almost entirely autonomous and they
determine their own research and conservation priorities and directions.
❖ Context:
1. Breeding of the rare and threatened Egyptian vultures in a human habitat at
the Punjabi University campus in Patiala has come as a pleasant surprise for
birding enthusiasts
2. Egyptian vulture is successfully breeding within a human habitation in Punjab
and, more importantly, has become a resident species,”
3. Due to greatly quick populace decrease in India this species has been enrolled
as Endangered (EN) vulture species in the IUCN Red- IUCN Red-list of
Threatened Species in 2012.
4. It also controls the spread of diseases from decaying carrions.
5. The vulture is a useful scavenger as it feeds on carrion and keeps the
environment clean.
1. The Egyptian vulture is one among nine vulture species available in the
Indian sub-continent, is a large-range distributed species in Europe, Africa and
Asia, but its population has rapidly declined in India due to factors such as
disturbance, poisoning, electrocution, scarcity of food and habitat loss, but
largely due to the toxic effect of veterinary drug Diclofenac through livestock
carcasses (dead body of an animal.)
2. Steps taken to enhance Vultures populace:

1. Continuous mindfulness and exertion by BNHS for vulture preservation,
Drug Controller General (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and
Dept of Animal Husbandry, Ministry of Agriculture.
2. Govt of India has prohibited Diclofenac on veterinary use in the year 2006
and additionally Gazette Notification of Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, Govt of India restricted the offer of Diclofenac in multi-
measurements vials in 2015.
❖ Context:
1. Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, which has been caring for rescued lions and
tigers, has now lost a white tiger cub
2. Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park is located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India.

3. It was established on 29 September 1987[1] and covers an area of 5532 acres
(22 square kilometers).
4. It is the Second largest zoo park in Asia
5. Major exhibits are elephant, peafowl, deer, sambar, parakeet, leopard, wild
boar, white tiger, leopard, panther, giraffe
❖ Context:
1. Greenland Shark is the longest living vertebrate on Earth, which live for up to
400 years.
2. It is found in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to Norway,
including the deep oceans around the north of Britain.
3. Scientists have sequenced the full mitochondrial DNA information of Greenland

sharks in an attempt to find the secret of its longevity.
4. The sharks are believed to have unique genes that could help explain their long
lifespan and also for other vertebrates including humans.
❖ Context:
1. A terrapin is one of the several small species of turtle living in fresh or brackish
water.
2. The northern river terrapin (Batagurbaska) is a species of riverine turtle native
to Southeast Asia.
3. It is classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
4. The species is currently found in Bangladesh (in the Sundarbans), India (parts
of West Bengal & Odisha), Indonesia, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
5. The northern river terrapin is omnivorous, and it prefers freshwater habitats.
6. It moves to brackish river mouths or estuaries in the breeding season
(December–March) and returns after laying eggs.
7. A captive conservation breeding programme has been implemented in
Sunderbans Tiger Reserve to protect the species against natural risks and also
facilitate genetic management.
❖ Context:
1. In a first of its kind, Telangana will have ecofriendly bridges over a canal
cutting across the tiger corridor linking the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve
(TATR) in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra with the forests in Telangana's
Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.
2. Tadoba-Andhari NP is the Maharashtra's oldest and largest national park.
3. It is one of the India's 50 "Project Tiger" tiger reserves.
4. The intervention requires the laying of fertile soil to grow grass and plants
over the structure so that fragmentation of the reserve forest is camouflaged.
5. The concept emerged after visits by experts from the Wildlife Board of India
and the Wildlife Institute of India.
1. National Board for Wild Life is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under
the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
2. Theoretically, the board is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central
Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in
the country.
3. However, it is a very important body because it serves as apex body to review
all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks
and sanctuaries.
4. National Board for Wildlife is chaired by India’s Prime Minister and its vice
chairman is Minister of Environment.
5. Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and

development of wildlife and forests
❖ Context:
1. A critically endangered resident of the Sunderbans is set to get a new home,
beginning a slow journey to recovery from a disastrous
2. decline in the wild.
3. It is more threatened than the Bengal tiger, but far less known.
❖ Context:
1. A group of Oriental white ibis birds have nested at Beguniapada in Ganjam
district of Odisha. According to ornithologist, this indicates that these birds feel
secure at Beguniapada and that the environment was conducive for breeding.
2. Usually Oriental white ibis are seen in large number in the Chilika lake during
winter months.
3. Oriental white ibis breeds in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia from
northern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka east up to Japan.
4. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs.
5. It occurs in marshy wetlands inland and on the coast, where it feeds on various
fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as on insects.
6. These birds had started building nests on a few coconut trees.
7. This year these birds have built nests on trees with a large canopy and on coconut
trees at Kumuti Sahi, Garda Sahi and Paika Sahi areas.
❖ Context:
1. Nomination
❖ Context:
1. The sperm whale (Physetermacrocephalus), or cachalot, is the largest of the
toothed whales and the largest toothed predator.
2. The spermaceti oil extracted from it is used in oil lamps, lubricants, and
candles.
3. Ambergris is a solid waxy waste product from its digestive system, used as a
fixative in perfumes and for other purposes.
4. The species is now protected by a whaling moratorium.

