Registration of Exotic Animals-PARIVESH 2.0 Portal

About Exotic Species:

• Exotic species refer to animals or plants that are moved from their natural habitat to a new location, often due to human activities.
• Status of registration: So far, Delhi's forest and wildlife department has registered eight exotic species: ball python, iguana, cockatiel, red-eared slider turtle, African grey parrot, Amazonian parrot, blue-headed parrot, and conure.
• Criteria: According to the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, any individual possessing species listed under Schedule IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, must report and register them.
• Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022: This amendment introduces Section 49 M, which mandates the registration of the possession, transfer, birth, and death of species listed in the CITES Appendices and Schedule IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Concerns with Exotic Species:
  • Non-regulation: Many exotic species are imported and bred in India without proper registration, posing risks such as zoonotic diseases.
  • Pandemic risk: The COVID-19 pandemic, being zoonotic, highlighted the dangers associated with the unregulated trade and ownership of exotic animals.
  • Smuggling concerns: Activists have raised alarms over the increasing smuggling of endangered exotic animals into India, especially from Southeast Asia. Significant seizures have been reported in Assam and Mizoram, with animals like Kangaroos, Koalas, and Lemurs being confiscated.

About the PARIVESH 2.0 Portal:

PARIVESH 2.0 is a web-based workflow application developed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for the online submission and monitoring of proposals related to environmental, forest, wildlife, and coastal regulation zone clearances. 

• Acronym: PARIVESH stands for Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous, and Environmental Single Window Hub.
• Developed by: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• Functionality: It offers a single-window solution for managing all green clearances and monitors compliance across India. 
  • The platform emphasises process transformation, technology integration, and domain expertise.

Q1. What are invasive species?

Invasive alien species (IAS) are species whose introduction and/or spread outside their natural past or present distribution threatens biological diversity.

Source: Last Date for declaring Exotic animals listed under Schedule IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is 28 August 2024.