< General Studies Home Page

Content

• World Wildlife Day: 3rd March
• About WWF
• Report: Living Planet Report
• International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments (also known as “Ballast Water Management Convention”)
• International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources For Food and Agriculture (ITPGR)
• World Seed Vaults
• Antarctic Treaty System
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
• 6th Mass Extinction/ Holocene Extinction/ Anthropocene Extinction
• Important Days

---

1. WORLD WILDLIFE DAY: 3RD MARCH

• It is celebrated on 3rd March
• UNGA in 2013 had passed a resolution for choosing 3rd of March as the WWD. This day was chosen as on March 3, 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted.

 2. WORLD WILDLIFE FUND FOR NATURE (WWF)

 1) ABOUT WWF

• The World Wildlife Fund for Nature is an international NGO founded in 1961, working in the field of wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment.
• It is considered the world’s largest privately financed conservation organization, with over 5 million supporters worldwide working in more than 100 countries and on more than 3,000 projects.
• Important Reports: The Living Planet Report has been published every two years since 1998
• Important Campaigns by WWF
  • Earth Hour – Encourages everyone to switch off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 – 9:30, on a specific day towards the end of March.
    • Earth hour 2020 was held on 28th March.
  • Debt for Nature Swaps are financial transactions in which a portion of a developing countries foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation measures.

 2) REPORT: LIVING PLANET REPORT

• The Living Planet Report comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet.
• A Living Planet Index (LPI), featuring about 32,000 populations of 5,230 species across the world, showed that vertebrates wildlife populations are plummeting at a particularly staggering rate in tropical regions of the world.
• In last 50 years, there has been 69% decline in the wildlife populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish.
• Region with highest decline -> Latin America and the Caribbean region (-94%); followed by Africa (-66%) and Asia Pacific (-55%)

• Freshwater species populations has globally reduced by 83%, confirming that the planet is experiencing a “biodiversity and climate crisis.
  • Habitat loss and barriers to migration routes were responsible for about half of the threats to monitored migratory fish species.
• WWF has identified six key threats to biodiversity:
  • Agriculture; Hunting; Logging; Pollution; Invasive Species and Climate Change
• Recommendations/Suggestions:
  • Biodiversity crisis and Climate Change has to be dealt with together – instead of two different issues, as they are interwined.

3. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT OF SHIP’S BALLAST WATER AND SEDIMENTS (ALSO KNOWN AS “BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION”)

• Convention was adopted in Feb 2004 by 74 countries (now 86 countries are signatories).
• It came into force in Sep 2017.
• It is a maritime treaty which requires signatory states to ensure that ships flagged by them comply with standards and procedures for the management and control of ship’s ballast water and sediments.
• Objective
  • Prevent, minimize, and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control, and management of ship’s ballast water and sediments.
• Main Provisions
  • General Abilities: Ships must have facilities to treat the ballast water before releasing it in foreign waters.
  • Reception Facilities: Under Article 5 Sediment Reception Facilities Parties undertake to ensure that ports and terminals where cleaning or repair of ballast tanks occurs, have adequate reception facilities for the reception of sediments.
  • Research and Monitoring
    • Article 6 calls for parties individually or jointly to promote and facilitate scientific and technical research on ballast water management; and monitor the effects of ballast water management in waters under their jurisdiction.
• Note: India is not participating in the convention.

4. INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (ITPGR)

• Why in news?
  • India hosted the 9th session of the Governing Body (GB9) of the ITPGR (Sep 2022)
• Introduction

