316
L. Kapoor and S. Usha
national parks are among the world heritage sites namely Kaziranga, Manas, Keoladeo, Sundarbans, Nandadevi (including valley of flowers) and the Western Ghats
serial site which undergo constant monitoring under several projects like ‘Enhancing
Our Heritage’ being run by UNESCO in collaboration with IUCN. Further, in cooperation with neighbouring nations India has classified 12 Transboundary protected
areas in its continued efforts towards biodiversity conservation. Moreover, India is
getting closer to achieve its national goal of making 33% of its area under tree cover
as there has been an increase in the area covered by Trees Outside Forests (TOF)
by 1243 km
2 since 2015. Further to its success in the various initiatives taken up in
forestry, India has set up a forests mapping programme for forests and tree cover
taken up by the Forest Survey of India.
3.3 Aquatic Ecosystems
India possesses a variety in its wetland ecosystems which ranges from cold arid
zone wetlands to hot and wetlands of the coastal region. Around 4.7% of India’s
geographical land is covered by freshwater ecosystems which are home to 9456
species making up for 9.46% of the total number of diverse animal species of India
(Bassi et al. 2014). Moreover, as per the Wetland (Conservation and Management)
Rules, 2017 the individual states are responsible for the conservation of wetlands
beyond the boundary of protected areas (PAs). Therefore, there has been a constitution
of ‘State Wetland Authority’ by many states in India. The NPCA (National Plan for
Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystem) and the NWCP (National Wetland Conservation
Program) has 65 lakes and 115 wetlands under its cover of integrated management of
which 25 wetlands have already been identified as Ramsar sites. Further, between the
period of 2015–17 seven Ramsar sites management plans were upscaled to integrated
management plans (NR6 2018). The Indian marine and coastal ecosystems possess
a long coastline which stretches around 7517 km
2 (Nayak 2017) hosting around
20,444 faunal species of which 1180 are in the Red List (IUCN) of threatened species.
Moreover, these ecosystems encompass 2.02 million km of EEZ (exclusive economic
zone) and a varied range of ecosystems including lagoons, estuaries, backwaters,
mangroves, rocky coasts, salt marshes, and coral reefs which are biodiversity rich
components. The last two decades have witnessed a shift in the trend from fisheries
to aquaculture. India ranks second in the production of fish and aquaculture globally
with nearly 2500 species of fish. Moreover, a distribution of nearly 800 freshwater
fish species including more than 200 endemic fishes were recorded in the Blue
Revolution or Neel Kranti Mission, 2016–2020. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
has nominated additional 106 sites for prioritized conservation under the category
of Important Coastal and Marine Areas (ICMBAs) of which 22 ICMBAs are listed
under the category of Communities Reserve for immediate conservation.
L. Kapoor and S. Usha
national parks are among the world heritage sites namely Kaziranga, Manas, Keoladeo, Sundarbans, Nandadevi (including valley of flowers) and the Western Ghats
serial site which undergo constant monitoring under several projects like ‘Enhancing
Our Heritage’ being run by UNESCO in collaboration with IUCN. Further, in cooperation with neighbouring nations India has classified 12 Transboundary protected
areas in its continued efforts towards biodiversity conservation. Moreover, India is
getting closer to achieve its national goal of making 33% of its area under tree cover
as there has been an increase in the area covered by Trees Outside Forests (TOF)
by 1243 km
2 since 2015. Further to its success in the various initiatives taken up in
forestry, India has set up a forests mapping programme for forests and tree cover
taken up by the Forest Survey of India.
3.3 Aquatic Ecosystems
India possesses a variety in its wetland ecosystems which ranges from cold arid
zone wetlands to hot and wetlands of the coastal region. Around 4.7% of India’s
geographical land is covered by freshwater ecosystems which are home to 9456
species making up for 9.46% of the total number of diverse animal species of India
(Bassi et al. 2014). Moreover, as per the Wetland (Conservation and Management)
Rules, 2017 the individual states are responsible for the conservation of wetlands
beyond the boundary of protected areas (PAs). Therefore, there has been a constitution
of ‘State Wetland Authority’ by many states in India. The NPCA (National Plan for
Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystem) and the NWCP (National Wetland Conservation
Program) has 65 lakes and 115 wetlands under its cover of integrated management of
which 25 wetlands have already been identified as Ramsar sites. Further, between the
period of 2015–17 seven Ramsar sites management plans were upscaled to integrated
management plans (NR6 2018). The Indian marine and coastal ecosystems possess
a long coastline which stretches around 7517 km
2 (Nayak 2017) hosting around
20,444 faunal species of which 1180 are in the Red List (IUCN) of threatened species.
Moreover, these ecosystems encompass 2.02 million km of EEZ (exclusive economic
zone) and a varied range of ecosystems including lagoons, estuaries, backwaters,
mangroves, rocky coasts, salt marshes, and coral reefs which are biodiversity rich
components. The last two decades have witnessed a shift in the trend from fisheries
to aquaculture. India ranks second in the production of fish and aquaculture globally
with nearly 2500 species of fish. Moreover, a distribution of nearly 800 freshwater
fish species including more than 200 endemic fishes were recorded in the Blue
Revolution or Neel Kranti Mission, 2016–2020. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
has nominated additional 106 sites for prioritized conservation under the category
of Important Coastal and Marine Areas (ICMBAs) of which 22 ICMBAs are listed
under the category of Communities Reserve for immediate conservation.