The importance of environment enhanced in India in the aftermath of Stockholm Conference (1972)when steps were taken on environmental protection and conservation at the national level. This led to development of Environment Statistics which, to a large extent, are used to explain the relationship between the economic activities and their impact on the environment. Economic indicator such as GDP is no longer considered to be an adequate measure for sustainable development. The UNSD finalized a set of environmental indicators for international compilation in 1995. After this, the CSO has been bringing out Compendium of Environmental Statistics regularly since 1997, to meet the needs of policy makers, planners and the public. This issue is the ninth in the series which provides data on five core parameters relating to biodiversity, atmosphere, land/soil, water and human settlements at one place.