QUESTION-Which place among the following has recently been designated as INDIA`S FIRST OECM SITE on world wetlands day 2022 ?
(a)KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK
(b)ARAVALLI BIODIVERSITY PARK ,GURGAON
(c)NILIGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE
(d)MANAS NATIONAL PARK
ANS-b
Related facts-
- On World Wetlands Day, that is, on February 2, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park was announced as the first( Other Effective Area – based Conservation Measures site,) OECM site.
- The OECM tag is provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN.
- According to IUCN, the OECM sites are not protected but are rich in biodiversity.
- The tag designates the area as a biodiversity hotspot on the international map.
- OECM is a status for a place that has achieved effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside protected areas like forests.
- The OECM areas were defined at the Convention on Biological Diversity that was held in 2018.
- The definition of OECM site mainly covers three main areas. They are ancillary conservation, secondary conservation and primary conservation.
- The proposal to make Aravallis as the OECM was made by the National Biodiversity Authority.
- The park is spread over 390 acres. It has a semi – arid vegetation. It has more than 43,000 shrubs, 101,000 trees and 300 endemic plant species.
- Aravallis are considered as the green lungs of Delhi. They support leopards, fox, sambhar and jackals. The Aravallis provide 7.07% of oxygen to Delhi.
- The Aravallis act as a barrier between the desert in the west and the fertile land in the east.
By-Akash Singh