Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your knowledge nugget for today.
Knowledge Nugget: Geo-tagging of Chinar trees
Subject: Environment
(Relevance: Understanding the geo-tagging of Chinar trees in Jammu and Kashmir is important for the UPSC exam, as it highlights conservation efforts and raises awareness about important aspects related to this tree. Furthermore, the UPSC has previously asked questions about various trees and related environmental facts.)
Why in the news?
Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir government launched the “Tree Aadhaar” mission to conserve the region’s chinar trees, which have been decreasing in number over the years. The initiative involves conducting a census of chinar trees and giving a unique identity to each one of them.
Story continues below this ad
Key Takeaways :
1. Chinar, also known as Oriental plane tree (plantus orientalis var cashmeriana), is a maple-like tree with a huge canopy and is found in cool climate regions with sufficient water.
2. The tree is a characteristic of the Eastern Himalayas. It takes 30-50 years for a tree to mature and 150 years to reach its full size. The tree can grow up to a height of 30 metres while its girth ranges from 10 to 15 metres.
3. Chinar is the “state tree” of Jammu & Kashmir, now a Union Territory. The tree is a major tourist attraction in the valley during the autumn season when its green leaves slowly change into crimson red and golden.
4. The tree finds a special place in the art, literature and craft of Kashmir — local papier mache, embroidery, hand-woven carpets and walnut wood carvings often feature chinar motifs.
Story continues below this ad
5. The name “chinar” was given to the tree by the Mughals, with some suggesting that it was Mughal emperor Jahangir who coined the term.
6. Notably, Mughals played a significant role in expanding chinar plantations in the Kashmir Valley and parts of the Chenab region in Jammu. The Mughals considered this tree a “royal tree.”
Chinar Conservation Project
1. The project aims to enable the government to monitor the status of each Chinar tree. Notably, permission from the government is required to cut down a Chinar tree, even if it is on private property. However, trees are often cut down without authorisation. Therefore, the Chinar conservation project focuses on improving the monitoring of these trees.
2. The new initiative involves conducting a census of chinar trees across the Kashmir valley and the Chenab region. As part of the process, the government has not only enumerated chinar trees but also given a unique identity — called Tree Aadhaar — to each chinar tree. The census has been done district-wise. Each tree has been geo-tagged.
Story continues below this ad
3. As part of the initiative, metallic QR codes have been placed on chinar trees. When scanned, these codes will provide information about each tree across 25 parameters. This includes the tree’s longitude and latitude, age, height, girth, number of branches, and overall health. Additionally, the information will cover the tree’s canopy and any ecological threats it may face.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes) and Satellite tagging of Ganges dolphin
1. The Union government’s Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) programme was launched after India joined the ‘Mangrove Alliance for Climate’ during the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Egypt in November 2022. The initiative was officially launched on June 5, 2023 on the occasion of World Environment Day.
2. Mangroves are not just some of the most bio-diverse locations in India, they also protect the coastlines from the vagaries of inclement weather. As climate change increases the incidence of extreme weather events across the world, mangrove plantations have shown to make coastal lands resilient, preventing flooding, land erosion and acting as a buffer for cyclones. Furthermore, Mangroves are also excellent carbon sinks.
1. The first Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) was tagged in Assam on December 18, 2024, marking a historic milestone for Project Dolphin, which aims to conserve India’s National Aquatic Animal.
Story continues below this ad
2. The tagging exercise aims to enhance understanding of species’ seasonal and migratory patterns, range, distribution, and habitat utilization, especially in fragmented or disturbed river systems, as stated in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change press release.
3. The Gangetic dolphin is one of five species of river dolphin found around the world. It is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.
4. In 2009, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, declared the Gangetic river dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal of India, in what was an attempt to boost awareness of the species and community participation in its conservation.
5. Both the Indus and Ganges dolphins have been listed as ‘Endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since the 1990s. This classification indicates that the species has “a very high risk of becoming extinct in the wild”.
Story continues below this ad
(References: Geo-tagging and ‘Aadhaar’: How, why the J&K govt is trying to conserve chinar trees, Knowledge nugget of the day: Satellite tagging of a Ganges dolphin)
🚨 Click Here to read the Union Budget Special issue of the UPSC Essentials magazine for February 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
Story continues below this ad
6 min read
The tree is a major tourist attraction in the valley during the autumn season when its green leaves slowly change into crimson red and golden. (Express photo)
The government had declared the Ganga River Dolphin ‘the National Aquatic Animal’ in the first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) on October 5, 2009. (Source: Wikimedia commons)
