Biodiversity hotspots of INDIA

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.

The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers in two articles in “The Environmentalist” (1988 & 1990), revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others in “Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions”.

To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on Myers 2000 edition of the hotspot-map, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation.Around the world, at least 25 areas qualify under this definition, with nine others possible candidates. These sites support nearly 60% of the world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a very high share of endemic species.

The Western Ghats of southwestern India and the highlands of southwestern Sri Lanka, separated by 400 kilometers, are strikingly similar in their geology, climate and evolutionary history. The Western Ghats, known locally as the Sahyadri Hills, are formed by the Malabar Plains and the chain of mountains running parallel to India's western coast, about 30 to 50 kilometers inland. They cover an area of about 160,000 km² and stretch for 1,600 kilometers from the country's southern tip to Gujarat in the north, interrupted only by the 30 kilometers Palghat Gap.

Sri Lanka is a continental island separated from southern India by the 20-meter-deep Palk Strait. The island, some 67,654 km² in size, has been repeatedly connected with India between successive interglacials, most recently until about 7,000 years ago by a land bridge up to about 140 kilometers wide.

The Western Ghats mediates the rainfall regime of peninsular India by intercepting the southwestern monsoon winds. The western slopes of the mountains experience heavy annual rainfall (with 80 percent of it falling during the southwest monsoon from June to September), while the eastern slopes are drier; rainfall also decreases from south to north. Dozens of rivers originate in these mountains, including the peninsula’s three major eastward-flowing rivers. Thus, they are important sources of drinking water, irrigation, and power. The wide variation of rainfall patterns in the Western Ghats, coupled with the region’s complex geography, produces a great variety of vegetation types. These include scrub forests in the low-lying rainshadow areas and the plains, deciduous and tropical rainforests up to about 1,500 meters, and a unique mosaic of montane forests and rolling grasslands above 1,500 meters.

Precipitation across Sri Lanka is dependent on monsoonal winds, resulting in much of the island experiencing relatively low rainfall (less than 2,000 millimeters per year), except for the south-western “wet zone” quarter, where precipitation ranges to as much as 5,000 millimeters per year. While dry evergreen forests occupy almost the entirety of the “dry zone,” dipterocarp-dominated rainforests dominate the lowlands of the wet zone, and some 220 km² of tropical montane cloud forest still persist in the central hills, which rise to a maximum altitude of 2,524 meters.

Stretching in an arc over 3,000 kilometers of northern Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and the northwestern and northeastern states of India, the Himalaya hotspot includes all of the world’s mountain peaks higher than 8,000 meters. This includes the world’s highest mountain, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) as well as several of the world’s deepest river gorges.

This immense mountain range, which covers nearly 750,000 km², has been divided into two regions: the Eastern Himalaya, which covers parts of Nepal, Bhutan, the northeast Indian states of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, southeast Tibet (China), and northern Myanmar; and the Western Himalaya, covering the Kumaon-Garhwal, northwest Kashmir, and northern Pakistan. While these divisions are largely artificial, the deep defile carved by the antecedent Kali Gandaki River between the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountains has been an effective dispersal barrier to many species.
The abrupt rise of the Himalayan Mountains from less than 500 meters to more than 8,000 meters results in a diversity of ecosystems that range, in only a couple of hundred kilometers, from alluvial grasslands (among the tallest in the world) and subtropical broadleaf forests along the foothills to temperate broadleaf forests in the mid hills, mixed conifer and conifer forests in the higher hills, and alpine meadows above the treeline

