Environment & Biodiversity Current Affairs MCQs

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The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) has officially signed an agreement with the Government of India to set up its headquarters and secretariat in India. IBCA was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2023 during the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger. It was formally approved by the Union Cabinet in February 2024. IBCA is implemented by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The alliance aims to protect seven major big cat species: Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar, and Cheetah.

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The 2024 report titled “Plant Breeding Programmes in Indian Zoos: Assessment and Strategic Actions” by the Central Zoo Authority highlighted a gap in conservation breeding for the endangered Himalayan Musk Deer in Indian zoos. The Himalayan Musk Deer (Moschus leucogaster) is native to the Himalayas and can be found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and China. It inhabits alpine forests and scrublands. Known for being solitary, nocturnal, and territorial, the males have curved canines and a musk gland, making them vulnerable to poaching. The species is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and is under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

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The 2025 Conferences of the Parties (COPs) of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions will be held in Geneva from April 28 to May 9. The conferences aim to address hazardous chemicals like chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos is a pesticide classified as ‘moderately hazardous’ by the World Health Organization. Despite being banned in over 40 countries, it is still approved for use in India on 18 crops. The chemical is linked to neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, irreversible brain damage in unborn children, and environmental contamination due to its mobility.

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Recently, delegates met in New York for the first session of the Preparatory Commission to frame rules for the High Seas Treaty and prepare for the first Conference of Parties (COP1). The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, also called the High Seas Treaty, is a United Nations (UN) treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It is the first treaty aimed at protecting ocean areas beyond national borders and is often called the Paris Agreement for the Ocean. It legally binds countries to protect marine biodiversity and promote sustainable use through international cooperation. The treaty will help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) and will become effective 120 days after 60 countries ratify it.

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A new project called SeaCURE has begun on the south coast of England to remove carbon dioxide from the sea. The SeaCURE project is an initiative of the United Kingdom (UK) government. The SeaCURE project is testing if taking carbon directly from seawater can be a low-cost and large-scale way to cut down carbon dioxide in the air. This method is different from usual carbon capture techniques that focus on emissions at their source or pull carbon dioxide from the air. SeaCURE targets the ocean, where carbon levels are up to 150 times higher than in the atmosphere.

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The State Government of Himachal Pradesh has notified the Tsarap Chu Conservation Reserve in the Spiti Valley as India’s largest conservation reserve. It is located at the confluence of the Unam River and Charap Nala. The reserve is bounded by the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh to the north, Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary to the east, Kabjima Nala to the south, and Chandratal Wildlife Sanctuary to the west. It is famous for the snow leopard, also called the ‘ghost of the mountains’.

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Keoladeo National Park, also called Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, is located in Rajasthan. It was established as a hunting reserve in the 19th century by Maharaja Suraj Mal and became a bird sanctuary in 1956. It was declared a national park in 1981 and named after a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva inside the park. The park spreads across 29 square kilometres and includes woodlands, swamps, and wet grasslands. It is a Ramsar site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its rich biodiversity. Recently, the park is also becoming a safe home for turtles, sheltering eight out of ten species found in Rajasthan.

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A new genus and species of eusauropod dinosaur named Jinchuanloong niedu was recently discovered from a fossilized partial skeleton with a nearly complete skull in Gansu province, China. Jinchuanloong niedu is an early member of Eusauropoda, a group of long-necked, herbivorous, four-legged dinosaurs. Its fossil was found in the lower Xinhe Formation near Jinchang city, dating back to the Middle Jurassic period, about 165 million years ago. Sauropods are known for their large size, long necks and tails, four legs, and plant-based diet. They were the largest land animals ever and lived from the Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous worldwide. After a global warming event in the late Early Jurassic, eusauropods became the only surviving sauropod lineage.

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Recently, scientists unearthed large stromatolites dating back 600 million years in the pine-covered ridges of Chambaghat in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh. Stromatolites are organo-sedimentary structures formed by algae and cyanobacteria trapping calcium carbonate in shallow marine environments. These structures show thin layers that are flat, dome-shaped, or hummocky in form. They were especially common during the Precambrian period, which is over 542 million years ago. While most stromatolites formed in marine seas, some from the Proterozoic era, over 2.5 billion years ago, lived in intertidal zones and freshwater bodies.

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Recently, Calotes zolaiking, a rare garden lizard species, was recorded for the first time in Meghalaya. It was first described in 2019 from Aizawl district in Mizoram by a team of scientists. This lizard is about 5 inches long and has green shades with dark patches and sharp ridged scales called “strongly keeled” scales. Calotes belong to the Agamidae family and are arboreal, meaning they live in trees. India is home to 14 Calotes species, found in gardens and forests across India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands.