Lok Sabha Question No. 221 (STARRED), answered on 2016-08-02
Subject: Conservation of Bio-diversity
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: SURESH KODIKUNNIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 221

TO BE ANSWERED ON 2.8.2016

## Conservation of Bio- Diversity

## *221.  SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

Will  the  Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

(a) the initiative taken by the Government for the conservation of bio-diversity and resources in the country so far;

(b) whether various interventions and activities in the forest areas have severely affected the biodiversity of plant and animal life an various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;

(c) the steps taken by the Government to regulate interventions and other activities in the forest areas in order to safeguard the flora and fauna of the country; and;

(d) the present status of implementation of the recommendations of the High Level Committee constituted to review Acts administered by the Ministry?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIORNMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 221 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2.8.2016 REGARDING CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY BY SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH.

- (a) Some  important  initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  for  conservation  of biological diversity inter alia include: survey, inventorization, taxonomic validation and threat assessment of floral and faunal resources; assessment of the forest cover to develop an accurate database for planning and monitoring; establishment of a Protected Area Network of National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries,  Conservation  and  Community  Reserves;  designating  Biosphere Reserves  for conservation of representative ecosystems; undertaking of species  oriented  programmes,  such  as  Project  Tiger  and  Project  Elephant; complemented with ex-situ conservation efforts. In addition, Biological Diversity Act 2002 has also been enacted with the aim to conserve biological resources of the country and regulation of access to these resources to ensure equitable sharing of benefits arising out of their use, under which a National Biodiversity Authority  and  State  Biodiversity  Boards  in  all  States  have  been  set  up  for implementing the provisions of the Act.
- (b) and (c) The Government has put in place several measures towards ensuring that  interventions  and  activities  in  forest  areas  do  no  adversely  affect  the biodiversity.

For ensuring protection of flora and fauna within protected areas, Management Plans  are  prepared  by  State  Forest  Departments  which  inter  alia  include  a schedule of activities to be taken up over a period of ten years. The Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 provides for diligence to be taken before approval of any activity is accorded by the State Government within a protected area.

In addition, the Central Government provides financial assistance to States and Union  Territories  under  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  such  as  :  Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat; Project Tiger, and Project Elephant for better protection  and  conservation  of  wildlife  and  their  habitat;  and  Identification  of Forest Management Scheme towards protection and management of forests. The Government supports conservation of some prioritised/threatened medicinal plants harboured in specially designated Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs) that are primarily forested areas.

The National Afforestation & Eco-development Board of the Ministry promotes afforestation, tree planting, ecological restoration and ecodevelopment activities  in  the  country,  with  special  attention  to  degraded  areas  as  well  as ecologically fragile areas.

Notwithstanding these measures, various non-forestry activities undertaken in forest areas for mining, industries, hydel power development, irrigation dams, railways,  roads  and  other  essential  developmental  activities  may  lead  to destruction of  forests  and  biodiversity  in  the  diverted  forest  areas.  The  forest area  diverted  since  1980  States/UTs-wise  is  given  in  Appendix.  In  order  to compensate this loss of forest areas and biodiversity, compensatory afforestation on equivalent non forest land is done to compensate the loss of forest  and  biodiversity  and  such  non  forest  lands  are  declared  as  Protected Forests/Reserve  Forests  under  Indian  Forest  Act  1927.  In  case  of  Central

Government PSU projects, compensatory afforestation is done over twice the area  of  degraded  forest  area  at  the  cost  of  user  agency  to  improve  and conserve the biodiversity in the degraded forest.

- (d) The High Level Committee (HLC) constituted under the chairmanship of Shri T.S.R.  Subramanian,  former  Cabinet  Secretary,  to  undertake  retrospection exercise  in  the  functioning  of  various  Acts  administered  by  the  Ministry  of Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  (MoEFCC),  namely,  (i)  Environment (Protection)  Act,  1986,  (ii)  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980,  (iii)  Indian  Forest Act, 1927, (iv) Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, (v) Water (Prevention and Control of  Pollution)  Act,  1974  and  (vi)  Air  (Prevention  and  Control  of  Pollution)  Act, 1981,  has submitted its report, wherein 55 recommendations have been made.