APPSC GEOGRAPHY QUESTIONS

The Locational and Spatial Setting of India
1. The_____runs half way through the country.
2. The English name of Sindhu river is _____.
3. In Geographical area, India occupies _____ place in the world.
4. In India,_____state gets the earliest Sunrise.
5. Difference between Greenwich Meantime and the Indian Standard time is _____
6. India’s total land frontier is _____ kms.
7. India’s total Coastline is _____ kms.
8. The Indian island closest to the Equator is _____.
9. India is separated from Srilanka by _____
10. The smallest state in area is _____.
11. The state stands on three seas is _____.
12. The border country sharing the longest boundary with India is _____.
13. The boundary line between china and India is _____.
14. The biggest state in area is _____.
15. The longest coastal state is _____.
16. The total islands in India are _____.
17. Indian Union consists of _____ states _____ Union territories.
18. The _____ island located between India and Srilanka.
19. _____ longitude is identified as the basis for standard meridian in our country. 20. The capital of Nepal is _____.
21. The number of coastal states in India is _____.
22. Andhra Pradesh has the coastline of____.
23. The number of countries that share the common land frontiers with India _____.
24. Our nearest neighbour across the ocean waters is _____.
25. The Minicoy island is the part of _____ Islands.

Answers:
1. Tropic of Cancer;
2. Indus;
3. Seventh;
4.Arunachal Pradesh;
5. 51/2hours;
6. 15,200;
7.6,100;
8. The Great Nicobar;
9. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk strait;
10. Goa;
11.Tamilnadu;
12. China;
13. MacMohan Line;
14. Rajasthan;
15. Gujarat;
16. 247; 17. 28, 7;
18. Pamban;
19. 82 1/2° East;
20.Kathmandu;
21. 9; 22. 972 kms; 23.7;
24.SriLanka;
25. Lakshadweep.

Physical Features- Relief and Drainage
1. The Himalaya mountains are the young ____ mountains.
2. The Himalayas, Indo-Gangetic plains were occupied by the ____ sea.
3. The Himalayas form India’s northern frontier from ____ state to ____ state.
4. The longitudinal distance of Himalayas is____kms.
5. Greater Himalayas are also known as___
6. K2 mountain peak is in ____.
7. The highest mountain peak of the Himalayas in India is ____.
8. Pamir Plateau is located in ____.
9. The longitudinal extent of the great plains in India is ____.
10. The younger alluvium is known as ____.
11. Terai is a ____.
12. Bundelkhand upland is an extension of ____ plateau.
13. The peninsular plateau is slightly tilting towards ____.
14. The highest peak of peninsular in India ____.
15. The Deccan plateau is bounded on north by ____.
16. ____ river flows through a rift valley.
17. ____ river and ____river head streams formed the main stream of Ganga.
18. The highest peak in India is ____
19. The height of Everest mountain is ____.
20. The longest range in Himachal range is ____.
21. The south-west ward extension of Pir Panjal range is ____.
22. The popularise hill stations are situated in____range.
23. The outer Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh are called as ____
24. The valleys which are separate the Siwalik range from the Himachal mountains are called as ____.
25. The ____ are responsible for causing rainfall in the plain during summer and monsoon type of climate in the country.
26. The pebble studded zone porous beds is known as ____.
27. The older alluvium of the flood plain is called the ____.
28. The tidal forests are called ____.
29. The highest peak in the Aravalli range is ____.
30. The eastern part of Satpura range is called the ____ plateau.

Answers:
1. Fold;
2. Tethys;
3. Jammu Kashmir, ArunachalPradesh;
4. 2400;
5. Himadri ranges;
6.Karakoram range;
7. K2;
8. Trans Himalayas;
9. 3200 kms;
10. Khadar;
11. Marshy land under the Bhabar Zone;
12. Malwa;
13. East;
14. Anaimudi;
15. Satpura mountain range;
16. The Narmada;
17. Alakananda Bhagirathi;
18. Mt. Everest;
19. 8,848 mts;
20. Pir Panjal;
21. Dhula Dhar range;
22. Himachal;
23.Mishmi hills;
24. Duns;
25. Himalayas;
26.Bhabar;
27. Bhangar;
28. Sundarbans;
29.Gurusikhar;
30. Maikal.

