Conservation of marine species
Conservation of marine species
The important steps taken by the Government of conservation of marine species include:
The important steps taken by the Government to preserve the ecosystem of fresh water across different States/UTs including the State of Punjab are as follows:
This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
- A network of protected areas across the Coastal States and Islands of the country under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has been created for the conservation of marine species.
- 106 coastal and marine sites have been identified and prioritized as Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Areas (ICMBAs) to take care of marine species conservation.
- Many threatened marine species have been listed Schedule I and II of the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 according them protection against hunting.
- The Ministry has amended Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to empower Indian Coast Guards for entry, search, arrest and detention in case of contravention of provisions of the Act.
- The Ministry has released a National Marine Turtle Action Plan with the aim to conserve marine turtles and their habitats in India.
- The Ministry has released ‘Marine Megafauna Stranding Management Guidelines’ in 2021 for management of stranding and entanglement of marine mega fauna.
- The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2019, promulgated under Environment (Protection) Act 1986, has specific focus on conservation and management plans of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs), like Mangroves, Seagrasses, Sand dunes, Corals and Coral reefs, Biologically active mudflats, Turtle nesting grounds, and Horse shoe crabs’ habitats.
- The Ministry is granting funds under the centrally sponsored schemes to maritime States for the conservation of Corals and Mangroves.
- The Ministry provides financial assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally sponsored Scheme ‘Development of Wildlife habitats’ for conservation of wildlife and its habitat, including marine fauna.
- The Ministry under the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority provided funding support for project for conservation of Dugongs and their habitats.
- The Government also provides financial assistances to Universities / Research Institutes through research projects that are aimed at conservation of marine species.