Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, said “definitive steps” are there to take the iconic cheetah back to the Indian habitats.
According to him, the country’s forest and tree cover is steadily rising along with the wildlife population and that India has taken a quantum jump in the number of declared Ramsar sites to the current figure of 75.
Delivering India’s National Statement at the Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Montreal in Canada, he said, “as a large developing country, our forest policy is challenging to implement but our forest surveys are testimony to its success.”
“We all acknowledge that credible action is the source of strength and optimism in facing all global challenges including biodiversity. Despite India having 17 per cent of the global population, but only 2.4 per cent of the land area and only 4 per cent of its water resources, we are forging ahead in our efforts,” Yadav said.
He said India’s balance sheet in implementing the Aichi targets is pro-active and forward looking and the country is on track to meeting its commitments.
“Similarly, our agriculture, as for other developing countries, is the source of life, livelihoods and culture for hundreds of millions. Such essential support to vulnerable sections cannot be called subsidies and targeted for elimination, while they may be rationalized. Biodiversity must be promoted through positive investment. Similarly, a numerical global target for pesticide reduction is unnecessary and must be left to countries to decide,” he said.