Climate
1. India receives bulk of its rainfall from _____ monsoon gives
2. The retreating monsoon gives abundant rainfall to _____ coast
3. The monsoon burst first takes place in coastal areas in _____
4. The word ‘monsoon’ has been derived from the Arabic word _____
5. The highest temperature recorded in _____ state.
6. In summer _____ pressure system develops on the land surface of India.
7. The Indian agriculture is referred to as a gamble in the _____.
8. The rainfall is less than 75 percent of the
normal is called _____. 9. DPAP is the abbreviation of _____
10. The Government of India launched the National flood control programme in _____.

Answers:
1.South-West;2.Western;3.Kerala; 4.Mausam;
5.Rajasthan; 6.Low; 7.Monsoons; 8.drou gh;
9. Drought Prone Area Programme; 10. 1954

Natural Vegetation
1. _____ State is having the largest area under forest
2. Sandal wood is produced mainly in _____ forests.
3. The tidal forests are also known as _____ forests.
4. Sundarbans are named after the _____ tree.
5. Teak is abundantly grown in _____ forests.
6. Alpine vegetation is found in _____
7. _____ percentage of land is required to maintain ecological balance.
8. The forest area in the country accounted for _____percent in the total geographical area.
9. Economically, most important- forests in India is _____.
10. The highest concentration of forest land is in _____.

Answers:
1. Madhya Pradesh;
2. Tropical Moist Deciduous;
3. Sundarbans/Mangrove;
4.Sundari;
5.Karnataka;
6. Upper Himalayas;
7.33;
8. 20.55;
9. Tropical moist deciduous forests;
10. Arunachal Pradesh

.

STATUS OF TIGER RESERVES

National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme

National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme: At A Glance

1. Background: MoEF was operating four centrally sponsored afforestation schemes during the 9th Plan, i.e. Integrated Afforestation and Eco-development Project Scheme (IAEPS), Area Oriented Fuel wood and Fodder Project Scheme (AOFFPS), Conservation of Non-Timber Forest Produce including Medicinal Plants (NTFPS), and Association of ST and Rural Poor in Regeneration of Degraded Forests (ASTRPS). The Mid-Term Evaluation of the projects under these Schemes recommended a decentralised approach and speedy fund transfer mechanism. Taking cue from these recommendations, a Pilot Scheme, Samnavit Gram Vanikaran Samridhi Yojana (SGVSY) was launched in 2000-01 utilising the delivery mechanism of Forest Development Agency (FDA) and Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC). 47 Pilot projects launched during 9th Plan were highly successful in terms of achievement of the set objectives.

As per 10th Plan document of Planning Commission relating to the Forests and Environment sector (para 9.1.27), the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme was initiated by scaling-up the SGVSY project experience and converging all afforestation schemes of the 9th Plan period to avoid duplicity or redundancy, and at the same time keeping in focus the decentralization agenda of the government. NAP is being operated as a 100% Central Sector Scheme.

2. Objectives:

The overall objective of the scheme is to develop the forest resources with people’s participation, with focus on improvement in livelihoods of the forest-fringe communities, especially the poor.

NAP Scheme aims to support and accelerate the ongoing process of devolving forest protection, management and development functions to decentralized institutions of Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) at the village level, and Forest Development Agency (FDA) at the forest division level.

3. Components:

Financial support under NAP Scheme is available for:

1. Mobilisation of village JFMC, and Micro-planning in project villages

2. Afforestation – following components:

• Aided Natural Regeneration

• Artificial Regeneration

• Bamboo plantation

• Cane Plantation

• Mixed Plantation of trees having MFP & medicinal value

• Regeneration of perennial herbs & shrubs of medicine value

• Pasture Development/ Silvipasture

3. Soil & Moisture Conservation

4. Entry Point Activity (for village development; average assistance Rs. 1.6 lakh per village)

5. Fencing, Monitoring & Evaluation, Training, Awareness raising, Overheads

4. Institutional framework and its strengthening

The NAP is being implemented through a 2-tier structure of Forest Development Agency (FDA) at the forest division level and Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) at the village level. Thus, FDA is the confederation of JFMCs in that forest division. FDAs are registered under the Societies Registration Act. JFMCs are registered either with the Forest Department or under Statutory provisions. The district-level officers of relevant line departments of the State Govt. and Panchayat Raj Institution are members of FDA.