• • This is a treaty which is aimed at:
    • Conservation and sustainable use of all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and;
    • The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of their use, in harmony with the CBD, for sustaining agriculture and food security.
      • Recognizing the contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the countries where they have been originated.
      • Ensuring that the recipients share the benefits they derive from the use of genetic materials with the countries where they have been originated.
    • Establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with access to plant genetic material.
• It was adopted by the 31st session of the Conference of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN on Nov 3, 2001.
• Main Provisions
  1. Multilateral System
     • It is the treaty’s innovative solution to access benefit sharing.
     • It puts 64 of the world’s most important crops – crops that together account for 80% of the food we derive from plants – into an easily accessible global pool of genetic resources that is freely available to potential users in the Treaty’s ratifying nations for some uses.
  2. Access and Benefit Sharing
     • Ratifying nations are provided facilities to access the genetic material for the 64 crops in the Multilateral System for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture.
     • Prevent the recipient of genetic resources from claiming IPR over those resources in the form in which they received them.
     • Those who access genetic materials through the multilateral system agree to share the benefits from their use through the benefit sharing mechanisms established by the treaty.
  3. Farmer’s right
     • The treaty calls for protecting the traditional knowledge of these farmers, increasing their participation in national decision-making process, and ensuring that they share in the benefits from the use of these resources.
  4. Sustainable Use
     • Most of the world’s food comes from four main crops – Rice, Wheat, Maize and Potatoes.
     • However, local crops, not among the main four, are a major food source for hundreds of millions of people and has potential to provide nutrition to countless others.
     • The treaty helps maximize the use and breeding of all crops and promotes development and maintenance of diverse farming systems.
• The Ninth session of the Governing Body (GB9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources of Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) was held in New Delhi (Sep 2022)
  • Key Highlights:
    • In a historical first, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) contributed Rs 20 lakhs (USD 25,000) to the Benefit Sharing Fund (BSF) as the first collective contribution from Indian seed sector, during the GB-9 meeting.
      • The BSF is the funding mechanism of the treaty used for support of capacity building, Conservation and sustainable use projects among the Contracting parties of the Treaty.
    • India appointed as the co-chair of the Working Group on “Enhancement of MLS (Multilateral System)”
    • Consensus on Implementation of Farmers Rights Reached after extensive negotiation at GB9
    • India flags issue regarding genebank funding

5. WORLD SEED VAULTS

• Introduction:
  • Seed vaults are places where seeds of various plants are stored to ensure protection of genetic resources and diversity.
    • They are stored at very low temperatures (at around -18 degree C).
    • Even at this temperature, seeds have a shelf life and thus seed vaults are regularly updated with fresh, viable samples.
• Svalbard’s Vaults, at Spitsbergen, Norway
  • It stores crop seeds.
  • It is built inside a mountain on the remote Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. It was opened in 2008 with the intention of being politically neutral and safe location to protect the world’s crop diversity. It is designed to survive nuclear war and world war.
  • Samples sent here are the duplicates from seed and gene banks, research facilities, and communities around the world, ranging from large institutions like ICARDA, to the Cherokee Nation, who in 2020, became the first tribe in the U.S. to send important heirloom seeds to Svalbard.
  • During the Syrian war, scientists duplicated and safely transported genetic resources from International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas facility in Tal Hadia.
• Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK is the world’s largest wild seed conservation project.
  • It has recently completed 20 years of its formation.
  • Its vault has been built to withstand bombs, radiation, and floods. It holds 4 billion seeds from 39,681 species, coming from 190 countries and territories.
  • The facility claims that they have contributed to protecting 16% of the world’s seed-bearing plants.
  • After the recent massive bushfire in Australia, the seed bank sent backup seeds of clover glycine (Glycine latrobeana), a rare, wild pea, to its partners in Australia so that the plant could be cultivated and used to restore the ecosystem.
• Other important seed banks
  • The Australian Grains Genebank (AGG)
  • Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Russia

6. ANTARCTIC TREATY SYSTEM       

a. Antarctic Treaty:

• It is a treaty that was negotiated during the middle of the Cold War by 12 countries with Antarctic It acts as a foundation for rule based international order for a continent without a permanent population. It remains the only example of a single treaty that governs a whole continent.
• It is a remarkably short treaty and contains only 14 articles. Key provisions include promotion of Freedom of Scientific Research, the use of continent only for peaceful purposes, and the prohibition of military activities, nuclear tests, and the disposal of radioactive waste.
  • The most important provision of the treaty is Article IV, which effectively seeks to neutralize territorial sovereignty in Antarctica. This means that a limit was placed on making any new claim or enlargement of an existing claim. Further, no formal recognition was given to any of the seven territorial claims on the continent, by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
  • Russia, USA, and China – who are signatory to the conventions but have not made any formal territorial claims – are also bound by the limitations of Article IV.
• How has the treaty expanded for 60 years?
  • Though the compact was held for 60 years, there have been tensions from time to time. For e.g. between UK and Argentina.
  • A key reason because of which the treaty has survived is that it has kept on evolving through a series of additional conventions and other legal protocols.
    • Various disputes have been addressed through the expansion of the treaty framework with new agreements. This framework is now referred to as the “Antarctic Treaty System“.
  • These measures have been a great success, but tensions have arisen in recent years over the promotion of Southern Ocean Marine Reserves. In 2016, agreement was reached on Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, and momentum is building for a broader network of Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas. China and Russia have resisted these initiatives.
• By, 2020 the treaty has 54 signatories.
• Changing Circumstances between 1950s to 2020s
  • Though the treaty has been successful in responding to various challenges so far, the circumstances are radically different now. Antarctic is much more accessible both due to climate change and technological improvement. More countries now have substantive interest in the region when compared to only 12 in the beginning.

