Nameeta Prasad,

Nameeta Prasad,
Director,
International Center for Environment Audit and
Sustainable Development
15,589 species are threatened with extinction.
 784 species have become extinct in the wild since
1500 AD.
 The current species extinction rate is estimated to
be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than
the natural rate.
 Forests have disappeared in 25 countries.
 More than 90 per cent of forests have been lost in
another 29 countries.

Some facts……
15,589 species are threatened with extinction.
784 species have become extinct in the wild since 1500 AD.
The current species extinction rate is estimated to be between
1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural rate.
Forests have disappeared in 25 countries.
More than 90 per cent of forests have been lost in another 29
countries.

According to the international Convention
on Biological Diversity (1992), biodiversity
(or biological diversity) is
 the variability among living organisms from all
sources including terrestrial, marine and other
aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes
of which they are a part;
 this includes diversity within species, between species
and of ecosystems.
Ecosystem Services rendered by biodiversity
Leaf litter
Grazing
Fodder
Fuel-wood
Lopping
Grasses
Fruit/seeds
Agri. Expans.
Forest Fires
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM
Urbanisation
Assimilation
Soil protection/
formation/rejuvenation
Interception
Regeneration
Food for downstream
fauna fish
Food for
wildlife/birds
Habitat structuring
Micro-climate
Diversity
Stream hydrology
Pandit, 1997

16,306 of 41,415 species on the IUCN Red List are
threatened with extinction, reports IUCN
 total number of known extinct species now stands at 785,
while a further 65 are only found in captivity or in
cultivation. One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one
third of all amphibians and 70% of the world's assessed
plants on the 2007 IUCN Red List are considered at risk.

Among the degraded ecosystems, the freshwater
ecosystem is the most under threat.
Growing concern within the international community
for the loss of different species of animals, plants, and
micro-organisms, which is accelerating.
 One of the challenges of maintaining biodiversity

 increasing demand for biological resources caused by
population growth and increased consumption.

Habitat fragmentation caused by urbanization &
agriculture and the overexploitation of resources lead
to
 Extinction of species
 Extinction of habitats

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 states

“Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of
Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future
generations can no longer be taken for granted.”

MA identified 24 ecosystem services performed by biodiversity
and reported that 15 of them are in decline, including
 provision of fresh water,
 marine fishery,
 number and quality of places of spiritual and religious value,
 ability of the atmosphere to filter pollutants,
 regulation of natural hazards,
 pollination, and
 capacity of agricultural ecosystems to control pests.

Many ecosystem services are neither widely recognized
nor adequately valued in economic terms.
 In 1997, the combined economic value of ecosystem services was
estimated at between US$16 and $54 trillion per year. Those
services would be extremely costly or impossible to replace.

Recently, natural disasters have shown that human lives
could have been saved and damage reduced if ecosystems
had been better managed.
 Where mangrove forests were preserved , Asian Tsunami had less
effect when compared to those cleared for shrimp faming or tourist
resorts.
 Diverting the Mississippi River through a system of canals and
levees changed its sedimentation pattern and eroded wetlands.
With this natural protection gone, Hurricane Katrina caused
extensive damage to the Louisiana coastline in 2005.

Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes five
major threats to biodiversity:
 habitat change: loss and fragmentation;
 invasive alien species (bio-invasion);
 overexploitation;
 pollution and nutrient loading; and
 climate change and global warming.

Other known threats include biotechnology,
agricultural methods, desertification (spread of
deserts), and bio-piracy.

Convention on Biological Diversity, the first global
convention dealing specifically with the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity, signed at the 1992 Earth
Summit, in Rio de Janeiro.
 The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity recognized that Biodiversity remains the living
foundation for sustainable development.

In 2002, “2010 Biodiversity Target,” set to significantly
slow the decline of biodiversity at the global, regional,
and national levels by 2010.
 One of its key elements is to bring awareness of biodiversity into
mainstream economic sectors and development planning.

Governments have put legislation, policies, and programs in
place to deal with biodiversity issues.
 Because these activities are regulated by government, SAIs can play a
major role in auditing government’s actions. in this field
SAIs do not need special mandates to conduct audits on
biodiversity.
 SAIs around the world conducted at least 180 environmental
audits of ecosystems and biodiversity and 247 on nature and
recreation between 1993 and 2003.
 Like all environmental audits, an audit of biodiversity could
examine financial and compliance issues as well as performance
issues, depending on the SAI’s mandate.
 Since biodiversity issues can be complex and difficult to
understand, many SAIs hire experts to help them understand
particular issues or to clarify some points

Step
1
• Identify the country’s biodiversity and threats to
it.
Step
2
• Understand the government’s responses to these
threats and the relevant players.
Step
3
• Choose audit topics and priorities.
Step
4
• Decide on audit objectives and lines of audit
enquiry

Identify the country’s biodiversity and
threats to it
(i) Assessment of biological
resources of the country
(ii) What are the key threats to these
resources and its diversity?
Auditors need to do the following:
1. List Economic sector/activities that depend on
biological resources. Economy based on fisheries, forests, or
2.
agriculture?
Understand the nature of various types of ecosystems
in the country. Are the ecosystems mainly marine, freshwater, or
terrestrial, or are they combinations?
3. Understand the contribution that the country’s
ecosystem makes to the economy For example, are wetlands
and mangroves important to protect against flooding? Forest
based economy
4.
Understand the nature and status of species in
the country Are any species endemic or endangered?
Auditors need to do the following
1. Check whether government has identified specific threats and the
risks that these threats pose to economic development, social
prosperity, and the quality of the environment.
 In some cases, governments may not have adequately assessed the
threats to biodiversity
 Auditors may consult universities, non-governmental and international
organizations, local and state councils, laws, and the media
2. Understand the causes behind these threats
 Changes in land use, urbanization, agricultural practices, and many other
factors can drive or aggravate the threats discussed
 In addition, economic development policy, such as the increasing tourism
in the world’s biodiversity hotspots, should not be overlooked.

Understand the government’s responses
to these threats and the relevant players
(i) What is the government doing about
these threats?
(ii) Who are the players and what are
their roles and responsibilities?
Auditors need to identify the actions of the
government to meet these threats in these
areas:
1. Policies and programs
2. International treaties signed
3. Bringing in legislation and regulations
4. Economic tools and incentives
5. Environmental impact assessments
1.
2.
The auditor needs to identify the major
players involved
The auditor needs to define the role and
responsibility of each player

Choose audit topics and priorities
1. Identify the area in biodiversity which has the
highest risks to the environment and the use of
public funds
2. Is the topic auditable?
3. Can an audit make a difference?
Risk analysis to be done by SAI to define where its actions
will be most relevant and useful.
 When assessing threats to biodiversity, the auditor should
consider the

 magnitude of the actual and potential impact on the environment,
society, and the economy.


When determining the damage to the environment, the
auditor should question how reversible that damage is—
irreversible damage is especially risky.
For some SAIs, the level of expenditure by the government is
a critical factor; some monies can be earmarked for specific
legislation and directives.


First and foremost, the auditor should decide whether there
are suitable sources of criteria against which to conduct the
audit.
Sources of criteria
 government signed international biodiversity-related agreements
 government enacted laws and regulations
 Has the government made policy statements clear?
 Biodiversity-related topics included in state budgets
 Government receive external funding from international organizations
(for example, the Global Environmental Fund or the European Union)
to fulfill its biodiversity obligations related to international
agreements?

SAI will have to assess where it will be most effective
in improving the way the government protects and
conserves biodiversity.
 The auditor may consider the following questions:
▪ What are the interests of the users of the audit report,
particularly the primary users (e.g., Parliament)?
▪ What is the impact of the audit likely to be? Is the audit
likely to make a significant difference?
▪ Has the topic been audited before?
▪ What is the relevance of this topic to protect basic human
needs?
The SAI may then decide that it is not worthwhile to
audit a biodiversity issue at this stage.
 On the other hand, the SAI may include a line of
enquiry related to biodiversity in an environmental
audit, even though biodiversity is not the main issue.
 For example, in an audit of climate change, a SAI
may include a line of enquiry on the effect of
climate change on biodiversity.


Decide on audit approaches: audit
objectives and lines of enquiry.
 What are the most relevant kind of audit
▪ Financial management and regularity audit
▪ Compliance with agreements, laws, and policies
▪ Performance audit
 Use of public funds in projects and programs that focus on





conservation and biodiversity.
Are the funds spent on biodiversity programs correctly
administered, according to spending authorities and
regulations?
Are adequate financial resources allocated to protection
programs?
Is the disbursement of funds monitored?
Against what criteria is the disbursement of funds
measured?
Do official trade-offs exist in policies? If so, how do the
estimated benefits balance against the losses in biodiversity?

Compliance to internal laws/rules/regulation
 Are government policies being complied with?
 Has the government developed policies that address the
protection and conservation of biological resources in the
country? Do the policies deal with the most important threats?
 Have general policies on biodiversity been addressed, specified,
and executed in laws and other legal instruments such as plans
and budgets?

Compliance to international conventions/treaties
 Are there any conflicts or gaps between national policies on
biodiversity and the country’s environmental laws?
 Are environmental laws and regulations being adequately
enforced?
 Is there any conflict between national policies and the
international conventions that the country is a signatory to?





Have the relevant agencies defined expected results for their
programs?
Have they developed indicators and measures for these results
and are they being monitored and tracked?
Is the data used to measure performance reliable?
Are policies and programs on biodiversity achieving their
objectives and intended results?
Why are policies and programs not achieving their objectives
and intended results, and how can the causes be countered?



In 2006, the Iceland National Audit Office audited the
efforts of its government, under the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD).
In 2006, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) of Norway
conducted an audit of government activities regarding the
country’s commitments, under the CBD.
In 2004, the Mongolian National Audit Office conducted an
audit entitled “Special Protected Area Network and
Effectiveness of its Management” to assess the risk of the
unsustainable use of resources and the decline of biological
species in protected areas.


In 2004, the National Audit Office of China audited Xishuang
Banna National Nature Reserve and Jiangsu Yancheng
National Wild Bird Reserve regarding management of these
reserves
In 2005, the Office of Auditor General of Botswana
conducted a performance audit of the fishing industry to
determine how unregulated fishing activities, the absence
of a policy framework, and operational mechanisms have
affected the sustainability of fisheries and the environment.






Conserving plant genetic resources in India
Conservation and protection of tigers in
tiger reserves
Role of National biodiversity Authority
Regulation of Biodiversity in India by National
Biodiversity Authority
Role of Botanical Survey of India in meeting
India’s commitments to the Convention on
Biological Diversity
Protection of biodiversity and forests in
Rajasthan


Botanical Survey of India is the premier body for
undertaking surveys by exploring the plant resources of
the country and identifying flora with economic virtues.
After ratification of CBD in February 1994 by the
Government of India, a larger role for the BSI was
envisaged and objectives of BSI were remodeled in light of
India’s ratification of the CBD.
Audit findings:
 inadequate identification/ documentation and monitoring of plant
species.
 Very few surveys and explorations were carried out to identify and
document the Protected Areas and Fragile ecosystems.
 The Red Data Book was updated in 1990 and last updated version
was printed in 2003 thereby impacting conservation efforts.
 identification of different ethnic groups associated with usage of
plant species for different purposes was not done.
 BSI did not generate adequate data for in-situ conservation and it
did not carry out ex-situ conservation, which impacted
conservation of biodiversity.
As such, BSI could not effectively fulfill its role in meeting
India’s commitment to CBD.
 Ministry of Environment and Forests needs to ensure that all
necessary infrastructure is provided to BSI to effectively ensure
conservation of precious biodiversity and also to meet its
commitments to CBD.


National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established in 2003
by the Government of India for the regulation, conservation and
sustainable use of bio-resources of India.
 Even six years after its formation, NBA could not notify important
regulations like access to biodiversity, transfer of results of research
and intellectual property rights etc.
 ists of endangered medicinal plants in India and measures for their
conservation were not drawn up.
 NBA’s efforts in identifying threatened endangered and endemic
species and recommending guidelines for their conservation were
inadequate as list of endangered species was prepared for only
seven out of 28 states.
 It also failed to get the Peoples’ Biodiversity
Registers and database of biological resources
prepared, both of which were vital for efforts at
protection and conservation of biological
resources.
 It had no information on grant of Intellectual
Property Rights outside India on any biological
resource obtained from India or knowledge
associated with such biological resources which
is derived from India
Thank you
Nameeta Prasad, Director (Environment Audit)

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2005)
defines forest as:
 Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher
than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10
percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ.
 It doesn’t include land that is predominantly under
agricultural or urban land use.

Other experts have used definitions that are
typically characterized by:
 the area of land;
 the area’s function; and
 an ecosystem.
1.
Naturally regenerated forests

With assistance: Forests established by natural regeneration, with
deliberate silvicultural assistance from man. The source of seed or
vegetative reproduction is natural so this is a natural forest assisted by
man.

Without assistance: Forests established by natural regeneration without
deliberate assistance from man. These included virgin forests and those
regenerated by natural means.
2. Planted forests

Generally defined according to the extent of human intervention in the
forest's establishment and/or management. This in turn depends largely on
the purpose of growing the forest . Ex: Primary forest/other wooded land ,
Productive plantation (in forest/other wooded land)

FAO (2001) divides the world’s forest into the
following broad ecological zones based on
rainfall patterns, temperature, and humidity:
 tropical,
 subtropical, temperate,
 boreal.

These zones correspond largely to latitudes
(although there may well be a wide range of
forest types in any one continent or country).







Mountain forests
Tropical rain forests
Boreal coniferous forests
Temperate broadleaf deciduous forests
Mangrove
Tropical dry forests and woodlands
Subtropical dry forests
 The FAO’s forests classification above is quite
general.
 Individual countries tend to adapt the FAO’s
distribution or classification to meet their own
needs.

Forests are amongst the most diverse and
widespread ecosystems on the earth.
 They are critical in meeting human needs for
water, food, shelter, medicine, fuel wood,
fodder, and timber.
 They provide a wide range of environmental
services, which include biological diversity
conservation, watershed protection, protection
of soil, mitigation of global climate change, and
protection against desertification (FAO, 1999).

Forests are also important economically.
 They are source of livelihood and paid
employment for local economies, and make a
major contribution to national economies
through domestic and export sales of forest
products.
 According to the World Bank, 1.6 billion people
rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods

Forests also play a major social role and
contribute to people's quality of life

According to FAO (2005), forest ownership, is
either:
 Privately owned
▪ Land owned by individuals, families, private cooperatives,
corporations, industries, private religious and educational
institutions, pension or investment funds, and other
private institutions. Private owners may be engaged in
agriculture or other occupations including forestry;
 Publicly owned
▪ Land owned by the state (national, state and regional
governments) or government-owned institutions or
corporations or other public bodies including cities,
municipalities and villages; or
 Other. Neither publicly nor privately owned.

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
 guidelines on the conservation of biological diversity in tropical
production forests (ITTO, 1993) developed to optimize the
contribution of timber-producing tropical forests to the conservation
of biological diversity

The FAO’s model code of forest harvesting practice (1996)
 compiled to highlight the wide range of environmentally sound
harvesting practices that are available and to enable policy-makers
to develop national, regional, or local codes of practice to serve
particular needs.

The FAO’s governance principles for concessions and contracts in
public forests
 compiles critical factors for balancing and safeguarding public and
private interests in forest management and identify new approaches
to contractual arrangements for the provision of goods and services
from public forests.
The ITTO, in collaboration with partners, developed
guidelines for the restoration, management and
rehabilitation of degraded and secondary tropical forests
(ITTO, 2002).
 The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)
developed Legal Logging, a code of conduct for the paper
industry (to combat illegal logging). Best practices for
improving legal compliance in the forest sector
(FAO/ITTO, 2005) distill the available knowledge that
decision-makers could follow when attempting to reduce
illegal operations in the forest sector.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
1.





Aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of
wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more
than 30,000 species of animals and plants - whether they
are traded as live specimens, fur coats, or dried herbs.
Participation is voluntary.
Although CITES is legally binding on the parties, it does not
take the place of national laws.
Instead, it provides a framework to be respected by each
party.
Each country has to then adopt its own domestic
legislation to make sure CITES is implemented at the
national level. (www.cites.org)
2. Ramsar Convention
 Signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, the Ramsar
Convention is an international treaty for the
conservation and sustainable utilization of
wetlands.
 It aims to stem the progressive encroachment on
and loss of wetlands now and in the future.
 It recognizes the fundamental ecological functions
of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific,
and recreational value. (www.ramsar.org)
3. World Heritage Convention
 This was founded by (UNESCO) in 1972 .
 The Convention aims to encourage the
identification, protection, and preservation of the
earth’s cultural and natural heritage.
 It provides for the protection for those cultural and
natural “properties” deemed to be of greatest value
to humanity by selecting an international list of the
most outstanding of these.
 To date, more than 170 countries have adhered to
the Convention. (www.whc.unesco.org)
4. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
 This was signed in the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 and entered into force
on 29 December 1993.
 It is the first global agreement to cover all
aspects of biological diversity, the sustainable
use of its components, and the fair and
equitable sharing of benefits arising from the
use of genetic resources. (www.cbd.int)
5. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
 This is an international environmental treaty produced at
the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro.
 The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994.
 The treaty aims at stabilizing greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced)
changes to the global climate.
 This action was aimed primarily at industrialized
countries, with the intention of stabilizing their emissions
of greenhouse gases at 1990 levels by the year 2000, and
other responsibilities will be incumbent upon all UNFCCC
parties. (www.unfccc.int)
6. Kyoto Protocol
 This international agreement links to the United Nations Framework






Convention on Climate Change.
The Protocol aims to reduce greenhouse gases as a way of preventing
anthropogenic climate change.
It entered into force on 16 February 2005.
Countries that ratify this Protocol commit to reducing their
emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases, or they
commit to engaging in emissions trading if they maintain or increase
these emissions.
Under the treaty, countries must meet their targets primarily
through national measures.
However, the Kyoto Protocol also offers countries an three marketbased mechanisms as way of meeting their targets: emissions
trading, clean development mechanism, and joint implementation.
The mechanisms help stimulate green investment and help Parties
meet their emissions targets in a cost-effective way.
(www.unfccc.int)

Balancing the different ways that humans
engage with forests depends on good
policy and, more often than not, requires
governments to play the role of judicious
arbiter.
 One of the key tools that governments can use
is appropriate national and regional legislation
and policies.

SAIs can audit not only the performance and
the compliance of government activities, but
also the soundness of government
accountability systems and practices.
 SAIs can assist the government by strengthening
the way government manages its internal controls,
by reviewing these controls and providing
suggestions about how to improve them.
 SAIs can also suggest how government can improve
the ways it assesses and mitigates risks related to
management processes.
Phase I: Identify risks
Phase II: Understanding the forest management
entity’s efforts to mitigate risks
Phase III: Evaluate and test the capacity of the
management entity to mitigate risks
Phase IV: Choose audit topics and priorities

At this stage, the SAI is expected to be able to
identify risks pertinent to each sub-topic in the
audit.
 In identifying the risks, auditors should take into
consideration the special characteristics of forest in
question and the key players involved.

