India gets UN Environment award for combating trans boundary environmental crime - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India gets UN Environment award for combating transboundary environmental crime

United Nation Environment has awarded Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India with Asia Environment Enforcement Awards, 2018 for excellent work done by the Bureau in combating transboundary environmental crime.

Congratulating the Bureau Union Environment Minister said that the Asia Environmental Enforcement Award, recognizes the excellent work done by Government officials and teams from the bureau who are diligently involved in combating trans boundary environmental crime.
The Asia Environment Enforcement Awards publicly recognize and celebrate excellence in enforcement by government officials and institutions/teams combating transboundary environmental crime in Asia. The awards are given to outstanding individuals and/or government organizations/teams that demonstrate excellence and leadership in enforcement of national laws to combat transboundary environmental crime in one of the following eligibility criteria areas: collaboration; impact; innovation; integrity and gender leadership.
WCCB has been conferred this award in Innovation category. WCCB has adopted innovative enforcement techniques that have dramatically increased enforcement of transboundary environmental crimes in India. Notably it has developed an online Wildlife Crime Database Management System to get real time data in order to help analyze trends in crime and devise effective measures to prevent and detect wildlife crimes across India.
This system has been successfully used to analyse trends, helping put in preventive measures as well as for successfully carrying out operations such as Operation SAVE KURMA, THUNDERBIRD, WILDNET, LESKNOW, BIRBIL, THUNDERSTORM, LESKNOW-II along with other enforcement agencies resulting in the arrest of 350 wildlife criminals and huge seizures of Tiger/Leopard Skin/bones and other trophies, Rhino Horn, Elephant Ivory, turtles/tortoises, Mongoose raw hairs as well as Mangoose hair bruses, protected birds, Marine products, live Pangolin as well as its scales, deer antlers etc. across all the states.
In order to involve the public in the fight against wildlife crime, WCCB has also developed a scheme to enroll willing persons as WCCB Volunteers.
The award was decided upon by a selection panel set up by the UN Environment and this is the second time in a row the awards are being given by UN Environment to India.(Source:pib)


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India gets UN Environment award for combating transboundary environmental crime.

Environmental changes may cut global vegetable yield by 35%: Study - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Environmental changes may cut global vegetable yield by 35%: Study.

Environmental changes such as increasing ambient temperature, ozone concentrations and decreasing water availability would decrease yields of leafy vegetables and legume, says a study.

Predicted environmental changes are likely to reduce average yields of vegetables by at least 35% globally, according to new research that highlights the need for the agriculture sector to build resilience to climate change.
Environmental changes such as increasing ambient temperature, ozone concentrations, water salinity and decreasing water availability that are predicted to occur by the mid- to end-century would decrease yields of leafy vegetables and legume, said the study which has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
If no action is taken, these changes could reduce average yields of vegetables by 35% and legumes by 9%, said the study, which involved systematic review of all available published evidence from experimental studies on impact of environmental changes on yield of vegetables and legumes.
It would also cancel out the potential increase in yield due to increase in carbon-dioxide levels, according to the study that included 174 research papers, reporting 1,540 experiments conducted in 40 countries, mainly in southern Europe, North America and South Asia during 1975 to 2016.
Previous research has shown a reduction in yield of staple crops such as rice and wheat because of changes in temperature, rainfall, but impacts on vegetables was largely unknown, the study says.
“We brought together all available published evidence on the impact of environmental change on yields of vegetables for the first time and conducted meta-analyses wherever possible,” said co-author, Professor Alan Dangour from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, which led the study.
“Urgent action needs to be taken to support the agriculture sector to increase resilience to environmental changes. It must be a priority for governments across the world,” said Dangour, highlighting the need for developing new crop varieties and enhancing agricultural management. (Source: Livemint)


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Environmental changes may cut global vegetable yield by 35%: Study.