On successful completion of IMDEX 19, IN ships Kolkata and Shakti are continuing their stay at Singapore to participate in the annual Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise SIMBEX-2019 scheduled from 16 May to 22 May 19.
Since its inception in 1993, SIMBEX has grown in tactical and operational complexity. the annual bilateral exercise saw its progression from traditional anti-submarine exercises to more complex maritime exercises such as advanced air defence operations, anti air/ surface practice firings, tactical exercises, etc. Over the years SIMBEX has stood the test of time in demonstrating the nation’s commitment to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies and bolster bonds of friendship between the two countries. For SIMBEX 19, the IN has deployed its finest assets for with an aim to strengthen mutual trust, enhance interoperability, and build greater synergy to address common maritime concerns among both navies.
The Environmental Information System acronymed as ENVIS was implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change by end of 6th Five Year Plan as a Plan Scheme for environmental information collection, collation, storage, retrieval and dissemination to policy planners, decision makers, scientists and environmentalists, researchers, academicians and other stakeholders. ENVIS is a decentralized computerized network database system consisting of the focal point located in the Ministry and a chain of network partners, known as ENVIS Centres located in the potential organizations/institutions throughout the country.
About Us:- The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established by the Central Government in 2003 to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002). The NBA is a Statutory Body and it performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the Government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.
The Biological Diversity Act (2002) mandates implementation of the provisions of the Act through decentralized system with the NBA focusing on advising the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources; and advising the State Governments in the selection of areas of biodiversity importance to be notified under Sub-Section (1) of Section 37 as heritage sites and measures for the management of such heritage sites.The NBA considers requests by granting approval or otherwise for undertaking any activity referred to in Sections 3,4 and 6 of the Act.
The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) focus on advising the State Governments, subject to any guidelines issued by the Central Government, on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources;
The SSBs also regulate, by granting of approvals or otherwise upon requests for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization of any biological resource by the Indians. The local level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are responsible for promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.
The NBA with its headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India delivers its mandate through a structure that comprises of the Authority, Secretariat, SBBs, BMCs and Expert Committees.
National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
NGRBA has since been dissolved with effect from the 7th October 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council) vide notification no. S.O. 3187(E) dt. 7th October 2016 under EPA 1986.
The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below;
1. National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. 2. Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
3. National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG). 4. State Ganga Committees and 5. District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.
NMCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee. Both of them are headed by Director General, NMCG. Executive Committee has been authorized to accord approval for all projects up to Rs.1000 crore.
Similar to structure at national level, State Programme Management Groups (SPMGs) acts as implementing arm of State Ganga Committees. Thus the newly created structure attempts to bring all stakeholders on one platform to take a holistic approach towards the task of Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation.
The Director General(DG) of NMCG is a Additional Secretary in Government of India. For effective implementation of the projects under the overall supervision of NMCG, the State Level Program Management Groups (SPMGs) are, also headed by senior officers of the concerned States.
The journey of ICFRE was initiated way back towards the end of the nineteenth century with the advent of scientific forestry in India and the establishment of the Forest School in Dehradun in 1878. It was on 5th June 1906 subsequently that the Imperial Forest Research Institute was founded by Government of India for taking forward forestry research in the country. In 1986 the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education or ICFRE was formed as an umbrella organisation for taking care of forestry research, education and extension needs of the country.
Finally on 1st June 1991, the ICFRE was declared an autonomous Council under the then Ministry of Environment and Forests and registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
Presently, ICFRE with its Headquarters at Dehradun is an apex body in the national forestry research system that promotes and undertakes need based forestry research extension
The Council has a pan India presence with its 9 Regional Research Institutes and 5 Centers in different bio-geographical regions of the country. Each Institute has a history of its own and under the umbrella of ICFRE are directing and managing research, extension and education in forestry sector in the states under their jurisdiction. The regional research Institutes are located at Jodhpur, Dehradun, Shimla, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Bengaluru, Jorhat and Jabalpur, and the centres are at Agartala, Aizawl, Allahabad, Chhindwara and Visakhapatnam.
During the past 5-6 years, the organization has made crucial/critical contribution to the national economy by way of enhancing the green cover in the country in forest landscapes as well as under agroforestry; increasing wood productivity; enhancing wood durability through preservation techniques; developing composite woods; enhancing local livelihoods; etc. Highlights of some of these contributions are given below:
1- Enhancing Green Cover and Wood Productivity i - Eucalyptus and Poplar based Agroforestry systems: ICFRE has popularized Eucalypts and Poplar based agroforestry system over more than 3000 km2 area. Successfully introduced Poplar in agroforestry practices in Bihar on pilot basis, and 66.70 lakh plants have been supplied to the farmers in Vaishali district between 2006 and 2012.
ii - Casuarina Breeding Program: 20-year Casuarina Breeding Program resulted in establishment of Second Generation Seedling Seed Orchards and Clonal Seed Orchards with release of 7 high yielding clones of Casuarina equisetifolia and 7 high yielding clones of Casuarina junghuhniana. The clones of Casuarina junghuhniana, especially ‘CJ9,’ have proved to be very fast growing and are much sought.
