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Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Bhupender Yadav launched a portal documenting all animal species in India, claimed to be the first of its kind globally, in a meeting held in Kolkata on June 30, 2024.
The portal, consisting of records of more than 100,000 animal species, has been prepared by more than 150 scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) working at a stretch for two years. It and got launched during the 109th foundation day celebration of the premiere faunal documentation and research institute of the country.
On the sidelines of the programme, Yadav listed his priorities during his current tenure as minister, second one on the trot, to this reporter.
The documentation for 2023 shows that scientists and researchers from all over the country, including those from ZSI and other institutes, have discovered 641 newly recorded animal species across the length and breadth of India. Kerala topped the list in new discoveries, followed by West Bengal.
“Today we have become the first country in the world to prepare a checklist of its entire fauna, covering 104,561 species, positioning itself as a global leader in biodiversity conservation,” said Yadav in the meeting.
The minister complimented the scientists, particularly those from ZSI, for carrying out the mammoth task. He pointed out that the ‘fauna of India checklist portal’ would be an invaluable reference point for both scientists and policy makers in India and outside.
A ZSI report, published on the occasion, pointed out: “India is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse nations with around 7-8 per cent of the world’s documented species and four of the 34 globally recognised biodiversity hotpots.”
The report, Animal Discoveries–2023, a copy of which is with this reporter, listed 641 discoveries, published by scientists and experts from India during 2023. It includes 442 new species at global benchmark and 199 species newly recorded in India.
Hymenopterans, the category of small to medium-sized insects including ants, bees and wasps; and arachnids (including spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks) dominated the 2023 findings with 112 and 86 discoveries respectively, followed by 47 new fishes; 20 reptiles and two mammals.
The two new mammals include an ibex species found in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh within the Himalayan range, and scientifically named Capra himalayensis commemorating the area of discovery. A new bat species, scientifically named Miniopterus srinii, was found in Kodagu district, Karnataka.
The report shows that West Bengal recorded 72 new discoveries, following the chart topper Kerala with 101 new discoveries. Tamil Nadu, with 62 newly discovered species, was third in the national list. It was followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka with 45 species each.
“From a tiny ant to the elephant, the portal compiles the details of all the animal species that have been recorded in India since the 1750s. Endemic, threatened and scheduled species have also been included in the list. The detailed classification and description of species form the basis for all biological sciences, offering essential data for conservation and management efforts,” observed Dhriti Banerjee, the ZSI director.
“Definitely Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (a tree for Mother), as told by the Prime Minister. Even today I participated in a programme here,” said Yadav to this reporter, when asked on his priorities during his current tenure as head of the environment ministry.
PM Narendra Modi first flagged off the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign during the World Environment Day celebration recently. He also referred to it in his Mann ki Baat programme on June 30, which was witnessed live by minister Yadav and participants during the ZSI programme which overlapped with the PM’s address.
In this campaign, PM Modi urged citizens and people in the country and worldwide to join tree plantations in the name of their mothers to celebrate both motherhood and the environment.
“Mission LiFE and maintaining balance within development and preservation of nature are my other priorities,” added Yadav.
Mission LiFE, Lifestyle for Environment is also another favourite project of PM Modi. LiFE is a public movement advocating lifestyle changes to become pro-planet and was launched by PM Modi in November 2021 on the sidelines of Glasgow climate summit.
On the climate front, the minister reiterated that India would be pushing for the increased climate financial support issues from developed countries during the coming months and in COP29 to be held at Baku, Azerbaijan; billed as a finance summit. “I am quite aware of the financial situation linked to climate change, as I chaired a key meeting on the agenda; and will push for the needful,” said the minister.
“All these environment campaigns, and blowing up the jargons, are fine. But the ground reality is that environmental issues are getting marginalised with every passing day as the regulation process has been made systematically weak; and we are already seeing the fallouts,” said an environment activist from Delhi, reminding that India has been positioned within the bottom five countries in the recently released global list of nations based on environmental performances. It was at the bottom in 2022.
The environment ministry earlier rebutted the Environmental Performance Index, claiming that some of the indicators used in the assessment, were extrapolated and based on surmises and unscientific methods.