Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on February 17, 2020 inaugurated the 13th Conference of Parties on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) at Gandhinagar through video conferencing.
What the Prime Minister says?
- India is one of the most diverse countries of the world. With 2.4% of the world’s land area, India contributes about 8% of the known global biodiversity.
- For ages, conservation of wildlife and habitats has been part of the cultural ethos of India, which encourages compassion and co-existence. “Inspired by Gandhi ji, the ethos of non violence and protection of animals and nature have been suitably enshrined in the Constitution of India and is reflected in several laws & legislations.
- The Prime Minister spoke of the increase in India’s forest cover, which currently stands at 21.67% of the total geographical area of the country.
- He mentioned how India has been championing the cause of “climate action” through conservation, sustainable lifestyle and green development model. In this context, he mentioned the push towards Electric Vehicles, Smart Cities, and Conservation of Water.
- He said India is one of the few countries whose actions are compliant with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping rise in temperature to below 2 degree Celsius.
- The Prime Minister explained how focussed species conservation programmes have shown encouraging results. “India has achieved its target of doubling the number of tigers from 1411 in 2010 to 2967, two years before the committed date of 2022,” he observed.
- He also observed that the CMS COP 13 Logo is inspired by the traditional ‘KOLAM’ from southern India, which has a profound significance in the context of living in harmony with nature.
- Noting that India is a part of the Central Asian Flyway for migratory birds, the Prime Minister said that with a view to conserve birds along the Central Asian Flyway and their habitats, India has prepared a ‘National Action Plan for conservation of Migratory Birds along the Central Asian Flyway’.
The Convention on Migratory Species is the only multilateral treaty dedicated to addressing the needs of migratory species and their habitats on a global scale. The conference will set in motion actions needed to better protect migratory species that rely on multilateral cooperation for their survival.”
Facts
- Migratory species of wild animals move from one habitat to another during different times of the year, due to various factors such as food, sunlight, temperature, climate, etc. The movement between habitats, can sometimes exceed thousands of kilometers/miles for some migratory birds and mammals. A migratory route will typically have nesting sites, breeding sites, availability of preferred food and requires the availability of suitable habitat before and after each migration.
- India is home to several migratory species of wildlife including snow leopard, Amur falcons, bar headed Geese, black necked cranes, marine turtles, dugongs, humpbacked whales, etc.