In  order  to  prepare  a  framework  based  on  the  recommendations  of  HLC, MoEFCC selected  M/s  Ernst  &  Young  and  M/s  Amarchand  &  Mangaldas  & Suresh A. Shroff & Co. consortium as the Technical Consultant. The Technical Consultant  has  submitted  inception  report  and  gap  assessment  report  to  the Ministry and also made presentation.

*****

## Appendix

| Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Category : All Categories                                                               | Category : All Categories                                                               | During the Period : 25/10/1980 to 25/07/2016                                            | During the Period : 25/10/1980 to 25/07/2016                                            |
| S. No.                                                                                  | STATE / UT                                                                              | No. of Cases                                                                            | Approved Total Land Diverted (Ha.)                                                      |
| 1                                                                                       | Andaman and Nicobar                                                                     | 91                                                                                      | 2435.73                                                                                 |
| 2                                                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                                                          | 345                                                                                     | 24891.78                                                                                |
| 3                                                                                       | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                       | 192                                                                                     | 32167.21                                                                                |
| 4                                                                                       | Assam                                                                                   | 240                                                                                     | 2956.47                                                                                 |
| 5                                                                                       | Bihar                                                                                   | 147                                                                                     | 5526.96                                                                                 |
| 6                                                                                       | Chandigarh                                                                              | 31                                                                                      | 89.36                                                                                   |
| 7                                                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                                                            | 422                                                                                     | 84475.02                                                                                |
| 8                                                                                       | Dadar & Nagar Haveli                                                                    | 149                                                                                     | 275.03                                                                                  |
| 9                                                                                       | Daman and Diu                                                                           | 1                                                                                       | 3.95                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                      | Delhi                                                                                   | 15                                                                                      | 42.21                                                                                   |
| 11                                                                                      | Goa                                                                                     | 81                                                                                      | 2022.85                                                                                 |
| 12                                                                                      | Gujarat                                                                                 | 1306                                                                                    | 63964.41                                                                                |
| 13                                                                                      | Haryana                                                                                 | 2698                                                                                    | 5933.85                                                                                 |
| 14                                                                                      | Himachal Pradesh                                                                        | 1416                                                                                    | 12675.87                                                                                |
| 15                                                                                      | Jammu and Kashmir                                                                       | 7                                                                                       | 656.45                                                                                  |
| 16                                                                                      | Jharkhand                                                                               | 320                                                                                     | 21791.57                                                                                |
| 17                                                                                      | Karnataka                                                                               | 683                                                                                     | 43273.79                                                                                |
| 18                                                                                      | Kerala                                                                                  | 224                                                                                     | 40747.34                                                                                |
| 19                                                                                      | Lakshadweep                                                                             | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 20                                                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                                                          | 996                                                                                     | 245978.53                                                                               |
| 21                                                                                      | Maharashtra                                                                             | 1394                                                                                    | 60001.21                                                                                |
| 22                                                                                      | Manipur                                                                                 | 34                                                                                      | 3015.07                                                                                 |
| 23                                                                                      | Meghalaya                                                                               | 96                                                                                      | 767.95                                                                                  |
| 24                                                                                      | Mizoram                                                                                 | 23                                                                                      | 6237.24                                                                                 |
| 25                                                                                      | Nagaland                                                                                | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 26                                                                                      | Orissa                                                                                  | 478                                                                                     | 48535.22                                                                                |
| 27                                                                                      | Pondicherry                                                                             | 1                                                                                       | 0.96                                                                                    |
| 28                                                                                      | Punjab                                                                                  | 3390                                                                                    | 63371.73                                                                                |
| 29                                                                                      | Rajasthan                                                                               | 652                                                                                     | 25674.94                                                                                |
| 30                                                                                      | Sikkim                                                                                  | 350                                                                                     | 2628.59                                                                                 |
| 31                                                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                                                              | 437                                                                                     | 2421.87                                                                                 |
| 32                                                                                      | Telangana                                                                               | 226                                                                                     | 22299.08                                                                                |
| 33                                                                                      | Tripura                                                                                 | 296                                                                                     | 7832.60                                                                                 |
| 34                                                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                                                           | 871                                                                                     | 19029.30                                                                                |
| 35                                                                                      | Uttarakhand                                                                             | 4166                                                                                    | 41662.34                                                                                |
| 36                                                                                      | West Bengal                                                                             | 107                                                                                     | 4311.92                                                                                 |
| Total                                                                                   | Total                                                                                   | 21885                                                                                   | 897698.40                                                                               |