(a) whether the Botanical Survey of India has conducted any
survey/assessment of plants, herbs, shrubs that are on the verge
of extinction;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Government is also preparing a similar list of
endangered animals in the country and if so, the details thereof ; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to preserve those rare plants and to check the illicit-trade and smuggling of such plants and animals?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
(SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a) Yes, Botanical Survey of India, with its mandate of Floristic survey,
documentation and status assessment of all plant species, has also been
conducting floristic surveys for threat (anthropogenic/natural) assessment
and inventorying of threatened species.
(b) Based on studies of vast herbarium repository of dried plant
material maintained by the department and verified by field survey tours,
BSI has already published four volumes of Red Data Book of Indian Plants,
(Eds. Jain & Rao, 1984; Nayar & Sastry 1987 – 1990) and Red List of
Threatened Vascular Plant Species in India (Rao et al. 2003), which
provides information on 1236 threatened plant taxa in the country.
(c) Zoological Survey of India with its headquarters and Kolkata
and 16 Regional Centers, covering all biogeographic zones and ecosystems
of India conduct faunal surveys including status survey of rare,
endangered, endemic and threatened animals. The results of the
survey are regularly published and communicated to Government
agencies. Hitherto status survey of 10 species of animals has
been published by ZSI. The results from these studies are
incorporated in conservation management of these species.
(d) Action taken by the government to check illicit trade and
smuggling of endangered animals and plant in the country includes:
i. Species of plants or animals which are assessed to be threatened
are included in the appropriate schedules of the Wild Life (Protection)
Act, 1972 thereby providing them statutory protection against unregulated
exploitation.
ii. Hunting and commercial exploitation of wild animals included in
various schedules of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is prohibited.
Offences committed in respect of these species attract punishment
prescribed under the Act.
iii. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, has been amended and made
more stringent. The punishments for offences have been enhanced. The
Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon
that is used for committing wildlife offence(s).
iv. Protected Areas, viz., National Park, Sanctuaries, Conservation
Reserves and Community Reserves covering important wildlife habitats
have been created all over the country under the provisions of the
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve wild animals and their
habitats.
v. Financial and technical assistance is provided to the State/Union
Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of ‘Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Project Elephant’
for providing better protection to wildlife and improvement of its habitat.
vi. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered under
the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to apprehend and prosecute wildlife
offenders.
vii. The State/Union Territory Governments have been requested to
strengthen the field formations and intensify patrolling in and around
the Protected Areas.
viii. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been set up to strengthen
the enforcement of law for control of poaching and illegal trade in
wildlife and its products.
ix. Under the Central Sponsored Scheme – ‘Integrated Development of
Wildlife Habitats’, a component has been added for initiating ‘Recovery
Programme for critically endangered species and their habitats†during
the 11th Five Year plan period.
x. India is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora’’ (CITES) that regulates
international trade in wildlife and its derivatives.
xi. Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act empowers the Central
Government in consultation with the concerned State Governments to notify
from time to time any species which is on the verge of extinction or
likely to become extinct in the near future as a threatened species,
and prohibit or regulate their collection, and also to take appropriate
steps to rehabilitate and preserve those species. For implementation of
these provisions, the Government has got prepared, though the Botanical
Survey of India (BSI) and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), a
state-wise list of threatened species of plants and animals which
are on the verge of extinction, along with guidelines for prohibiting
or regulating collection of these species, as also measures for
rehabilitating and preserving them. This list was sent to the
State Governments for comments/approval in October 2008. Upon
receipt of comments, notifications have been issued so far for
fourteen Sates: Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Uttar
Pradesh, Mizoram, Orissa and Meghalaya, Goa and West Bengal, Madhya
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tripura, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The matter is
being pursued with the remaining states.