.png "India Submits 7th Biodiversity Report to Convention on Biological Diversity")
- It was prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), coordinated by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), using inputs from 33 ministries and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
- The report is India’s first “progress card” under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted in 2022, assessing 23 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs) through 142 indicators.
- Only two targets are on track: forest/tree cover at 25.17% of India’s area and restoration of 24.1 million hectares of degraded land (close to the Bonn Challenge pledge).
- It highlights flagship species growth—tigers (3,167), stable lion and rhino populations, and the first national snow leopard count.
- India’s forest carbon stock rose by 81.5 million tonnes (total 7,285.5 million tonnes), while renewable energy capacity reached 51.93%, surpassing its 50% target.
Question:
Q.1 According to the Seventh National Biodiversity Report, India’s forest and tree cover currently accounts for approximately:a) 20.5%
b) 22.8%
c) 25.17%
d) 30.2%
Answer: c) India’s forest and tree cover is 25.17% of the total geographical area, which is one of the two biodiversity targets currently on track.