Risks related to forest management are difficult to
asses and complex, and sometimes there is no
comprehensive data available.
 SAIs may use external sources to identify risks.
 These sources include academic papers, studies done by
NGOs, interviews with relevant officials and
representatives, and information from the media

Some examples of risk are:
 Biodiversity and ecosystem loss
 Forest fire risk
 Illegal logging risk
 Conflict risk
 Revenue risk
 Illegal use of lands

Characteristics to consider
 Type of forest
▪ Tropical rainforest
 Type of ownership
▪
▪
▪
▪
State owned
Privately owned
Concessions
Traditional community
 Function of forest
 Status of forest
▪ Protected forest
▪ Productive forest
▪ Hunting ground

Key players
 The government
▪ Forest and environment departments
 Others
▪ Private companies
▪ Local community
▪ International community


The forest management entity may already be
undertaking efforts to resolve the various issues
it faces.
With this in mind, the SAI should gain an
understanding of the steps taken by the
management entity and other key players
involved.
 The SAI could get an understanding of the
management entity’s efforts to mitigate risks by
reviewing legal regulations, standard operating
procedures, policies, and instruments set out by the
government; and by interviewing some key players.

Efforts to mitigate risks
 Establish policies
 Enact legislation
 Forest biodiversity inventory
 Designate areas for permanent forest
 Phase 3 should result in the SAI having an
understanding of what the management entity
has done to mitigate the risks,
▪ Information on important topics and sub-topics,
▪ Whether the entity’s control systems are inadequate
or have the potential to create further risks
 Relevant staff and senior officials of the forest
management entity should be interviewed to
arrive at a conclusion.
During interviews, the entity’s various controls
systems and procedures could be discussed in
order to gain a better understating.
 Additionally, sample-testing could also be
undertaken to check whether the systems and
procedures are sufficiently effective and reliable.

This is the most important and crucial stage.
 As with Part III, the SAI’s capacity is very important
when it comes to choosing audit topics and priorities.

 The SAI needs to consider the auditors capacity to answer
questions about the audit and its findings, the level and
nature of public attention surrounding the subject, the
amount of money involved, and the nature and extent of the
impact that might result from the audit findings.

How: SAIs could conduct interviews with government
officials, analyze previous audit reports, and research
on public opinion regarding the topic and sub-topics to
be audited.
1: Choose primary audit topic
2: Decide the sub-topic
3: Identify related risk
4: Formulate potential audit objective and researchable questions
5: Decide audit criteria

This is most important step in the audit
process.
 The SAI needs to identify key forest issue of
greatest importance for the recipients of the
report. This should be done in consultation with
the client to ensure both parties agree and
clearly understand the main purpose of the
audit.

List of topics audited by SAIs
 Performance Audit to the Actions Implemented for the Management of
Forestry Resources
 Application of policies and rules on forestry
 Audit of the effective use of land and forest resources in Forest
management office for Moscow area and Moscow city
 Protection of valuable forest habitats in the Natura 2000 network areas
 Audit of Forest Fire Control System
 Audit of the project of sustainable management of native forest
 Project for forest environment preservation
 Forest Fire Prevention and Fight
 Management of Recreational Forest
 Audit on the Federal Program: Sustainable Amazon

The primary topic is a concise statement of
the audit’s mission or purpose.
 Once confirmed, sub-topics needs to be
segmented into to facilitate planning the audit,
including the risk analysis, internal controls and
the roles of each SAI unit working on the audit.

After deciding on the topic and sub-topics,
the SAI then needs to begin identifying the
risk or risks with the potential to influence
the direction and aims of both the audit
and the work of each of the units working
on the sub-topics.
 The identified risks have the potential to
become part of the audit’s ultimate findings
 Environmental Impact Assessment can act as an
information resource to identify forest risks.