The recent experience with present institutional framework of FDA at the forest division level and JFMC at the village level is encouraging. All 28 States have adopted this institutional framework including in the Autonomous Hill Districts in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

The institutions of FDAs and JFMCs are highly innovative resource transfer mechanisms whereby the Govt of India channelises funds directly to the grass root level implementing agency for the afforestation activities.

The structure of FDAs and JFMCs also caters to the gender concerns, whereby women membership to the extent of 50% has been made mandatory in these bodies. Members of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes are the focus group in JFMCs.

Training of FDA and JFMC members is organized by State Forest Departments, as well as by the Regional Centres of National Afforestation and Eco-development Board (7 Regional Centres in the country).

To help and guide the FDAs and JFMCs, there is also a National-level Steering Committee of NAP and another at State level called State-level Coordination committee chaired respectively by Secretary (Environment and Forests), Government of India, and Chief Secretary of the State Government.

The following additional steps are being undertaken to further strengthen these institutions:-

1. A Training Needs Assessment exercise is being undertaken by the Regional Centres of National Afforestation and Eco-development Board to identify the needs and capacities of different categories of staff and members of JFMCs and FDAs for efficient implementation of NAP, and subsequently develop training modules for the same.

2. It is proposed to encourage linkage of JFMCs with other rural development programme. JFMCs may leverage outside funds to augment Entry Point Activity component of NAP for this purpose.

3. It is also proposed to formulate a financial management manual for FDAs and JFMCs so as to strengthen account keeping at the local level, and thus, empower communities for local-level decision making.

4. A national level JFM study has also been launched to assess strengths and weaknesses of implementation of JFM, and the progress of empowerment of the local communities in decision-making.

5. Establish a system of e-governance in National Afforestation and Eco-development Board.

5. Monitoring and evaluation mechanism

1. With a view to increasing the efficiency of NAP to meet the above goals, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise of the FDA projects is undertaken both by the State and Central Governments.

2. National Afforestation and Eco-development Board undertakes the first independent mid-term evaluation of the FDA projects within 24 months of sanction of the project with focus on people’s participation, functioning of JFMCs/ EDCs and the micro-planning exercise.

3. The final evaluation is required to be carried in the fourth year of the Project.

4. So far, National Afforestation and Eco-development Board has launched mid-term evaluation in respect of 250 FDA projects (including 47 Projects under SGVSY Scheme of the IX Plan).

5. In addition, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has randomly selected 60 FDAs each in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 for monitoring of area coverage and forest cover increase therein.

6. Activities undertaken so far

715 FDAs have been operationalised so far at a cost of Rs. 1,514.79 Crores to treat a total area of 9.23 lakh ha. (as on 31.3.2006). Bamboo plantation, medicinal plants and Jatropha have been given adequate focus under NAP during the current plan period. State Governments have been advised to earmark 10% of the project area under NAP, as per feasibility, for Jatropha plantation. Rehabilitation of jhumlands (shifting cultivation) have been given specific focus under the programme, and so far 19 jhum projects have been sanctioned in NE States and in Orissa.

7. Progress/ Achievement made during 2005-06

95 new FDA projects have also been sanctioned to cover an area of 55,232 hectare through 2,391 Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs). These include 12 new FDA projects in the North East to cover a total project area of 5380 ha. through 183 JFMCs. An amount of Rs. 248.58 Crores has been released to Forest Development Agencies during current financial year, out of which the release to North Eastern States is Rs. 45.80 Crores (up to 31.3.2006).

