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Part 2

1.       Cheetah Reintroduction Plan in India

Why in News?

Government of India has reintroduced cheetahs, under the 'Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’. Eight cheetahs —five females and three males have been brought from Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. 

Recently Sasha, one of the eight Nambian cheetahs translocated to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh in September last year, died on Monday due to kidney infection.

About Cheetah

·         The cheetah is the world's fastest land animal. 

·         Cheetahs have a pale yellow coat with black dots on the upper parts, and are white on the underbelly. Their faces are distinguished by prominent, black lines that curve from the inner corner of each eye to the outer corners of the mouth.

·         These fierce felines hunt during the day to avoid competition from other powerful predators such as lions, hyenas and leopards.

·         Social animals, cheetahs are usually found in groups, consisting of either a mother and her young, siblings or a coalition of males who live and hunt together. 

Leopard vs. Cheetah 1.       Cheetahs have spots on their fur while leopards have rosettes  2.       Cheetahs also have a tear line on their face that makes them easily distinguishable from leopards and other big cats. These tear marks act as reflection absorbers while they are hunting during sunny days. 3.       Cheetah is the fastest mammal on the Earth and its body is more streamlined. Small head, long legs, slender body, exposed shoulder blades, pumped chest, and thin stomach. On the other side, leopards has a more robust build, they are stronger than cheetahs. 4.       Leopards appear to have larger heads with longer snouts and wider jaws, while cheetahs have flatter snouts and narrower jaws. 5.       Cheetahs are diurnal and tend to hunt either in the early morning or evening. They hunt using vision, rather than scent, and tend to stalk prey before chasing them in a quick burst. 6.       Leopards are solitary cats and are largely nocturnal. They are very agile and are powerful swimmers.

 

Why Cheetah become extinct in India?

Cave paintings dating back to the Neolithic age depict the cheetah in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, suggesting that cheetahs were known to be in India from ancient times.

Except for the Northeastern, coastal, and mountaineous areas, cheetahs were known to prowl across the country, particularly in the Central India.

Cheetah was domesticated by kings and nobles and were used for coursing and hunting. Unlike the leopard, cheetahs were never known to attack humans and were therefore easy to tame and train.

Cheetahs were liked by the Mughals and the nobles. As a result, a network to catch and supply cheetahs to the royals developed.

It was the British rule that saw their hunting as a sport which led to their eventual extinction, along with some other factors such as loss of habitat because of growing human population and pressure of forests with expanding human settlements.

The cheetah is the only large carnivore to have gone extinct in India, primarily due to hunting and habitat loss. Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea, Madhya Pradesh, is widely believed to have killed the last three recorded cheetahs in India in 1947. In 1952, the Indian government officially declared the Cheetah extinct in the country.

Why shifted to Kuno National Park?

KNP is 748 sq. km. in area, devoid of human settlements, forms part of Sheopur-Shivpuri deciduous open forest landscape and is estimated to have a capacity to sustain 21 cheetahs.

Kuno is probably the only wildlife site in the country where there has been a complete relocation of villages from inside the park. Kuno also offers the prospect of housing four big cats of India - tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah – and allowing them to coexist as in the past.

Why Cheetah brought from Africa not Iran?

The locally extinct cheetah-subspecies of India is found in Iran and is categorized as critically endangered. An important consideration during such conservation efforts is that the sourcing of animals should not be detrimental for the survival of the source population. Since it is not possible to source the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah from Iran without affecting this sub-species, India will source cheetahs from Southern Africa, which can provide India with substantial numbers of suitable cheetah for several years.

Cheetahs from Southern Africa have the maximum observed genetic diversity among extant cheetah lineages, an important attribute for a founding population stock. Moreover, the Southern African cheetahs are found to be ancestral to all the other cheetah lineages including those found in Iran. Hence, this should therefore be ideal (for reasons stated above) for India’s reintroduction programme.

Proposed benefits of Reintroduction

·         Cheetahs will help in the restoration of open forest and grassland ecosystems in India.

·         This will help conserve biodiversity and enhance the ecosystem services like water security, carbon sequestration and soil moisture conservation, benefiting the society at large.

·         It will bring in resources to restore neglected habitats that in turn will conserve their biodiversity, harness their ecosystem services and their ability to sequester carbon to their maximum potential

·         It will help boost livelihood of locals and help improve living conditions through ecotourism.

Concerns for the reintroduction of cheetahs

·         According to the Experts, cheetahs are likely to stray outside of territory marked for them are likely to be killed by people, dogs, or suffer starvation.

