scholarly journals Insights in Biodiversity Management and Conservation in India: Structure and Role of Multi-tier Legal System

Author(s):  
Gaurav Singh ◽  
◽  
Garima Dukariya ◽  

India, a mega varied nation with merely 2.5% of the earth’s total land region, shelters approx. seven to eight % of entire documented species, comprises of 45,000 floral species and 97,000 species of animals. Although, India can exhibit a notable variety of life diversity but there is barely any possibility for sense of security. The biodiversity experiences a variety of threats like overexploitation of natural resources, climate change, land use changes in natural habitats and spread of invasive species. Number of actions comprising facilitating strategy and official framework, have been put in place to mainstream environment, together with biodiversity. To attain the goals of Convention on Biodiversity, Indian government proclaimed the ‘Biological Diversity Act’ in 2002. The NBA founded under this act operates controlling, advisory and facilitative roles on matters of conservation, balanced usage of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits of use. The NBA operates through SBBs at the state level and BMCs at the regional level to execute biodiversity policies via development of People's Biodiversity Registers. All these efforts will help in moving forward in the direction of attaining objectives for biodiversity protection and human development. This review summarized the structure of multi-tier system of National Biodiversity Authority with focus on Biodiversity Management Committee and their roles in conservation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-237
Author(s):  
Mark Vellend ◽  

Values have a profound influence on the behaviour of all people, scientists included. Biodiversity is studied by ecologists, like myself, most of whom align with the “mission-driven” field of conservation biology. The mission involves the protection of biodiversity, and a set of contextual values including the beliefs that biological diversity and ecological complexity are good and have intrinsic value. This raises concerns that the scientific process might be influenced by biases toward outcomes that are aligned with these values. Retrospectively, I have identified such biases in my own work, resulting from an implicit assumption that organisms that are not dependent on natural habitats (e.g., forests) effectively do not count in biodiversity surveys. Finding that anthropogenic forest disturbance reduces the diversity of plant species dependent on shady forests can thus be falsely equated with more general biodiversity loss. Disturbance might actually increase overall plant diversity (i.e., including all of the species found growing in a particular place). In this paper I ask whether ecologists share values that are unrepresentative of broader society, I discuss examples of potential value-driven biases in biodiversity science, and I present some hypotheses from behavioral economics on possible psychological underpinnings of shared values and preferences among ecologists.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 418-427
Author(s):  
Mansi Mansi ◽  
Rakesh Pandey ◽  
Carolyn Stringer

The purpose of this study is to explore the biodiversity reporting practices inside Indian companies. Biodiversity reporting studies across Indian companies are important because India has a wealth of biodiversity assets, that is, wildlife, flora, fauna, natural habitats, rare and endangered species and biological resources, and accounts for 7.8% of the global recorded species (Biological Diversity Act, the Biodiversity Rules, Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board, 2009). There are approximately 45,500 species of plants, 91,200 species of animals and 5,550 microbial species documented in India (National Biodiversity Authority, 2014). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed 132 species of animals and plants in the Critically Endangered Category (Sudhi, 2012). To date, the literature omits to explore the biodiversity reporting practices inside Indian companies. Another important reason to conduct is this study is that India has alarming population levels; thus there is a huge demand for land, energy, and resources, which leads to massive biodiversity loss, deforestation, and habitat destruction. It is very likely that with the limited land mass and increasing population in India, several ecosystems, wildlife, flora and fauna will be/have been exploited, disturbed, and endangered. Given the high potential impact on biodiversity by industries, we are concerned that there is a dearth of biodiversity reporting studies within the Indian subcontinent. We concentrate on the largest companies (based on market capitalisation) because similar to Van Liempd and Busch (2013), we also expect that the largest companies have the greatest impact on biodiversity; therefore, they are expected to show more accountability to their stakeholders. Therefore it is worth exploring how Indian companies are engaging in biodiversity reporting practices (e.g. biodiversity conservation, biodiversity protection, habitat and ecosystem conservation); and whether these organisations are disclosing their impact(s) (both in quantity and quality) on biodiversity (such as wildlife, flora and fauna). Moreover, India has also been classified as one of 17 mega-diversity countries by The World Conservation Monitoring Centre which account for more than 70% of the planet’s species (Williams, 2001). All these reasons make this study timely and important.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti Pant

After a marathon debate on Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill finally India witnessed the biggest tax reform after her independence. At the midnight of 30th June, 2017 GST was launched and legally enforced by the Indian Government. It is the biggest tax reform in independent India in last 70 years and will help to modernise Asia’s third largest economy. GST is passed to imply the principle of “One Nation One Tax”. GST has oriented the Indian federal system from fiscal federalism to cooperative federalism. It is replacing the multiple layers of complex taxation currently existing in India and expected to result in simplification of indirect tax structure (at both Centre and State level). Present article includes several aspects of GST. A sincere effort has been made to highlight the implications of GST for government, industries and consumers along with its probable effects on the economy. Besides, practical difficulties related to GST have also been discussed in brief.