7. CONVENTION FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ANTARCTIC MARINE LIVING RESOURCES (CCAMLR)

• About the CCAMLR
  • It is part of Antarctic Treaty System. It was entered into force on 7th April 1982 and is headquartered in Hobart City of Tasmania State, Australia.
    • The immediate reason for the convention was the concerns related to increased krill catches in the Southern Ocean which could have had a serious impact on populations of other marine life which are dependent upon krill for food.
  • It is aimed at preserving marine life and the environmental integrity in and near Antarctica. It thus wants to ensure sustainable utilization of resources of Southern Ocean and regulates the use of resources in the region.
  • The commission has 26 members (25 countries + European Union)
  • Note: India is a member state.
• Marine Protected Areas
  • In 2009, the commission by consensus decided to create a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
    • It was the first international body to do this on the recommendations from the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development.
• Designated or Proposed Marine Protected Areas

South Orkneys MPA - Designated Designated in 2009, around South Orkneys Island in the Southern Ocean
Ross Sea MPA - Designated Designated in 2016

• East Antarctica, Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula are the three others proposed MPAs yet to be approved by the commission.
• East Antarctica (proposed MPA) will protect blocks of oceans and ocean floor along the East Antarctica, an area rich in cold water corals that provide foraging ground for penguins.
  • It has been proposed by Australia, France, and European Union. It will protect one million square kms of ocean but has been repeatedly been struck down at the meetings of CCAMLR since 2010.
  • Members like China and Russia have opposed it due to economic and political reasons.
  • All 26 members must consent for the creation of Marine Park.
  • What will be the impact of creation of MPA in East Antarctica?
    • Ban on fishing in a vast area of the Weddell Sea and parts of Antarctic Peninsula. It will lead to safeguarding of species including penguins, killer whales, leopard seals, and blue whales.
    • It would also play an important role in fighting climate change as the seas around Antarctic are very important sink for Carbon dioxide.
• Weddell Sea – lies adjacent to Antarctic Peninsula. It made an MVA, it would become the largest nature reserve anywhere in the world.
• Antarctica Peninsula (the area to the west of Antarctic Peninsula) is particularly vulnerable to tourism impacts, fishing activities and global warming. About 75% of the Antarctic Krill is located here.
• In Sep 2021, India announced that it is considering to co-sponsor an MPA proposal at the CCAMLR and getting aligned with countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa and USA, which are also proactively supporting the MPA proposals.

A) KRILL FISHERY AND ASSOCIATED ISSUES:

• • Krill is the most abundant species in the world, with a biomass of 400 million tons in the Antarctic.
  • Significance:
    • Main Source of food for ocean wildlife including whales, penguins and seals, any disruption to krill populations will ripple across the ecosystem.
    • Note: Krill is not a fish, it’s a Crustacean (a type of arthropod).
  • Fighting Climate Change: Krill are integral in influencing atmospheric carbon levels, and have the capacity to remove upto 12 billion tonnes of carbon every year from the Earth’s atmosphere.
  • Competition for krills is increasing as the human demand for krill products increase.
• Useful Video: https://youtu.be/4euvH0K3lsQ
  • Antarctic Krill Fishery: Krilling for Oil | Oceans. Inc