·         Experts have also higlighted that cheetahs will be in a area which is between the areas populated by leopards and tigers. If these bigger cats attack cheetah or compete with it for food, cheetah would struggle for survival as it cannot survive against stronger leopards or tigers.

·         Further, a maximum of 21 cheetahs are expected in about 15 years, which is a very long time. The numbers are too few for them to have any significant impact.

2.       International Year of Millets

The News:

·         United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYM).

·         It was sponsored by India and supported by more than 70 countries

 

Objectives of the declaration:

·         Awareness of the contribution of millet to Food Security and nutrition

·         Inspire stakeholders to improve sustainable production and quality of millets

·         Focus on enhanced investment in research and development and extension services to achieve the other two aims

 

About Millets

·         Millet is a common term for categorising small-seeded grasses that are often called Nutri-cereals. Some of them are sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi), little millet (kutki), foxtail millet (kakun), proso millet (cheena), barnyard millet (sawa), and kodo millet (kodon).

·         Millets’ were among the first crops to be domesticated in India with several evidence of its consumption during the Indus valley civilization.

·         In India, millets are primarily a kharif crop, requiring less water and agricultural inputs than other similar staples.

·         India is the largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of millets in the world.

·         Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana are the major millets producing states.

·         Millets are grown in more than 130 countries at present and are considered as traditional food for more than half a billion people across Asia and Africa.

 

India’s millet trade:

·         India exported millets products worth of USD 34.32 million during 2021-22. In 2020- 21, India exported millets worth USD 26.97 million against USD 28.5 million in 2019-20.

·         India’s major millet exporting countries are UAE, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, the UK and the US.

The major millet-importing countries in the world are Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Italy, the US, the UK, Brazil, and the Netherlands.

Production of Millets in India

·         Before the Green Revolution, millets made up around 40% of all cultivated grains, decreased to 20%

·         Consumption of millets declined.

·         Area under production has been replaced with commercial crops, oilseeds, pulses and maize.

·         It changes dietary pattern with preferential consumption towards fine-calorie-rich cereals.

·         India produces more than 170 lakh tonnes of millet, which is 80 per cent of Asia’s and 20 per cent of global production.

 

Significance of Millets

·         Nutrition:

®     Millets are nutritionally superior to wheat and rice owing to their higher protein levels and a more balanced amino acid profile.

®     Millet are rich sources of nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, dietary fibre, and good-quality fat; minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc and B complex vitamins.

·         Environmental friendly:

®     Millets require low water & input requirement

®     They are resilient to pests and diseases and more resilient to climate shocks as compared to other grains.

®     Millet production is not dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers.

·         Livelihood development:

®     Millets increase farmers’ income

®     It can provide decent jobs for women and youth.

®     The revenue created can boost economic growth and ensure food & nutritional security all over the world.

®     Aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to women, health, environment sustainability, etc.

 

Government Initiatives for the success of International Year of Millets

·         The Government of India (GoI) has prioritized Millets by rebranding them as “Nutri Cereals”

·         Year 2018 had been declared as the National Year of Millets, aiming at larger promotion and demand generation.

·         “Sub Mission on Millets” launched under National Food Security Mission since 2018.

·         Millets included under POSHAN MISSION Abhiyan by Ministry of Women & Child Development.

·         The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has taken a proactive multi-stakeholder engagement approach (engaging all the central government ministries, states/UTs, farmers, start-ups, exporters, retail businesses, hotels, Indian Embassies etc.) to achieve the aim of IYM 2023 and taking Indian millets globally.

·         Ministries, states and Indian embassies have been allocated focussed months in 2023 to carry out various activities for promotion of IYM and increase awareness about benefits of millets for the Consumer, Cultivator and Climate.

·         The states conducted millet centric activities including mahotsavs/ melas and food festivals, training of farmers, awareness campaigns, workshops/ seminars, placement of hoardings and distribution of promotional material, etc.

·         Millets were also an integral part of the G-20 meetings and delegates will be given a true millet experience through tasting, meeting farmers and interactive sessions with start-ups and FPOs.

 

Proposed benefits of the Initiative

·         It will provide an opportunity to increase global production, efficient processing and better use of crop rotation and promote millets as a major component of the food basket

 

3.       Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is a comprehensive legislation in India that aims to provide protection to wild animals and plants, and to prevent their exploitation and trade. The following are some of the key provisions of the Act:

·         Classification of wildlife: The Act classifies wildlife into several categories, including endangered species, threatened species, and schedules animals, and provides different levels of protection for each category.