<em>Abstract.</em>—The Patoka River drainage is a lowland-gradient watershed of the Wabash River lowlands in southwestern Indiana. During the late 18th century, the river was part of an extensive riparian floodplain wetland that connected the White River with the lower Wabash River. Through anthropogenic changes as a result of ditching, channelization, levee creation, coal extraction, and oil and gas exploration, the Patoka River drainage has been highly altered. These changes have resulted in a loss of sitespecific biological diversity and integrity, causing drainage-wide biological diversity decline. Extirpations in the watershed have resulted in the local loss of 12.7% of the fish fauna during the last century. The local extirpations of six species included central mudminnow <em>Umbra limi</em>, black redhorse <em>Moxostoma duquesnei</em>, brindled madtom <em>Noturus miurus</em>, bluebreast darter <em>Etheostoma camurum</em>, slenderhead darter <em>Percina phoxocephala</em>, and saddleback darter <em>P. vigil</em>. Black redhorse, bluebreast darter, slenderhead darter, and saddleback darter were only known from pre-1900, while brindled madtom and central mudminnow were known until the early 1940s. These species may have been rare to begin with in the Patoka River drainage, but since they are widespread elsewhere, it seems more probable that they disappeared as a result of the land-use changes. Sensitive species of darters and minnows have declined in abundance, but recent sampling has shown that they remain in the watershed at low abundance. Based on a probability sample, less than 12% of the channels represented reference least-disturbed conditions, while 61% exhibited degraded conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruka Ohashi ◽  
Tomoko Hasegawa ◽  
Akiko Hirata ◽  
Shinichiro Fujimori ◽  
Kiyoshi Takahashi ◽  
...  

AbstractLimiting the magnitude of climate change via stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation is necessary to prevent further biodiversity loss. However, some strategies to mitigate GHG emission involve greater land-based mitigation efforts, which may cause biodiversity loss from land-use changes. Here we estimate how climate and land-based mitigation efforts interact with global biodiversity by using an integrated assessment model framework to project potential habitat for five major taxonomic groups. We find that stringent GHG mitigation can generally bring a net benefit to global biodiversity even if land-based mitigation is adopted. This trend is strengthened in the latter half of this century. In contrast, some regions projected to experience much growth in land-based mitigation efforts (i.e., Europe and Oceania) are expected to suffer biodiversity loss. Our results support the enactment of stringent GHG mitigation policies in terms of biodiversity. To conserve local biodiversity, however, these policies must be carefully designed in conjunction with land-use regulations and societal transformation in order to minimize the conversion of natural habitats.


10.12737/3833 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ульданова ◽  
Railya Uldanova

The coastal forests, presented by valuable deciduous and coniferous forests, grow in the northeastern and eastern parts of the Volga region of the Republic of Tatarstan, skirting the high right bank of the Volga River. They contribute to the maintenance of biological diversity in nature. The study of the formation of coastal forest phytocenoses, their species diversity and the modern state is now urgent work, and development activities for the conservation of natural habitats of plants, improve the sustainability of forest ecosystems are perspective direction. According to research of the forests of the right bank of the river Volga, we present the structure of coastal forest ecosystems. The association of forest ecosystems to the various elements of the relief was installed. The types of soil and litter were presented. The estimation of α-diversity of vascular herbaceous plants and ß-diversity of the studied forest ecosystems were reported. The largest number of species of vascular plants in coastal forests are: oak plant communities; a second group includes birch plants, pine and willow; the third group - the lime and larch; the fourth group - maple plant communitie. The ß-diversity index (Whittaker’s index) of plants in the studied forests varies between 2.2-6.8. The Jaccard coefficient of floristic similarity between forest ecosystems varies from 0.01 to 0.30, which confirms the diversity of generated by coastal forest ecosystems. The greatest diversity of plants was found in forests of ash and mixed grass, mixed grass willow, oak and lime-grove, maple, ash and mixed grass larches, birch wood. The forestry activities in coastal areas should be aimed at creating productive, sustainable forest ecosystems with a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E N Seliverstova ◽  
V V Khrapach ◽  
V V Volkova ◽  
N V Shegrinets