8. 6TH MASS EXTINCTION/ HOLOCENE EXTINCTION/ ANTHROPOCENE EXTINCTION

• Background: Earth’s previous five extinction: Earth is the only known planet to support Various kinds of life forms have survived here for at least 3.5 billion years. But it’s hospitality doesn’t show consistency. In fact, within the last 500 million years, the natural disasters have caused at least 5 mass extinctions which wiped out 50-90% of all species on the planet at the time.
  1. End-Ordovician, 443 million years ago
     • A severe ice age led to sea level falling drastically upto 100 meters, which wiped out 60-70% of all species which were prominently ocean dwellers.
     • Then soon after the ice melted leaving the oceans starved of oxygen.
  2. Late Devonian, 360 million years ago
     • A messy prolonged climate change event, hit the life in shallow seas very hard, killing 70% of the species including almost all corals.
  3. Permian-Triassic, 250 million years ago
     • It has been the biggest and worst mass extinction in last 500 million years. More than 90% of the species perished, including trilobites and giant insects – strongly linked to massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia that caused a savage episode of global warming.
  4. Triassic-Jurassic, C 200 million years ago
     • 75% of species were lost, again most likely due to another huge outburst of volcanism. It left earth clear for dinosaurs to flourish.
  5. Cretaceous – Tertiary, 65 million years ago
     • A giant asteroid impact on Mexico, just after large volcanic eruptions in India saw the end of 60% of the species that populated the planet including dinosaurs.
     • Mammals, and eventually humans took advantage.
• 6th Mass Extinctions refers to ongoing extinction of various plants and animal species mostly as a result of human activity. Scientists believe that billions of population of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians have been lost all over the planet, leading them to say a sixth mass extinction has already progressed further than was thought.
• According to a research published in the journal proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), the ongoing sixth mass extinction may be one of the most serious environmental threats to the persistence of civilization.
  • This extinction is human caused and is more immediate than climate destruction.
  • The study found that 515 species of terrestrial vertebrates are near extinction.
    • Most of these species are from South America (30%), followed by Oceania (21%), Asia (21%), and Africa (16%) among others.
  • The current loss of species has been occurring since 1800s.
• A study published by University of Hawaii (Jan 2022)
  • The current mass extinction has been going on since 16th century. Since then earth has lost 1,50,000 to 260,000 species (around 7.5 to 13 percent of its two million species)
  • It also said that the Red List is biased and leaves out most invertebrates – a group that has seen a dramatic loss and is the majority of diversity on Earth.
• Some other scientists believe that sixth mass extinction is not already under way, but we are on the edge.
• Scientists blame the following factors for this:
  • Human Over-population and over-exploitation of resources
    • Habitat loss and fragmentation represent primary threat for 85% of all species on the IUCN Red list.
    • It includes deforestation for farming, logging and settlement.
  • Poaching in case of large animals prized for their body parts (tiger, elephant, lion etc)
  • Pollution is pervasive in many species, from chemicals like mercury that accumulate in fish to the plastic debris that slowly kill sea turtles, sea birds and cetaceans.
  • Introduction of Invasive species
    • It threatens a variety of native plants and animals around the world by killing them directly or by outcompeting them for food and nest sites.
  • Climate Change has also negatively impacted entire ecosystems
    • An economy based on fossil fuels (that pollute the atmosphere) and are producing global warming with dire consequence for ecosystem.
    • An example of the impact of climate change can be seen in case of Corals. The warming of the water and acidification of oceans (due to high CO2 in the atmosphere) are the principle reason for corals dying.
• This mass extinction will have serious ecological, economic and social consequences
  • Human civilization is completely reliant on healthy ecosystem for food, water and other resources.

9. IMPORTANT DAYS

1) UN WORLD WATER DAY: 22ND MARCH

• The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resource
• The Un World Water Development Report is released around World Water Day by UN-Water every

2) WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: 5TH JUNE

• The United Nations has designated 5th June as the World Environment Day. The UNEP annually organizes events for World Environment Day, which encourages worldwide awareness and action for the protection of the Since 1974, it has been celebrated every year engaging governments, businesses, celebrities, and citizens to focus their efforts.

3) WORLD OCEAN DAY: 8TH JUNE

• June 8 is the World Ocean Day, the UN day for celebrating the role of oceans in our everyday life and inspiring actions to protect ocean and sustainably use marine resources.
  • Many countries have been celebrating this day since 1992, following the UN conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro.
  • UNGA officially decided this in 2018.

4) EARTH DAY: 22ND APRIL

• The day is celebrated world-wide to demonstrate support for environment protection.
• The day was first proposed in UNESCO conference in 1969 and the first Earth Day Celebrations took place in 1970.