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a) Convention On Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international legally-binding treaty with three main goals: conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Its overall objective is to encourage actions which will lead to sustainable future. The conservation of biodiversity is a common concern of humankind. The Convention on Biological Diversity Covers biodiversity at all levels: ecosystems, species and genetic resources.

It consists of two main protocols:

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an

international treaty governing the move- ments of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biologi- cal Diversity and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding, thereby contributing to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components. It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its tenth meeting on 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

COP-11 in brief:

During the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which was held in Hyderabad, the developed countries agreed to double funding to support efforts in developing states towards meeting the internationally - agreed Biodiversity Targets and the main goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-20.

The Saragasso Sea, the Tonga archipelago and key corals sites off the coast of Brazil are among a range of marine areas to receive special attention by governments as part of renewed efforts to sustainably manage the world's oceans agreed in Hydrabad. Many of these areas receive no protection at present.

Other key decisions taken at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 11) include new measures to factor biodiversity into environmental impact assessments linked to infrastructure and other development projects in marine and coastal areas.

Salient outcomes are:

For the first time, developing countries at COP 11, including India and several African states, pledged additional funds above and beyond their core funding towards the work of the CBD.

The conference also saw the launch of the Hyderabad Call for Biodiversity Champions. The programme will accept pledges from governments and organizations in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. The government of India committed over US$ 50 million as part of the programme.

The 193 Parties to the CBD agreed to classify a diverse list of marine areas, some renowned for containing 'hidden treasures' of the plant and animal world, as ecologically or biologically significant. Parties to the Convention also called for more research into the potential adverse effects of underwater noise from ships on marine and coastal biodiversity, and highlighted the growing concern on the adverse effects of marine litter. It also recognized the growing challenge of climate change impacts on coral reefs, which, Parties agreed, will require significant investment to overcome. There was also a call to fisheries management bodies to play a stronger role in addressing the impacts of fisheries on biodiversity.

COP 11 also agreed to a number of measures to engage the main economic sectors, such as business and development organizations, to integrate biodiversity objectives in their plans and programmes.

A decision on climate change and biodiversity called for enhanced collaboration between the CBD and UN climate change initiatives including Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Given that forests are home to more than half of all terrestrial species, initiatives such as REDD+, where developing countries can receive payments for carbon offsets for their standing forests, can potentially help achieve international biodiversity targets, as well as those concerned with cutting carbon emissions. The decision covers technical advice on the conservation of forests, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. However the COP also noted discussions around the need for biodiversity safeguards relating to REDD+

and similar incentives. Actions such as afforestation in areas of high biodiversity value, or the conversion of natural forests to plantations, for example, may have adverse impacts on biodiversity.

Further together with FAO and other organizations, the CBD Secretariat will establish a global 'Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management' to support developing countries in the implementation of relevant CBD provisions.

The Conference welcomed the establish- ment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Ser- vices (IPBES) earlier this year and recognized the potential contribution it could make to enhance the effectiveness of the Convention. COP requested IPBES to contribute to assess- ments of the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. It was decided that the Convention's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice at its next meeting would provide additional explanatory information on the tasks requested from IPBES and that it would convey this information to IPBES before the its second plenary meeting at the end of 2013.

b) Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES)

Annually, international wildlife trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal specimens. The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. Levels of exploitation of some animal and plant species are high and the trade in them, together with other factors, such as habitat loss, is capable of heavily depleting their populations and even bringing some species close to extinction. Many wildlife species in trade are not endangered, but the existence of an agreement to ensure the sustainability of the trade is important in order to safeguard these resources for the future.

Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

CITES was conceived in the spirit of such cooperation. Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs.

CITES Resolution

CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union). The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington in 1973, and in 1975 CITES entered into force.

CITES is an international agreement to which States (countries) adhere voluntarily. States that have agreed to be bound by the Convention are known as Parties. Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties - in other words they have to implement the Convention - it does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

How CITES works?

CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls. All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system. Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.

The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need.

Appendix I

Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Any trade in these species requires export and import permits. Notable animal species include

the red panda, gorilla, the chimpanzee species, tigers, Asiatic lion, Asian elephant, etc.

Appendix II

Appendix II includes species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become so unless trade in specimens of such species is subject to strict regulation in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival. No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES. A non-detriment finding and export permit are required by the exporting Party.

Examples of species listed on Appendix II are the American black bear, Hartmann's mountain zebra, African grey parrot, bigleaf mahogany, etc.

Appendix III

This Appendix contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade. In all member countries trade in these species is only permitted with an appropriate export permit and a certificate of origin.

Examples of species are the two-toed sloth by Costa Rica, African civet by Botswana, and the alligator snapping turtle by the USA.

c) The Ramsar Convention

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

The Convention's mission is:

the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world.

uses a broad definition of the types of wetlands covered in its mission, including lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans.