Preserving biodiversity is a global problem that was reflected in the Convention on Biological Diversity which appeared in 1992. The adoption of the Convention was an answer to the intensified problem of a significant reduction in the diversity of genetic resources. Botanical gardens are the main centres for preserving the biodiversity of plants that solve the problem of preserving the gene pool. One of the main tasks of botanical gardens is to monitor plant populations in their natural habitats in situ. This paper describes the monitoring of the current state of peonies and sedges in the Semistozhki area of the Andropov district in the Stavropol region. The research determines the growing locations and the belongingness of species to plant associations in the vegetation variety of the Stavropol region. It also determines the species that may be treated as rare due to their limited distribution area. The territory is marked by the presence of Paeonia tenuifolia L., which is a tertiary relict, and Paeonia biebersteiniana Rupr., which is subendimic for Stavropol region. Rear species with low numbers that are not threatened by grave danger of extinction are also present. Carex hordeistichos Vill. and c. otrubae Podp. species in the area are small in number. Their populations in the area are inadequate with young, vegetative and strong specimens lacking. The limiting factors are represented by human agricultural activities. Several specimens of a narrow-leaved peony of pink colour and a big number of petals were planted on an experimental stretch of the botanical garden to continue the analysis ex-situ.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. М. Loza ◽  
V. I. Chiorna

The challenge of degradation of natural ecosystems because of human activity is considered by the world community to be the most serious problems facing mankind. As a result of mineral extraction, man-made landscapes and environmentally ruined areas replace natural habitats and agroecosystems; a whole spectrum of man-made processes are typical for such landscapes, which leads to a decrease in species richness and biological diversity within such areas. Degraded territories formed in the process of coal mining are often partially restored through remediation measures. During the implementation of the technical stage of remediation, substrates with different potential fertility having different environmental properties and quality are used. However, in quality assessment of remediated soils insufficient attention is paid to restoration of the environmental properties of the soils, namely their suitability for the existence of soil biota, which ensures the soil’s sustainability and vitality. The main indicators determining the productivity of remediated lands and the degree of their suitability for the existence of soil biota are values of actual acidity and degree of salinity. An assessment of the quality of reclaimed lands of  the Ordzhonikidzevsky ore mining and processing enterprise was carried out on the example of the Zaporizhsky open-cast mine with the aim of assessing the possibility of their economic use and suitability for the existence of soil biota , as well as to make recommendations for further rational use. It was found that  main characteristics  of the study area (capacity of bulk humic layer, content of humus in the bulk layer, content of physical clay in the bulk humic layer and in the subsoil, average soil density in the meter bulk layer, salinity of the bulk humic layer and subsoil, composition and properties of subsoil), of the Zaporizhzhya quarry's reclamation is suitable for the further settlement and successful existence of the soil biota. It is concluded that as a result of the technical stage of reclamation, an artificial reclaimed soil was obtained, which according to its characteristics is similar to the primary zonal soils that were located in this area prior to mining; the recultivated soil has somewhat lower fertility and greater salinity at the lower horizons, but is capable of performing ecological functions and can not only be used for economic purposes, but also perform ecological functions, serving as an environment for the existence of soil biota.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. ii
Author(s):  
Marumo Kedumetse Marumo

The Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) was developed by governments through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) after acknowledging the existence of taxonomic impediment to the sound management of biodiversity. The main aim of the strategy is to develop the human resources and infrastructure necessary to generate, disseminate and use taxonomic knowledge and information in a manner that assists parties in effectively implementing the convention. The National Taxonomy Committee (NTC) is a committee mandated to drive the Global Taxonomy Initiative programme of work in Botswana.


Author(s):  
Nishant Shyam Chavan

The environment of our planet is degrading at an alarming rate because of non-sustainable urbanization, industrialization and agriculture. There is need of management of natural resources, biodiversity loss, land use, convention on biological diversity and ecosystem diversity. The rapid increase in industrialization and human needs, environment has been badly suffered. That why there was need of creating law for conversion of environment in India. So environmental laws made for huge to maintain an ecological balance of environment by safeguarding the forests and wildlife, biodiversity, forest conservation of the country. The ministry of environment forest & the nodal agency is the administrative structure of the central government for the planning, promotion, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of environment& forestry programmes. The principle activity taken by ministry of environment& forest and wildlife prevention control of pollution, afforestation regeneration of degraded areas and protection of environment in the framework of legislation. This research paper will be focus on what has action & laws are made by Indian government for protection of environment.


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