Forests, Wetlands & Oceans — Practice MCQs

With reference to the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025, consider the following statements:

1. They allow compensatory afforestation for critical mineral projects to be carried out on degraded forest land at twice the extent diverted.
2. States can grant a working permission for linear infrastructure projects while final central approval under the Act is still pending.
3. The rules are issued under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following statements regarding the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023:

1. It exempts land within 100 km of international borders, the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control used for national security projects.
2. Up to 5 hectares of forest land can be diverted for defence-related infrastructure, with a higher 10-hectare limit in left-wing extremism affected areas.
3. Following the amendment, the dictionary-meaning definition of forest as laid down in the T.N. Godavarman case continues to apply unchanged to all categories of land.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following statements about the India State of Forest Report 2023:

1. Total forest and tree cover stands at about 25.17% of India's geographical area.
2. India's mangrove cover is approximately 4,991 sq km, equivalent to about 0.15% of the land area.
3. India's forest carbon stock is about 30.43 billion tonnes, with the report noting an additional 2.29 BT created since the base year for the NDC sink target.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Match the following Indian states with the new Ramsar sites added in 2025:

Choose the correct match:

With reference to the Ramsar Convention and India, consider the following statements:

1. India currently has the highest number of Ramsar sites in Asia.
2. Both Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake are presently on the Montreux Record.
3. Indore and Udaipur received Wetland City Accreditation at Ramsar COP15 held at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

With reference to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, consider the following statements:

1. It is the third implementation agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
2. It addresses Marine Protected Areas, Marine Genetic Resources and benefit sharing, capacity building and Environmental Impact Assessments in the high seas.
3. India has signed and ratified the BBNJ Agreement.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Match the following coral reef types with the example given:

Choose the correct match:

Consider the following statements about India's mangrove cover:

1. Mangrove cover is approximately 4,991.68 sq km, around 0.15% of India's land area.
2. West Bengal has the largest share of India's mangrove cover, followed by Gujarat and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
3. The Sundarbans is the only mangrove forest in the world that hosts tigers.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following statements about the Green India Mission:

1. It is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.
2. Its long-term target is to afforest 24 million hectares and create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent by 2030.
3. It is funded primarily through the National CAMPA Fund.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following Assertion (A) and Reason (R):

Assertion (A): Global ocean photosynthesis has been declining over the last two decades.

Reason (R): Recent studies report that the world's oceans became approximately 21% darker between 2003 and 2022, reducing the depth at which sunlight can penetrate.