EnviStats India 2024

About EnviStats India 2024:

• It is compiled in accordance with the SEEA (System of Environmental- Economic Accounting)
• The current publication which is seventh in series covers Energy Accounts, Ocean Accounts, Soil Nutrient Index and Biodiversity.

Highlights EnviStats India 2024

• There has been around 72% increase in the number and around 16% increase in area for the Total Protected Area during the period 2000 to 2023.
• The coverage of Mangroves, which is an important sub ecosystem of the ocean ecosystem, has increased around 8% over the years 2013 to 2021.
• The report also includes the taxonomic faunal and floral diversity of India, the status of the Leopard and Snow leopard, information on Genetic Conservation using data from the stakeholder Ministries/agencies.
• Also, the Species Richness of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened species by taxonomic groups has been compiled using spatial datasets from IUCN.

What is the System of Environmental- Economic Accounting?

• It is an agreed international statistical standard for describing the interaction between the economy and the environment, as well as the stocks and changes in stocks of environmental assets
• It aims to integrate perspectives from other disciplines and, where relevant, provide an improved body of information for environmental economic accounts.
• There are two sides of SEEA–the SEEA-Central Framework (SEEA-CF) and the SEEA-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA)
  • SEEA-Central Framework: It focuses on the individual components of the environment that provide material and space for all economic activities.
  • SEEA-Ecosystem Accounting: It is a complementary framework of SEEA-CF constitutes an integrated and comprehensive statistical framework for organising data about habitats and landscapes, measuring the ecosystem services, tracking changes in the ecosystem assets, and linking this information to economic and other human activity.

Q1: What are Mangroves?

These are dense salt-tolerant forests found along tropical and subtropical coastlines. Covering approximately 4,740 square kilometers, they are a unique ecosystem which offer ecological as well as economic utility for coastal areas.

Source: Press Note on EnviStats India 2024: Environment Accounts