India already accounts for 7-8% of the recorded species of the world.

India is one of the 17 megadiverse countries. With only 2.4% of the land area, India already accounts for 7-8% of the recorded species of the world.  India is equally rich in associated traditional and indigenous knowledge.

Systematic surveys of flora and fauna of the country covering all the ecosystems started with the establishment of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) in 1890 and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in 1916.  Almost 70% of the country’s land area has been surveyed and around 45,000 species plants and 89,000 species of animals have been described till date. It has been estimated that another 400,000 species may still exist in India, which so far remain undescribed.

The list of recorded species, in different taxonomic groups

Taxonomic group	No. of species			% of world flora
	India		World
Angiosperms	17500	(5725)	250000	7.0
Gymnosperms	48	(10)	650	7.4
Pteridophytes	1200	(193)	10000	12.0
Bryophytes	2850	(938)	14500	19.7
Lichens	2075	(518)	13500	15.0
Fungi	14500	(3500)	70000	20.7
Algae	6500	(1924)	40000	16.30
Virus/Bacteria	850		8050	10.6
Total	45523	(12808)	406700	11.80

Estimated number of described species

Taxonomic group	No. of species		% in India
	World	India
PROTISTA (Protozoa)	31250	2577	8.24
ANIMALIA
Mesozoa	71	10	14.08
Porifera	4562	486	10.65
Cnidaria	9916	842	8.49
Ctenophora	100	12	12.00
Platyhelminthes	17500	1622	9.22
Nemertinea	600	-	-
Rotifera	2500	330	13.20
Gastrotricha	3000	100	3.33
Kinorhyncha	100	10	10.00
Nematoda	30000	2850	9.50
Nematomorpha	250	-	-
Acanthocephala	800	229	28.62
Sipuncula	145	35	24.14
Mollusca	66535	5070	7.62
Echiura	127	43	33.86
Annelida	12700	840	6.61
Onychophora	100	1	1.00
Arthropoda	987949	68389	6.90
Crustacea	35534	2934	8.26
Insecta	867391	59353	6.83
Arachnida	73440	5818	7.90
Pycnogonida	600	16	2.67
Pauropoda	360	-	-
Chilopoda	3000	100	3.33
Diplopoda	7500	162	2.16
Symphyla	120	4	3.33
Merostomata	4	2	50.00
Phoronida	11	3	27.27
Bryozoa (Ectoprocta)	4000	200	5.00
Entoprocta	60	10	16.66
Brachiopoda	300	3	1.00
Pogonophora	80	-	-
Priapulida	8	-	-
Pentastomida	70	-	-
Chaetognatha	111	30	27.02
Tardigrada	514	30	5.83
Echinodermata	6223	765	12.29
Hemichordata	120	12	10.00
Chordata	48451	4994	10.40
Protochordata	2106	119	5.65
Pisces	21723	2546	11.72
Amphibia	5150	240	4.66
Reptillia	5817	460	7.91
Aves	9026	1232	13.66
Mammalia	4629	397	8.58
Total (Animalia)	1196903	86905	7.25
Grand Total (Protista + Animalia)	1228153	89492	7.28

India’s strategies for conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity in the past have comprised providing special status and protection to biodiversity rich area by declaring them as National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Ecologically fragile and sensitive areas; off loading pressure; from reserve forests by alternative measures of fuelwood and fodder need satisfaction; by afforestation of degraded areas and wastelands; creation of ex-situ conservation facilities such as gene banks etc.

Special efforts are continuously being made for conservation of endangered, endemic and economically important species of plants and animals.  The functional base of the two major agencies involved in exploration, inventorization and documentation of biodiversity in general i.e. BSI and ZSI has been further expanded to include new areas such as inventorization of endemic, rare and threatened species, evolving conservation strategies and studies on fragile ecosystems and protected areas etc.

Efforts have also been initiated towards inventorization of microbial diversity by strengthening the institutional capabilities and setting up of depositories.

An All India Coordinated Project for Capacity Building in Taxonomy (AICOPTAX) that envisages establishment of Centres for Research in identifying priority gap areas (e.g. virus, bacteria, micro lepidoptera etc.) in the field of taxonomy, education and training and strengthening of BSI and ZSI as coordinating units, has been launched since 1999. The project has organized specialized groups drawn from universities, botanical and Zoological Surveys of India to take up taxonomic work on animal viruses, bacteria and archaea, algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, palms, grasses, bamboos, orchids, helminthes and nematodes, micro lepidoptera and mollusca. The project is operational in 82 units as of now.