Biodiversity - 2

In the midst of ocean, garbage patches develop due to collection of marine waste brought together by ocean currents. These are dubbed as gyres. The Great Eastern Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean is the size of Rajasthan and Maharashtra combined.

In 1956, the name of International Union for Preservation of Nature was changed to International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its Headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland.

The World Wildlife Week, as well as the Indian Wildlife Week are celebrated from 1^st to 7^th October, each year.

India has been divided into 10 biogeographic zones.

The theme for this year's World Environment Day celebrations is Think.Eat.Save. Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. The theme for World Environment Day 2012 was 'Green Economy'.

Indo-Burma is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which extends from Eastern India and Southern China across Southeast Asia and includes Australia, but excluding the Malay Peninsula. In recent times, six species of large mammals have been discovered here – large antlered muntjac, annamitemuntjac, grey shanked douc, annamite striped rabbit, leaf deer and saola.

Kanha National Park is a national park and a Tiger Reserve in the Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh, India. The park has a significant population of Royal Bengal Tiger, leopards, the sloth bear, Barasingha and Indian wild dog. The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel Jungle Book.

Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year. The name and concept of Earth Day was pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. He proposed March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.
The Earth Hour is not observed on the same date each year. It began in 2008 and was held on March 29 that year. In 2013, it was observed internationally on March 23.

Forest Survey of India (FSI) is a government organisation in India under the union Ministry of Environment and Forests for conducting forest surveys and studies. The organisation came into being in June 1981. It is headquartered at Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies. It was established on 1^st July 1916 to promote the survey, exploration and research of the fauna in the region. It is headquartered at Kolkata, West Bengal.

Agasthyamalai Hills, located towards the extreme south of Western Ghats have the highest concentration of species in this entire region.

The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialised countries to reduce emission of greenhouse gases. The Protocol was adopted by parties to the UNFCCC in 1997, and came into force in 2005.

The Cartagena Protocol on biosafety is an international agreement on biosafety, as a supplement to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by genetically modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

Coral reefs in India cover an area of 2375 square kilometres, with 4 major coral reef areas identified for intensive conservation and management. These are Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kutchh, Lakshwadeep Islands and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Together, they contain 80% of global coral diversity.

Some species of birds have gone extinct in recent times, including the Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa Caryophyllacea) and the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia Superciliosa).

Lonesome George was a male Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii) and the last known individual of the subspecies, also known as the Galápagos' tortoise. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creature in the world. George served as a potent symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos and internationally.