B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 Environmental Law 2014 Dec Question Paper with Solutions

Part I: what an ecosystem is

Meaning. An ecosystem is a natural unit made of living things and their non-living surroundings, working together through the exchange of energy and matter. The British ecologist Arthur Tansley introduced the term in 1935. A forest, a lake, a grassland, a coral reef or even a small pond is an ecosystem. So, in the largest sense, is the Earth.

The legal definition. Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 defines an ecosystem as "a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit". Three words matter. It is dynamic, always changing. It is a complex, many parts at once. And it is a functional unit, working as a whole.

Its structure.

1. Abiotic (non-living) parts: sunlight, temperature, rainfall, air, water, soil and minerals.
2. Biotic (living) parts, arranged by what they eat:

1. producers: green plants and algae, which make food from sunlight by photosynthesis;
2. primary consumers: herbivores, such as deer and insects;

1. Forest: the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats.
2. Grassland: the grasslands of Rajasthan and Gujarat, home of the Great Indian Bustard.
3. Desert: the Thar.
4. Mountain: the Himalayan alpine meadows.
5. Freshwater: rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands.
6. Coastal and marine: the mangroves of the Sundarbans, the Chilika lagoon and the coral reefs of the Gulf of Mannar.
7. Man-made: farms, plantations and cities, simpler and less stable than natural ones.

Part II: ecosystem services

Meaning. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. The idea was set out for the world in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of 2005, an international scientific assessment called for by the United Nations. It means that nature does work for people for which no one sends a bill. More recent writing, such as that of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, calls them "nature's contributions to people".

The four groups.

Why they are lost. No one owns a service and no one pays for it. A wetland that saves a town from floods earns its owner nothing, so he may drain it and build. A forest that protects a reservoir pays the forest owner nothing, so it may be cleared. The loss falls on other people, later, and elsewhere. This is a classic failure of the market, and it is the reason the law must step in.

Part III: how Indian law protects ecosystems and their services

1. The Constitution. Article 48A directs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife. Article 51A(g) makes it every citizen's duty to protect the natural environment, "including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life". The courts read Article 21 to include ecological balance.

2. The cases.

1. Hinch Lal Tiwari v. Kamala Devi, AIR 2001 SC 3215. A village pond had been allotted for house sites. The Court held that forests, tanks, ponds and hills are nature's bounty, maintaining a delicate ecological balance. That balance is essential to the quality of life under Article 21. It ordered the pond restored.

1. The Environment (Protection) Act 1986, section 2(a), protects "the inter-relationship" among water, air, land and living things. That is the language of the ecosystem.
2. The Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 protects whole habitats through sanctuaries, national parks and reserves.
3. The Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980, section 2, requires the Central Government's prior approval before forest land is used for a non-forest purpose.
4. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016. When forest is diverted, the user pays for compensatory afforestation and the net present value of the forest lost. That is an attempt to price the services the forest would have given. The money goes to the Funds under sections 3 and 4.
5. The Biological Diversity Act 2002, section 37, lets a State notify biodiversity heritage sites, much used for sacred groves.
6. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017 require the "wise use" of wetlands, so that their services are kept.

Conclusion. An ecosystem is "a dynamic complex" of living communities and their non-living environment "interacting as a functional unit" (CBD Article 2). It runs on energy flow and nutrient cycles and keeps itself in balance. Ecosystem services are the benefits people draw from it: provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Because they are unpriced, they are easily lost. Indian law protects them through Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g) and the cases (Hinch Lal Tiwari, Intellectuals Forum, Chinnappa). It also uses protected areas, the Van Adhiniyam, net present value, heritage sites and the Wetlands Rules.