India - Main Details-Status and Trends of Biodiversity

India - Main Details

Status and Trends of Biodiversity

Overview

India is one of the 17 “megadiverse” countries and is composed of a diversity of ecological habitats like forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, and desert ecosystems. Almost 70% of the country has been surveyed and around 45,000 plant species (including fungi and lower plants) and 89,492 animal species have been described, including 59,353 insect species, 2,546 fish species, 240 amphibian species, 460 reptile species, 1,232 bird species and 397 mammal species. Endemism of Indian biodiversity is significant with 4950 species of flowering plants, 16,214 insects, 110 amphibians, 214 reptiles, 69 birds and 38 mammals endemic to the country. One of the major causes for the loss of biodiversity in India is the expansion of agriculture in previously wild areas. Other impacts include: unplanned development, opening of roads, overgrazing, fire, pollution, introduction and spread of exotics, excessive siltation, dredging and reclamation of water bodies, mining and industrialization. In this century, the Indian cheetah, Lesser Indian rhino, Pink-headed duck, Forest owlet and the Himalayan mountain quail are reported to have become extinct and several other species (39 mammals, 72 birds and 1,336 plants) are identified vulnerable or endangered.

Number and Extent of Protected Areas

The network of protected areas presently covers 4.74% of the country’s total land area and includes 94 national parks and 501 wildlife sanctuaries. Of these, 100 cover both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and 31 are marine protected areas. There are also 14 Biosphere Reserves and several Reserved Forests, which are part of the most strictly protected forests outside the protected areas. India also has areas declared as a part of the International Bird Area Network. 14000 sacred groves have been documented.

Percentage of Forest Cover

As per the latest report of the Forest Survey of India (2003), forests cover 23.68% of India’s total geographic area, which includes 3.04% of the tree cover. Area under grasslands is about 3.9% and deserts cover about 2%. It is estimated that India has about 4.1 million ha of wetlands (excluding paddy fields and mangroves). The marine ecosystem in India covers 2.1 million sq. km, and the total area covered by mangroves is estimated at about 6,700 sq. km.

National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan

Major features of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

The main goals identified in India’s National Policy and Macrolevel Action Strategy on Biodiversity (1999) include: i) Conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity including regeneration and rehabilitation of threatened species. ii) Securing participation of State Governments, communities, people, NGOs, industry and other stakeholders. iii) Realizing consumptive and non-consumptive values of biodiversity through research and development iv) Ensuring benefits to India as country of origin of biological resources and to local communities and people as conservers of biodiversity, creators and holders of indigenous knowledge systems, innovations and practices. v) Ensuring consideration of biodiversity concerns in other sectoral policies and programmes. Numerous and wide ranging policies, programmes and projects were initiated which directly or indirectly serve to protect, conserve and sustainably use the country’s biological resources. In the National Policy and Macrolevel Action Strategy on Biodiversity (1999), India identifies the current conservation efforts and some significant gaps in these efforts. Various action points are then enumerated including the formulation of policies for protection of wetlands and sacred groves, and the undertaking of surveys on a priority basis of islands, the Himalayan region, and marine and coastal areas. A large-scale participatory exercise has been completed for providing inputs towards preparation of a National Biodiversity Action Plan.  Implementation of the Convention

Measures Taken to Achieve the 2010 Target

India’s strategies for the conservation of ecosystems, habitats and biomes consist in providing special status and protection to biodiversity rich areas. Examples of efforts that have either been put in place or are in progress are listed here. The mangrove conservation programme (1987) has so far identified 35 mangrove areas for intensive conservation and management. Project Tiger, launched in 1973, now incorporates 28 tiger reserves in seventeen states. Project Elephant was launched in 1992 to ensure the long-term survival of identified viable elephant populations in their natural habitats. The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources has been engaged in documenting the large number of varieties of crop plants in the country. Holistic community-based sustainable forestry programmes such as Joint Forest Management are aimed at meeting the basic needs of local people. The programme is now operational on more than 17 million ha of land spread all over the country. India has developed a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), an easily navigable computerized database of documented information available in published texts of Indian systems of medicine, with the objective of preventing the grant of patents on non-original invention. It is proposed in the National Environment Policy, 2006 to take measures to formulate an appropriate system for Prior Informed Consent and Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing in respect of biological material and traditional knowledge use of such biological material to enable the country and local communities respectively to derive economic benefits from providing access.

Initiatives in Protected Areas

The National Environmental Policy 2006 provides the basis of an innovative strategy to increase forest cover from 23% to 33% of the national territory by 2012. The country’s goal is to establish 163 national parks and 707 wildlife sanctuaries covering 5.74% of the total area of the country ensuring appropriate representation across all ecosystems. The monitoring committee of the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) periodically monitors the status of establishment and management of protected areas. Several unfragmented natural areas and habitats of threatened/endangered species have been brought within the protected area network. Although several of the marine and inland water ecosystems have been brought under the protected area network, more effort is needed to establish and effectively manage these areas.

Initiatives in Access and Benefit Sharing

India has taken three significant legislative measures related to access and benefit sharing. India has enacted the Biological Diversity Act 2002. This Act primarily aims at regulating access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge so as to ensure equitable sharing of benefits arising out of their use, in accordance with the provision of Article 15 of the CBD. The Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act (PVPFRA) 2001 and the PVPFR Rules 2003, deal primarily with the protection of plant breeder's rights over the new varieties developed by them and the entitlement of farmers to register new varieties and also to save, breed, use, exchange, share or sell the plant varieties, which the latter have developed, improved and maintained over many generations. The Patent Second Amendment Act 2002 and Patent Third Amendment Act 2005, provide for: exclusion of plants and animals from the purview of patentability (Section 4e); exclusion of an invention which in effect is traditional knowledge from patentability (Section 4p); mandatory disclosure of the source and geographical origin of the biological material in the specification when used in an invention (Section 8D); and provision for opposition to grant of patent or revocation of patent in case of non-disclosure or wrongful disclosure of the source of biological material and any associated knowledge

Initiatives for Article 8(j)

India is rich in traditional knowledge associated with biological resources. The traditional knowledge is both coded, as in the texts of Indian systems of medicine; or is non-coded, which is oral and undocumented. Constitutional amendments enshrine democratic decentralization of responsibilities, wherein local bodies are entrusted the responsibility of safeguarding local environmental capital stocks. Several institutions and organizations in the country undertook field studies on the status, trends and threats related to the knowledge, innovations and practices (KIP) of indigenous and local communities. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is a value added digital database developed by the Government of India for (i) preservation of traditional knowledge; (ii) prevention of misappropriation of traditional knowledge; and (iii) creation of linkages with modern science to initiate active research projects for new drug discovery and development.