Context:
Airgun Surrender Abhiyan was selected as a model wildlife conservation programme by UNESCO.
Airgun Surrender Abhiyan:
- An initiative to get local residents involved in environmental management and wildlife protection.
- Launched in 2021.
- Launched by – Arunachal Pradesh
- 1st Airgun free village – Lumdung, Arunachal Pradesh
- Aim –
- To discourage hunting and raise awareness about the detrimental effects of wildlife killing.
- To encourage the voluntary surrender of airguns and licensed guns to check their use in hunting birds and other wildlife.
- Activities – Awareness campaign to maintain the tradition of hunting in the old style without guns and educating about the role of birds and animals in pollination and in creating forests.
- People’s participation –
- People began organising airgun surrender ceremonies locally.
- In Pasighat area of Arunachal, some villagers shunned airguns after realising pests had taken over their paddy fields because the birds, their nemesis, had been hunted out.
- Recognition – ‘Conservation Award’ at the 6th North East Green Summit of Forest Ministers of North East held in Assam in 2021.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
With reference to the ‘New York, Declaration on Forests’, which of the following statements are correct?
1. It was first endorsed at the United Nations Climate Summit in 2014.
2. It endorses a global timeline to end the loss of forests.
3. It is a legally binding international declaration.
4. It is endorsed by governments, big companies and indigenous communities.
5. India was one of the signatories at its inception.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2021 Prelims]
(a) 1, 2 and 4 only
(b) 1, 3 and 5 only
(c) 3 and 4 only
(d) 2 and 5 only
Answer: (a)
Explanation:
The New York Declaration on Forests is a non-legally binding political declaration. India is not a signatory of the declaration.
