29-Jun-2020: Environment ministry issues advisory to import live exotic animals
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on June 1, 2020, issued an advisory to streamline and formalise the process of importing live exotic animals.
The advisory has defined them as those that are mentioned under the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but not under the schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Many exotic species of birds, reptiles and amphibians are imported into India for commercial purposes.
These imports were happening though the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), but they were beyond the purview of the forest departments and the chief wildlife wardens weren't aware about them. Now, with this advisory, they’ll be kept in the loop.
The advisory has provisions for import and disclosure of exotic animals and their progeny already in India. A person trying to import a live exotic animal will have to submit an application for grant of a licence to the DGFT, under the provisions of the advisory.
The importer will also have to attach a No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the chief wildlife warden of the state concerned along with the application.
For those people who have already imported exotic animals, a declaration will have to be made within six months, which wouldn't require submissions on the provenance of the animal. However, if the declaration is made after six months, documents will have to be submitted.
The major reason to do this is to regulate the trade because the issue of zoonotic diseases is also linked to wildlife. With this advisory, we will know how many such exotic animals are there in the country.
Experts said the advisory did not provide answers to all problems. Matters such as spread of invasive species as well as zoonotic diseases had not been taken care of in the advisory.
There is also a growing domestic trade in exotic species of wildlife that is unfortunately not listed under the various appendices of CITES (such as sugar gliders, corn snakes). Hence, limiting the scope of the latest advisory to only those species covered under CITES drastically limits the scope of the advisory itself.
There is no mention of the welfare standards of such captive facilities that could lead to ‘legal’ backyard breeding of wildlife with poor to no welfare concern of the wild animals involved. If the ministry fails to issue any consequent guidelines on maintenance and care of animals in such facilities, it is sure to lead to a mixed species facility with high chance of transmission of pathogens across the species barrier.
India’s regulation of the trade in exotic animals is severely lacking. In that respect, the advisory should be lauded for its effort to introduce some regulation of this trade. However, since it does not have the force of law and could potentially incentivize illegal trade by offering a long amnesty period, it suffers from serious flaws. What is required is proper regulations for the exotic animal trade which take into account its true risks and costs.
19-Mar-2020: Discontinuation of BS-IV Vehicles
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, vide GSR 178 (E) dated 20th February, 2018 had notified that new motor vehicles conforming to Emission Standard Bharat Stage-IV manufactured before the 1st April, 2020 shall not be registered after the 30th June, 2020 and the new motor vehicles of categories M and N conforming to Emission Standard Bharat Stage-IV manufactured before the 1st April, 2020 and sold in the form of drive away chassis shall not be registered after the 30th September, 2020. However, the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 24th October, 2018 has directed that no new motor vehicle conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV shall be sold or registered in the entire country with effect from 01.04.2020.
19-Feb-2020: No polythene bags for saplings in nurseries
Polythene bags used to plant saplings in nurseries will no longer be allowed in government afforestation projects.
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), an apex body that decides on permitting the felling of trees in forests for industrial activities, recommended that "State governments/ Union Territory administrations should ensure that the cost model prepared for CA /Penal CA shall incorporate the cost of alternative biodegradable bags in place of polythene bags.” This was decided at an FAC meeting on January 20.
CA refers to compensatory afforestation whereby industries must make good the forest loss by acquiring alternative land and paying the State forest department for planting trees.
The Government of India, in 2016, banned plastic bags having a thickness less than 50 microns, under the revised Plastic Waste Management Rules and several State governments have announced banning of polythene bags as well as some on single use plastics. On World Environment Day in 2018, India pledged to phase out single-use plastic by 2022 but last year, officials said no specific time line was in place.
Plastic waste: The Central Pollution Control Board in 2018-19 reported that India annually generates approximately 3.6 million tonnes of plastic waste. It recycles 60% of its waste, three times higher than the global average of 20% , through a chain of informal networks of collectors and recyclers. However, environmentalist group Toxics Link, in a report released on Wednesday, said the number could be almost three times of this. “Environmental impacts of plastics have been consistently downplayed by interested parties and only projected plastics as a simple waste issue thus steering clear from owning responsibility for its adverse impacts”.
Source of funds: The Compensatory Afforestation Fund, under which money is collected from projects proponents for diverting forest land to be used for non-forestry activity, is a key source of funds for tree plantation. An amount of ₹47,436 crore was sent out to States for carrying out compensatory afforestation activities as of August 2019.