8. Physical Outputs and Expected Outcomes

The goal of NAP is to promote improvement or increase in forest and tree cover. Two outcome parameters have, therefore, been identified with respect to NAP:

(i) 5 years after sanction, new plantations would, for each bio-geographic region, show the prescribed survival rates.

(ii) 6 to 12 years, after sanction, depending on the species, the new plantations would be revealed as either new area under Forest and Tree Cover or enrichment of forest cover in Satellite Imagery

9. Comparison of progress as compared to previous years

Year-wise progress of National Afforestation Programme in the Tenth Five Year Plan is given in the table below.

Year	No. of new FDA projects operationalised	No. of JFMCs	Project Area	Release (Rs. Crores)
2002-03	237	8209	405631	151.26
2003-04	231	7850	283272	207.98
2004-05	105	3474	107963	233.00
2005-06 (up to 31.3.2006)	95	2,391	55,232	248.58

10. State-wise Status

Progress of Forest Development Agency (FDA) projects from April, 2000 onwards (As on 31.3.2006)

Sl. No.	Name of State/Union Territory	No. of FDA Projects/Proposals sanctioned	Total project cost (in Rs. crores)	Area (in ha.)
1	Andhra Pradesh	32	83.02	47400
2	Chhattisgarh	32	73.83	42514
3	Gujarat	21	60.87	30445
4	Haryana	18	53.44	22105
5	Himachal Pradesh	27	52.38	32378
6	Jammu & Kashmir**	31	74.61	47839
7	Karnataka	45	112.15	59180
8	Madhya Pradesh	49	112.48	76520
9	Maharashtra	45	98.62	65738
10	Orissa	40	69.65	55022
11	Punjab	9	17.65	8235
12	Rajasthan	33	39.22	28190
13	Tamil Nadu	32	93.60	52253
14	Uttar Pradesh	58	104.35	63004
15	Uttaranchal	37	54.17	39134
16	Goa	3	2.39	1250
17	Jharkhand	30	56.33	39850
18	Bihar	10	16.12	12315
19	Kerala	24	47.54	16250
20	West Bengal	17	39.07	22856
	Total (Other States)	593	1261.49	762478
21	Arunachal Pradesh	19	27.04	21416
22	Assam	29	36.56	26955
23	Manipur	13	26.58	18374
24	Nagaland	16	37.71	25528
25	Sikkim	7	27.72	15280
26	Tripura	12	25.57	19405
27	Mizoram	19	60.12	26770
28	Meghalaya	7	12.00	7400
	Total (NE States)	122	253.30	161128
	TOTAL	715	1514.79	923606

11. Budget Allocation of the Scheme and Progress of Expenditure

Revised Estimate for the scheme during 2005-06 was Rs. 248.58 crores, out of which Rs. 248.58 crores were released till 31.3.06

12. Implementing organization along with details

The NAP Scheme is being implemented through two-tier decentralized mechanism of Forest Development Agency (FDA) at Forest Division Level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at the village level.

13. New initiatives under the scheme

A number of initiatives have been taken by the Ministry to expedite the implementation of the scheme as well improve the qualitative aspects of implementation. These include: (i) in-principle decision has been taken by the National-level Steering Committee for electronic transfer the funds from Government of India to the FDAs to cut-down the delays, (ii) efforts are being made to step-up monitoring and evaluation of the FDA projects by activation of State-level Coordination Committees for NAP, increased field visit by officers, and expeditious commissioning by the States of first independent concurrent evaluation of FDA projects, (iii) 10 programmes have been arranged through the Directorate of Forest Education for training and capacity building of front-line staff of FDAs and JFMCs, and (iv) 45 district-level inter-departmental linkage workshops have been approved in the work programme of the Regional Centres of NAEB for the year 2005-06 and 2006-07 for promoting the linkage of NAP with other developmental programmes for enhancing the sustainability of JFM, and (v) a new component has been added in NAP to universalize JFM in all forest-fringe villages in the country.