·         Prohibition on hunting: The Act prohibits hunting of all wild animals, including birds and reptiles, except under specific circumstances, such as when an animal is declared a vermin by the state government.

·         Protection of habitats: The Act recognizes the importance of habitats for wildlife and provides for the declaration of protected areas, national parks, and sanctuaries for their conservation.

·         Regulating trade: The Act regulates the trade in wildlife and their products, and prohibits the sale, purchase, and transportation of animals and their parts, except under certain conditions, such as when the transaction is authorized by the government.

·         Penalties: The Act provides for penalties for violations, including imprisonment and fines, and makes it an offense to damage, destroy or alter the habitat of wild animals.

·         Establishment of Wildlife Advisory Board: The Act provides for the establishment of a Wildlife Advisory Board, which advises the government on matters related to the protection of wildlife and their habitats.

·         Powers to government officials: The Act empowers government officials to enter and search any premises, seize any wildlife or their products, and arrest any person suspected of violating the Act.

Overall, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 is a vital piece of legislation that plays a crucial role in protecting India's rich biodiversity and natural heritage.

Latest amendment

The amendment aims to increase protection for species that are protected by law. It plans to do this by implementing the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the Act.

One of the most important amendments has been made to Section 43 by permitting elephants, Schedule I animals, to be used for ‘religious or any other purpose’. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India had pointed out that the ‘any other purpose’ appears to have a limitless meaning, thereby potentially increasing the demand for illegal capture of these animals in the wild.

In 2003, Section 3 of the WLPA prohibited trade in all captive wildlife and any (non-commercial) transfer across state boundaries without permission from the concerned chief wildlife warden.

Schedules in the Act

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 classifies wildlife into different schedules based on their level of protection needed. Each schedule provides different levels of protection for the animals listed in it.

The following are the schedules and their provisions under the Act:

·         Schedule I: This schedule provides the highest level of protection to the animals listed in it. Offenses related to Schedule I animals are punishable by the highest penalties under the Act, including imprisonment for a term up to 7 years and a fine up to INR 25,000. Some of the animals listed in Schedule I include tigers, elephants, lions, and leopards.

·         Schedule II: This schedule includes animals that are not necessarily endangered but require protection from over-exploitation. Offenses related to Schedule II animals are punishable by imprisonment for a term up to 3 years and a fine up to INR 10,000. Some of the animals listed in Schedule II include Indian rhinoceros, crocodiles, and various species of primates.

·         Schedule III: This schedule includes animals that are not necessarily endangered but require protection from over-hunting or exploitation. Offenses related to Schedule III animals are punishable by imprisonment for a term up to 3 years and a fine up to INR 25,000. Some of the animals listed in Schedule III include various species of deer, wild boar, and antelopes.

·         Schedule IV: This schedule includes animals that are common and not under threat of extinction, but their hunting and trade are regulated. Some of the animals listed in Schedule IV include hedgehogs, mongoose, and various species of bats.

·         Schedule V: This schedule includes animals that are commonly found in India and are not under any threat. The hunting or trade of these animals is permitted under specific conditions. Some of the animals listed in Schedule V include common crow, rats, and mice.

Overall, the schedules under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 aim to provide adequate protection to wildlife based on their level of conservation importance and regulate hunting and trade in various species.

4.       National Clean Air Programme

Why in News?

The Centre has set a new target of a 40% reduction in particulate matter concentration in cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) by 2026, updating the earlier goal of 20 to 30% reduction by 2024.

Why the changes done?

According to the Union Environment Ministry, 95 of the 131 non-attainment cities covered under the NCAP have witnessed an “overall improvement” in PM10 levels in 2021 as compared to 2017 levels.  Twenty cities, including Chennai, Madurai and Nashik, have met the national standards for annual average PM10 concentration (60 microgram per cubic metre).

Cities that showed overall improvement in PM 10 concentration since 2017 include Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Patna, Nagpur, Pune, Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Firozabad, Moradabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Raipur among others.

In Delhi, the PM10 concentration has reduced from 241 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017 to 196 micrograms per cubic metre in 2021.

About National Clean Air Programme

In recent years, medium and small towns and cities have also witnessed spurt in pollution thus getting fast reflected in the non-attainment cities of India. Air pollution has increasingly been becoming a serious concern, predominantly for health of the people.

Thus government has launched NCAP as national level strategies for reduction in air pollution levels at both regional and urban scales.