5. It is currently listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
❖ Context:
1. In July 2017 paper published in weekly journal of natural science (Nature)
contended that Antarctica's ice-free areas to increase by up to a quarter by
2100.
 Highlights of study
1. If greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reduced, ice-free areas are expected to surge
by as much as 17,000 square kilometres (a 25% increase Ice-free areas on
Antarctica are isolated from one another they have acted like islands in the
ocean, with the life existing in each one forming distinct groups.
2. As those areas expand in the future, they will become closer to one another,
with many coalescing, allowing the distinct groups to mix and potentially
homogenise.
3. About 85% of the new ice-free areas will emerge in the Antarctic Peninsula,
which extends out into the Southern Ocean towards Chile.
4. Moreover, invasive species might invade the new island thereby destabilising the
ecology of region
❖ Context:
1. The Assam government is going to raise a new Special Protection Force (SPF) for
better protection of one-horned rhinos.
 Greater One –horned Rhinos (Indian Rhino)

1. Rhinos are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list of Threatened Species.
2. They are mainly spread across parts of India and Nepal, with India being home
to 2,200 rhinos, or over 85 per cent of the population.
3. Rhinos in India today are found in parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and
Assam.
4. According to World Wildlife fund data of 2012, Assam has 91 percent of total
Rhino population of India which is mainly concentrated in Kaziranga National
Park, and a few in Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary. The Indian Rhino is poached for
its horn.
5. The Indian rhinoceros is also known to help in seed dispersion, moving large tree
seeds from forested areas to grasslands through excreta.
❖ Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 Programme :
1. India launched Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 programme to protect and
increase the population of the one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis).
2. IVR 2020 is a partnership among the Government of Assam, the International
Rhino Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Bodoland Territorial
Council, and the U.S. Fish & World Wildlife foundation.
3. Indian Rhino Vision aims to translocate Rhinos from Kaziranga National Park
and Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary to five other protected areas namely Manas,
Laokhowa, Buracharpori-Kochmora, Dibrusaikhowa and Orang.
4. Purpose: To attain a population of 3,000 wild one-horned rhinos in seven of
Assam’s protected areas by the year 2020.
1. The sanctuary, which hosts 2/3 of world's great one-horned rhinoceroses, is World
Heritage Site.
2. Kaziranga is home to highest density of tigers among protected areas the world,
and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2007.
3. Park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and
swamp deer.
4. Kaziranga is recognized as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for
conservation of avifaunal species.
5. Four main types of vegetation exist in this park.
6. These are alluvial inundated grasslands, alluvial savanna woodlands, tropical moist
mixed deciduous forests, and tropical semi-evergreen forests
❖ Context:
1. In July through various papers National academy of Science has contended that
the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is already underway.
2. Scientists analysed both common and rare species and found billions of regional
or local populations have been lost.
3. Nearly half of the 177 mammal species surveyed lost more than 80% of their
distribution between 1900 and 2015
 Evidence Data:-
1. On an average, two vertebrate species disappear every year.
2. More than 30% of animals with a backbone fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and
mammals are declining in both range and population.
3. Forty per cent of them including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats
are surviving on 20% or less of the land they once roamed.
4. Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are
now endangered including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, Tropical regions have
seen the highest number of declining species.

2 Environment

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ENVIRONMENT

3. Home to several endangered and vulnerable species including Indian

4. White Tiger is listed by the IUCN in the Endangered Category.

7. Address: Annamalai Industrial Estate, Kalapatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

1. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has formed a new

3. People in Karnataka’s Sakaleshpur taluk, who face frequent conflicts with

5. The system is run by the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), with

3. At the Nature Conservation Foundation, our goal is to contribute to the

4. NCF works largely as a 'federation' of Programmes.

2. Steps taken to enhance Vultures populace:

2. Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park is located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India.

4. It is the Second largest zoo park in Asia

3. Scientists have sequenced the full mitochondrial DNA information of Greenland

5. Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and

4. The species is now protected by a whaling moratorium.

 Greater One –horned Rhinos (Indian Rhino)

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