Reduced the rotation age from 5 years with local seed to 3 years with improved seed. Used the improved germplasm in the form of seed and clonal material in establishing plantations over more than 9,000 hectares. The productivity gain of 13% to 28% has been recorded for plantations raised with seed from first generation seed orchards. The Casuarina plantations over new areas with improved seed have also resulted in an estimated increased biological nitrogen production worth Rs. 9.5 crore.
iii- Improvement of Poplar Clones: Introduced many improved and disease resistant clones viz. S7C8, 82-35-4, 113324 into large scale Poplar plantations in 2000 and re-evaluated performance of G48 clone. G48 clone alone constitutes more than 50% of the total Poplar being planted in north-west India. These improved clones are free from leaf blight disease and yield 15-20% higher volume than that recorded for the earlier clones.
iv - Development of High-Yielding Eucalypts Clones: Developed many high yielding and disease resistant hybrid clones of Eucalypts. Developed and released 11 clones of Eucalyptus camaldulensis during 2011 and 2014. These clones have demonstrated a genetic gain of 17% in height and 14% in DBH.
v - Disease Resistant Shisham Clones: Released a disease resistant clone DS-4 of Shisham. vi - Melia (Melia dubia) Improvement Program (2008-2021): Identified and tested 10 cultivars with long straight boles and an average yield that is more than double the average yield of the non-selected germplasm.
The Indian Institute of Forest Management is a sectoral management institute, which constantly endeavors to evolve knowledge useful for the managers in the area of Forest, Environment and Natural Resources Management and allied sectors. It disseminates such knowledge in ways that promote its application by individuals and organizations.
IIFM has been established with the following objectives : Provide training in management and related subjects for persons from the Indian Forest Service, Forest Departments, Forest Development Corporation and Forest related industries with a view to equip them to practice the art and profession of management of forestry development.
Inculcate an appreciation in those selected for training, that conservation is of overriding importance in the management of living natural resources and that the primary role of forests is the vital ecological and environmental purpose they serve.
Select and prepare outstanding and talented young persons for careers leading to management responsibility in forestry and the forest-related system. Meet the need of Indian forestry and forest-related industry and commerce in respect of upto-date information on forestry management through research, consulting and publication. Assist, institute and carry out research in matters concerning the use of management and allied techniques and methods conducive to the development of forestry in the country.
Institute awards, scholarships, fellowships, prizes and medals in accordance with the rules and bye-laws. Create patronships, affiliations & other classes of professional or honorary membership or office, as the society may consider necessary.
In 1974, Government of India, accepting the recommendations of FAO/SIDA Forestry preparatory Mission to India for provision of training unit to provide instructions in such fields as business cost control, economics of timber harvesting etc. requested SIDA to support a Business Administration Training Project (BATP) with the objectives:
To contribute to the improvement of Management abilities in Forest Development Corporations; and To develop resource for continuous forest business management techniques. The ensuing seminars under the project stressed the need of such training to all the personnel in Forest Departments and forest related systems. The case for bringing renewable natural resource system under business management and for training managers on economic and business aspects as suggested by the Ford Foundation Consultant necessitated the creation of a institute to :
Provide training in economic and managerial aspects of forest related area of associated primary wood based industries. Build the staff for conducting research on economic and management problems facing forest corporations as well as on economic and management problems growing out of the urgent need for managing all forest and non-cultivated lands.
To create a pool of expert managerial consultants, which would be available to both public and private corporations or agencies. In 1978 , SIDA contributed a sum of Rs. 50 lacs to the Government of India which partly financed the collaboration fees for entering into an agreement with Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad (IIMA) for building the proposed IIFM. The ensuing philosophy behind creation of IIFM were arrived at a seminar held at IIM Ahemdabad in 1979 which recommended that :
IIFM should be a national Institute of education in forestry sector, aiming at balanced development, conservation and utilisation of a forest based ecological system in India, consistent with the economic and social development of the nation.
Research, education, training and consultancy activities of the proposed IIFM should be directed towards meeting management education needs of the entire forestry system, particularly the forest departments and forest development corporations.
It should have a wide enough degree of freedom to develop its particular identity and the culture needed within an educational setting to foster this identity. As the leader in its field, be concerned with pushing the frontiers of knowledge, providing specialised knowledge to various parts of system which related to this field and helping the world of practice to use this knowledge.
The Seventh Conference of Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC decided that Parties participating in CDM should designate a National Authority for the CDM and as per the CDM project cycle, a project proposal should include a written approval of voluntary participation from the Designated National Authority of each country and confirmation that the project activity assists the host country in achieving sustainable development.
Accordingly the Central Government constituted the National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol;
The composition of the "National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority" is as follows: 1. Secretary (Environment and Forests) Chairperson 2. Foreign Secretary or his nominee Member 3. Finance Secretary or his nominee Member 4. Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion or his nominee Member 5. Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy or his nominee Member 6. Secretary, Ministry of Power or his nominee Member 7. Secretary, Planning Commission or his nominee Member 8. Secretary, DST or his nominee Member 9. Joint Secretary (Climate Change), Ministry of Environment and Forests Member 10. Director (Climate Change), Ministry of Environment and Forests Member-Secretary
The National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority receives projects for evaluation and approval as per the guidelines and general criteria laid down in the relevant rules and modalities pertaining to CDM in addition to the guidelines issued by the Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board and Conference of Parties serving as Meeting of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The evaluation process of CDM projects includes an assessment of the probability of eventual successful implementation of CDM projects and evaluation of extent to which projects meet the sustainable development objectives, as it would seek to prioritize projects in accordance with national priorities.
