Deadline ends, Parivesh 2.0 portal to register exotic species gets 32 applications

Parivesh (Proactive and responsive facilitation by interactive, virtuous and environmental single window hub) is an application to seek clearances related to environment, wildlife and forest from central, state and district authorities.

Sources in the Delhi Wildlife Department said the species registered so far as part of the 32 applications are mostly exotic birds. “Some of the exotic species mentioned in the applications are sun conure, green-cheeked conures, common iguana, ball pythons, moluccan cockatoos, yellow-crowned amazon, yellow-headed amazon, African grey parrot, scarlet macaws, Buffon’s macaw, military macaw, red-bellied macaw, lorikeet and lovebirds,” an official said.

Officials cited a lack of awareness about the portal as a reason behind fewer applications.

According to a MoEFCC gazette notification dated February 24, anyone in possession of animals registered under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, shall fill out the application for registration within six months from the date of commencement of the notification. Accordingly, August 31 was set as the last day for registration of such species.

As per the rules, if one acquires such animals after August 31, the person has to register them within 30 days.

Officials argued that most people were unaware of the registration process. “No significant effort was made by the ministry to raise awareness regarding the registration process and deadline. Even posters circulated by us raising awareness about the process were not funded by the ministry. The department made them on its budget,” said an official.
Another reason cited was people fearing legal action if found in possession of exotic species. “It’s not illegal to keep such birds and animals. If you have imported the species mentioned in Schedule IV after the implementation of the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022, you just need to show the import licence and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) export permit,” the official said.

Officials also maintained processing applications takes time as the department is understaffed, which also deters people from getting involved in the process. “To increase registrations on Parivesh 2.0 for exotic animals acquired before August 31, the deadline needs to be extended,” an official said.