 

Objectives

·         To augment and evolve effective and proficient ambient air quality monitoring network across the country for ensuring comprehensive and reliable database

·         To have efficient data dissemination and public outreach mechanism for timely measures for prevention and mitigation of air pollution and for inclusive public participation in both planning and implementation of the programmes and policies of government on air pollution

·         To have feasible management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.

The city specific action plans have been prepared which, inter-alia, include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc. Implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.

Air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time. Some Smart Cities have established Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) which are also connected to Air Quality Monitors (AQMs) for effective monitoring.

About PM 2.5

The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width.

Where does PM_2.5 come from?

There are outdoor and indoor sources of fine particles.

Outside, fine particles primarily come from car, truck, bus and off-road vehicle (e.g., construction equipment, snowmobile, locomotive) exhausts, other operations that involve the burning of fuels such as wood, heating oil or coal and natural sources such as forest and grass fires.

Fine particles also form from the reaction of gases or droplets in the atmosphere from sources such as power plants.

PM_2.5 is also produced by common indoor activities. Some indoor sources of fine particles are tobacco smoke, cooking (e.g., frying, sautéing, and broiling), burning candles or oil lamps, and operating fireplaces and fuel-burning space heaters (e.g., kerosene heaters).

5.       High Seas Treaty

The high seas comprise 64 per cent of the ocean surface, and about 43 per cent of the Earth. These areas are home to about 2.2 million marine species and up to a trillion different kinds of microorganisms.

Treaties associated with it

A number of regional, multilateral and global legal frameworks exist to govern the activities in the oceans, the most important of which is the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS), a 1982 agreement that has near-universal acceptance.

Among other things, UNCLOS defined the rights and duties of countries in the oceans, the extent of ocean areas over which countries could claim sovereignty, and the legal status of marine resources. It also specified a set of general rules for a range of activities in the oceans including navigation, scientific research, and deep-sea mining

The treaty established exclusive economic zones (EEZ), ocean areas up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coastline, where a country would have exclusive rights over all economic resources such as fish, oil, minerals, and gas. The high seas are the areas beyond the EEZ of any country.

The UNCLOS came into being much before climate change and biodiversity became major global concerns. Though it asks countries to protect the ocean ecology and conserve its resources, it does not provide the specific mechanisms or processes to do so. Climate change is already influencing, and is being influenced by, ocean systems, and is exacerbating the pressures on marine biodiversity from unregulated human activities. It is these specific challenges — a combination of climate change, biodiversity, and pollution — that the High Seas Treaty seeks to address.

The High Seas Treaty will work as an implementation agreement under the UNCLOS, much like the Paris Agreement works under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Key provisions of Treaty

The High Seas Treaty has four main objectives:

·         Demarcation of marine protected areas (MPAs), rather like there are protected forests or wildlife areas;

·         Sustainable use of marine genetic resources and equitable sharing of benefits arising from them;

·         Initiation of the practice of environmental impact assessments for all major activities in the oceans; and

·         Capacity building and technology transfer.

 

MARINE-PROTECTED AREAS: MPAs are where ocean systems, including biodiversity, are under stress, either due to human activities or climate change. These can be called the national parks or wildlife reserves of the oceans. Activities in these areas will be highly regulated, and conservation efforts similar to what happens in forest or wildlife zones, will be undertaken. Only about 1.44 per cent of high seas are currently protected, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

 

MARINE GENETIC RESOURCES: Oceans host very diverse life forms, many of which can be useful for human beings in areas like drug development. Genetic information from these organisms is already being extracted, and their benefits are being investigated. The treaty seeks to ensure that any benefits arising out of such efforts, including monetary gains, are free from strong intellectual property rights controls, and are equitably shared amongst all. The knowledge generated from such expeditions are also supposed to remain openly accessible to all.

 

ENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENTS: The high seas are international waters that are open for use by all countries. Under the provisions of the new treaty, commercial or other activities that can have significant impact on the marine ecosystem, or can cause large-scale pollution in the oceans, would require an environmental impact assessment to be done, and the results of this exercise have to be shared with the international community.

 

CAPACITY BUILDING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: The treaty lays a lot of emphasis on this, mainly because a large number of countries, especially small island states and landlocked nations, do not have the resources or the expertise to meaningfully participate in the conservation efforts, or to take benefits from the useful exploitation of marine resources. At the same time, the obligations put on them by the Treaty, to carry out environmental impact assessments for example, can be an additional burden.