Risk identification enables the SAI to develop
a clearer picture of the audit’s direction and
possible findings.
 This helps the SAI formulate the audit’s principal
objective.
 Once a potential audit objective is formulated, the
next step is to develop the kinds of research
questions or lines of inquiry that are likely to guide
the investigation towards achieving this objective.
 The questions must be sufficiently comprehensive
to enable the auditors to fulfill the potential audit
objective.
Auditors will then examine the ways in which these
questions can be answered.
 This is crucial to determining the audit’s criteria.
 Each question will require corresponding and
measurable criteria to determine the degree of
compliance of the entity being audited.
 Audit criteria may be developed from international
conventions agreements (bilateral and
multilateral), national regulations, policies, best
practices, and benchmarks


Performance audit of Implementation of Forest
Conservation Act, 1980 Forest Department,
Madhya Pradesh
 Objectives of the performance audit were to assess
whether:
▪ provisions of the Act were followed by the State Government in
case of diversion of forest land for non-forest purpose;
▪ conditions imposed by the GOI and the State Government for
diversion of forest land were adhered to;
▪ mandatory conservation measures such as compensatory
afforestation, catchment area treatment etc. were carried out
effectively and efficiently;
▪ financial management was effective; nd system of monitoring
and evaluation was in place and effective.

Audit findings:
 Utilization of forest land for non-forest purposes






without obtaining prior approval from the Central
Government
Non carrying out and failure of compensatory
afforestation plantations
catchment area treatment was not carried out at all
Safety zones not created around the mining area
Non-reclamation of mining area
Environment clearance not obtained
Plantations were not monitored and evaluated at all by
the nodal officer, the Conservators of Forests or an
outside agency or any of their representatives

Conclusion
 Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 was enacted with the objective of
maintaining a sustainable balance between the developmental
needs of the country and the conservation of natural environment.
 This objective largely remains un-achieved in the State of Madhya
Pradesh due to poor implementation of compensatory
conservation measures.
 Non-carrying out of conservation measures in large number of
cases; non-utilization of funds received from user agencies; and
failure of significant number of compensatory plantations reflect
that the State Government was unable to mitigate the adverse
effects of degradation of the environment resulting from diversion
of green forests for non-forest purposes.
 Further, there were significant cases of violation of the Act where
neither any penal action was initiated by the Government nor any
compensatory conservation measures was carried out after getting
these cases regularized from the Central Government.

The audit objectives were as follows:
 to assess whether the protection development
and management of wildlife and its
environment in the protected areas and outside
has been carried out efficiently and effectively;
 to see the extent of compliance with the
Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972; and
 to see whether monitoring of implementation
of various activities was effective.

Audit criteria
 Provisions of the Act, guidelines, rules, action
plans and orders of the Government of India
and of the State Government, as well as orders
of the Supreme Court.
 Priorities fixed by the department for
conservation and protection of wildlife.
 Plans for scientific management and systematic
growth of national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries

Audit findings
 Non-preparation of management plans
 Representative potential areas not notified as protected areas
 Irrational creation of protected areas network without keeping in view the









ecological status of a particular area
Variation between notified area and actual area
Eco-sensitive zones around protected areas not constituted
Non-declaration of wetlands as protected areas for conservation
Regular census of all the animals and birds in the wildlife area had not
been conducted.
Non-protection of animals from poaching and illicit trade
Operation of rights/concessions and other illegal/prohibited activities in
wildlife protected areas
Encroachments in wildlife areas
Unauthorized construction of roads in protected areas
Illegal grazing in protected areas

In Chhattisgarh, Performance audit of
conservation of Wildlife in National Parks
and Sanctuaries (2006) showed that the
objective of conserving wild life and its
habitat was accorded very low priority.
There was limited communication network
and anti-poaching operations were largely
neglected. Forest guards were untrained
and old and the wildlife population had also
shown a steep decline.

In Arunachal Pradesh, Performance audit of
Wildlife preservation revealed that the
objective of preservation of wildlife in
accordance with the Wild Life Protection Act,
1972 and National Wild Life Action Plan
(NWLAP) 2002-16 was not achieved in
Arunachal Pradesh in full due to the absence
of financial control, delay in formulation of
Management Plans, State Government’s
inability to tackle the encroachment problems
and lack of planning and prioritization of
preservation/conservation measures
Thank you