DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN, J.

1. The dynamics of the jurisdiction authorised by Article 226 of the Constitution of India and the potential for affirmative action under it as part of ecology and biodiversity jurisprudence animates me in my thoughts and considerations of the several issues thrown up in this batch of writ petitions.

2. Biodiversity is our natural capital making up the living landscape around us. It influences the food we eat, the medicine that we administer, the clothes that we wear and everything else relating to our life. It is the variety of life and includes plants and animals with all its genetic variations and complex natural ecosystems that support them. It is the core component of sustainable development underpinning economic growth and has climacteric role in developing locally distinctive and sustainable societies.

3. Conservation of biodiversity is vital to response to climate change and in the delivery of key ecosystem services like food, flood management, pollination, clean air and water. Conservation includes restoring and enhancing species, populations and habitats and in the optimal sustainable yield in the use of natural resources.

4. The lotic ecosyst