The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 1,869 sites (known as Ramsar Sites) covering around 1,836,000 km², up from 1,021 sites in 2000. The nation with the highest number of sites is the United Kingdom at 168; the nation with the greatest area of listed wetlands is Canada, with over 130,000 km², including the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary at 62,800 km².

d) World Heritage Sites

World Heritage Sites are extremely exceptional cultural and natural properties nominated voluntarily by signatory nations, which have been approved for inclusion in the List by the World Heritage Committee.

In 1972, worldwide concern over the potential destruction of the Earth's cultural and natural heritage led the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to establish an international treaty called the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. More commonly known as the World Heritage Convention, it aims to identify, celebrate and protect the Earth's irreplaceable natural and cultural heritage, and to ensure it is conserved for all people, for all time.

For the purposes of the World Heritage Convention, the following are considered as "cultural heritage":

Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

Groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

Sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and of man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological points of view.

For the purposes of the World Heritage Convention, the following are considered as "natural heritage":

Natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view;

Geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation;

Natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.

Benefits

A key benefit of ratification, particularly for developing countries, is access to the World Heritage Fund. Annually, about US$4 million is made available to assist States Parties in identifying, preserving and promoting World Heritage sites. Emergency assistance may also be made available for urgent action to repair damage caused by human-made or natural disasters. In the case of sites included on the List of World Heritage in Danger, the attention and the funds of both the national and the international community are focused on the conservation needs of these particularly threatened sites.

Sites inscribed on the World Heritage List also benefit from the elaboration and implementation of a comprehensive management plan that sets out adequate preservation measures and monitoring mechanisms. In support of these, experts offer technical training to the local site management team.

Finally, the inscription of a site on the World Heritage List brings an increase in public awareness of the site and of its outstanding values, thus also increasing the tourist activities at the site.

The Convention sets out the duties of States Parties in identifying potential sites and their role in protecting and preserving them. By signing the Convention, each country pledges to conserve not only the World Heritage sites situated on its territory, but also to protect its national heritage.

The States Parties are encouraged to integrate the protection of the cultural and natural heritage into regional planning programmes, set up staff and services at their sites, undertake scientific and technical conservation research and adopt measures which give this heritage a function in the day-to-day life of the community. The Convention stipulates the obligation of States Parties to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties. These reports are crucial to the work of the Committee as they enable it to assess the conditions of the sites, decide on specific programme needs and resolve recurrent problems. It also encourages States Parties to strengthen the appreciation of the public for World Heritage properties and to enhance their protection through educational and information programmes.

A cluster of sites from the Western Ghats in peninsular India has been inscribed in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The clusters of sites are in the landscapes of Agasthyamalai, Periyar, Anamalai, Nilgiris, and Upper Cauvery in Kodagu, Kudremukh, and Sahyadri. These constitute the thirty nine sites in seven sub-clusters of the Western Ghats, identified and proposed as a potential UNESCO World Natural Heritage Cluster Site, in 2006. The proposal was made by the Ministry of Environment and Forests based on expert inputs from ATREE, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun.

The Western Ghats are a biological hotspot harbouring 60 Important Bird Areas (IBA), 325 globally threatened species, many endemic species and sacred groves, across six states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala).

The area of 150,000 km2 _{boasts a varied}

ecosystem with a historical Gondwanaland origin and significant global value. The Ghats can lay claim to a unique landform and biodiversity; however they are also under threat of increased developmental pressure from energy needs. Coffee, tea and rubber plantations too have grown over the years, leaving the area with less undisturbed space.

Under the title of a Natural Heritage Site, it is expected that areas of the Western Ghats pronounced World Natural Heritage sites will be able to restrict some development, allowing these areas to be better conserved.

e) Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals

Migration is a natural phenomenon by which individuals of a given species moves between areas which they inhabit at different times of the year. Migratory species of animals not only need good habitats for reproduction but also during their non-breeding and all along their migratory routes. In an ever-changing world, human pressure is high on some of those habitats, and also often on the animals themselves (hunting, incidental catch, etc). To conserve species whose movements regularly cross national borders, international cooperation is of vital importance.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention or CMS) was adopted in Bonn, Germany in 1979 and came into force in 1985. Contracting Parties work together to conserve migratory species and their habitats by providing strict protection for endangered migratory species ; concluding multilateral Agreements for the conservation and management of migratory species which require or would benefit from international cooperation and by undertaking cooperative research activities.

To avoid any migratory species becoming endangered, the parties must endeavour:

to promote, cooperate in or support research relating to migratory species;

to provide immediate protection for migratory species included in Appendix I; and

to conclude Agreements covering the conservation and management of migratory species listed in Appendix II.

To protect endangered migratory species, the parties to the Convention will endeavour:

to conserve or restore the habitats of endangered species;

to prevent, remove, compensate for or minimise the adverse effects of activities or obstacles that impede the migration of the species; and

to the extent feasible and appropriate, to prevent, reduce or control factors that are endangering or are likely to further endanger the species.

ENVIRONMENTAL