The National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority can recommend certain additional requirements to ensure that the project proposals meet the national sustainable development priorities and comply with the legal framework so as to ensure that the projects are compatible with the local priorities and stakeholders have been duly consulted.
The Authority ensures that in the event of project proposals competing for same source of investment, projects with higher sustainable development benefits and which are likely to succeed are accorded higher priority.
The Authority also carries out the financial review of project proposals to ensure that the project proposals do not involve diversion of official development assistance in accordance with modalities and procedures for Clean Development Mechanism and also ensure that the market environment of the CDM project is not conducive to under-valuation of Certified Emission Reduction (CERs) particularly for externally aided projects.
The Authority carries out activities to ensure that the project developers have reliable information relating to all aspects of Clean Development Mechanism which include creating databases on organizations designated for carrying out activities like validation of CDM project proposals and monitoring and verification of project activities, and to collect, compile and publish technical and statistical data relating to CDM initiatives in India.
The Member-Secretary of the National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority is responsible for day-to-day activities of the Authority including constituting committees or sub-groups to coordinate and examine the proposals or to get detailed examination of the project proposals.
The National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority has the powers: (a) To invite officials and experts from Government, financial institutions, consultancy organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, legal profession, industry and commerce, as it may deem necessary for technical and professional inputs and may co-opt other members depending upon need.
(b) To interact with concerned authorities, institutions, individual stakeholders for matters relating to CDM.
(c) To take up any environmental issues pertaining to CDM or Sustainable Development projects as may be referred to it by the Central Government, and
(d) To recommend guidelines to the Central Government for consideration of projects and principles to be followed for according host country approval.
The National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board (NAEB), set up in August 1992,is responsible for promoting afforestation,tree planting, ecological restoration and eco-development activities in the country, with special attention to the degraded forest areas and lands adjoining the forest areas, national parks, sanctuaries and other protected areas as well as the ecologically fragile areas like the Western Himalayas, Aravallis, Western Ghats, etc. The detailed role and functions of the NAEB are given below.
Evolve mechanisms for ecological restoration of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands through systematic planning and implementation, in a cost effective manner;
Restore through natural regeneration or appropriate intervention the forest cover in the country for ecological security and to meet the fuelwood, fodder and other needs of the rural communities; Restore fuelwood, fodder, timber and other forest produce on the degraded forest and adjoining lands in order to meet the demands for these items;
Sponsor research and extension of research findings to disseminate new and proper technologies for the regeneration and development of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands;
Create general awareness and help foster people's movement for promoting afforestation and eco-development with the assistance of voluntary agencies, non-government organisations, Panchayati Raj institutions and others and promote participatory and sustainable management of degraded forest areas and adjoining lands;
Coordinate and monitor the Action Plans for afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration and eco-development;and
Undertake all other measures necessary for promoting afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration and eco-development activities in the country.
The National Mission for a Green India is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
The Mission (henceforth referred to as GIM) recognizes that climate change phenomena will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and the associated livelihoods of the people.
GIM acknowledges the influences that the forestry sector has on environmental amelioration through climate mitigation, food security, water security, biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest dependent communities.
GIM puts the “greening” in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, meant to enhance ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and storage (in forests and other ecosystems), hydrological services and biodiversity; along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, small timber and NTFPs.
Key innovations: 1. Focus on quality of forests – Primary focus on improving density of forest cover
2. Focus on ecosystem services – Emphasis on biodiversity, water and improved biomass – Carbon sequestration as co-benefit – Addressing ecosystems like grasslands, wetlands, urban and peri-urban
3. Focus on democratic decentralization – Gram Sabha as overarching institution to facilitate implementation of the Mission activities at village level, nested as Polycentric Approach, not one size fits all.
4. Creating a new cadre of Community Youth as Foresters – Build a skilled cadre of young “community foresters” from scheduled tribes and other forest dwelling communities 5. Adoption of Landscape-based Approach – Interventions at scale (5000-6000 hectares) at a time – Simultaneous treatment of forest and non forest areas – Addressing key drivers of degradation 6. Reform Agenda as conditionality
Mission Aim: Respond to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures, which would
help: • enhancing carbon sinks in sustainably managed forests and other ecosystems; • adaptation of vulnerable species/ecosystems to the changing climate; and • adaptation of forest dependant local communities in the face of climatic variability.
Mission Objectives: • Increased forest/tree cover on 5 m ha of forest/non-forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 m ha (a total of 10 m ha) • Improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 m ha.
• Increased forest-based livelihood income for 3 million forest dependent households • Enhanced annual CO2 sequestration of 50-60 million tonnes by the year 2020