Assistance to Botanic Garden (ABG) scheme

In News: A scheme by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was ineffective in conserving threatened and endemic plants in the country, said a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for the financial year 2020-2021.

Assistance to Botanic Garden (ABG) scheme

• It is a scheme of MoEF&CC
• It was implemented through Botanical Survey of India (BSI)
• It had a budget of Rs 48 crore
• Objective: ex-situ conservation and multiplication of threatened and endemic plants species

Botanical survey of India (BSI):

• Established in 1890

• Headquartered at Kolkata
• There are 11 circle offices of BSI in Itanagar, Shillong, Gangtok, Allahabad, Solan, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Port Blair.
• The Headquarters Organisation is the central coordinating office of the Survey in addition to the administrative wing and the other Divisions.

Objectives:

• undertaking intensive floristic surveys and collecting accurate and detailed information on the occurrence, distribution, ecology and economic utility of plants in the country
• collecting, identifying and distributing materials that may be of use to educational and research institutions
• acting as the custodian of authentic collections in well planned herbaria and documenting plant resources in the form of local, district, state and national flora.

Miscellaneous:

• MoEF&CC approved a lab-cum-demonstration project titled Sequential production of Bio-Diesel, Bio-Ethanol, Bio-Hydrogen and Methane from leather solid wastes and effluent treatment sludges.
• The project was approved for Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai at a total project cost of Rs 77.11 lakh December 2015.
• The project envisaged delivery of environmental benefits like effective solid waste management techniques for tanneries, better pollution abatement techniques, avoidance of groundwater contamination and efficient greenhouse emission control techniques.
• Only one unit of a bio-diesel recovery had been established in March 2018 against the expected physical outputs of four distinct fuel recovery units, an audit in January 2022 observed

Source: DTE

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) Consider the following statements: (2014)

1. Animal Welfare Board of India is established under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
2. National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body.
3. National Ganga River Basin Authority is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2 and 3