India’s National Biodiversity Policy: Strategy and Goals

India is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, home to over 55,000 plant species and more than 1,04,561 documented fauna species. But this extraordinary biological wealth faces growing threats from rapid urbanization, industrial expansion, and climate change. To address this, India has developed and continually refined its National Biodiversity Policy – a strategic framework that guides how the country conserves, manages, and sustainably uses its rich natural heritage. The most recent milestone in this journey was the release of the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) at COP 16 in Cali, Colombia, in October 2024.

Background and importance of the national biodiversity policy 🔗

India’s commitment to biodiversity conservation is rooted in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which it ratified in 1994. The CBD requires every signatory nation to prepare a national strategy that outlines how it will fulfil the convention’s three core objectives: conserving biological diversity, ensuring sustainable use of its components, and sharing benefits fairly from the use of genetic resources.

India’s first National Biodiversity Action Plan was formulated in 1999 and has undergone several updates since then. The policy serves as a roadmap for the country, guiding how governments at all levels – central, state, and local – should approach the protection and management of ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity. It integrates biodiversity considerations into land and water resource management, agricultural planning, and rural development.

The updated NBSAP released in 2024 aligns India’s biodiversity targets with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which was adopted by 196 countries at COP 15 in 2022. This global framework sets 4 overarching goals and 23 action-oriented targets to be achieved by 2030, with a broader vision of humanity living in harmony with nature by 2050. India’s updated plan mirrors these 23 global targets with 23 corresponding national biodiversity targets.

Core goals of the policy 🔗

At its heart, the policy aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss within this decade. Some of its central commitments include protecting at least 30% of India’s terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030 – commonly known as the “30 by 30” target. The plan also commits to restoring at least 30% of degraded ecosystems including forests, wetlands, rivers, and coastal zones to boost biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and ecological connectivity.

Beyond area-based conservation, the policy targets the reduction of key threats to biodiversity: changes in land and sea use, pollution, overexploitation of species, climate change, and the spread of invasive alien species. It also promotes the sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries, and forestry – sectors that directly impact the livelihoods of millions of rural Indians.

Integration with national and global policies 🔗

A standout feature of India’s biodiversity policy is how it connects with other national and international development agendas. Biodiversity does not exist in isolation. It underpins food security, water supply, climate regulation, and human health. Recognizing this, India has worked to mainstream biodiversity across multiple sectors and policy frameworks.

Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals 🔗

The policy is closely linked with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 15 (Life on Land), which calls for protecting, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, managing forests sustainably, combating desertification, and halting biodiversity loss. However, the connections extend well beyond SDG 15. Biodiversity targets also contribute to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) through agrobiodiversity, SDG 6 (Clean Water) through ecosystem conservation, SDG 13 (Climate Action) through nature-based solutions, and SDG 14 (Life Below Water) through marine ecosystem protection.

India’s SDG India Index has shown measurable progress in recent years. The composite score rose from 57 in 2018 to 71 in the 2023-24 assessment, with Goal 13 (Climate Action) recording one of the largest improvements, moving from 54 to 67. This progress reflects improvements in disaster preparedness, renewable energy capacity, and ecosystem-based approaches.

Connection with climate adaptation plans 🔗

India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) includes eight national missions, several of which have direct links to biodiversity. The National Mission for a Green India focuses on expanding forest cover and restoring degraded ecosystems. The National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem targets the conservation of biodiversity and forest cover in one of the world’s most climate-sensitive regions. The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture integrates climate adaptation into farming practices, which in turn supports agrobiodiversity.

The updated NBSAP explicitly acknowledges that climate change is a direct driver of biodiversity loss. Rising temperatures, shifting monsoon patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events all threaten India’s ecosystems. By weaving biodiversity conservation into climate adaptation strategies, the policy takes a more holistic approach – protecting nature as both a goal and a tool for climate resilience.

Stakeholders in policy implementation 🔗

Implementing a biodiversity policy in a country as vast and diverse as India requires coordination across an enormous range of actors. The updated NBSAP was shaped through an extensive consultative process involving 23 central ministries, multiple departments, state-level organizations, communities, and other stakeholders. The government has adopted what it calls a “Whole-of-Government” and “Whole-of-Society” approach – meaning that biodiversity is not just the responsibility of the environment ministry, but of every sector.

The three-tier institutional structure 🔗

India’s Biological Diversity Act of 2002 (amended in 2023) established a three-tier governance framework for biodiversity conservation. At the national level, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) oversees policy implementation and regulates access to biological resources. At the state level, State Biodiversity Boards coordinate conservation efforts tailored to regional ecological conditions. At the grassroots, Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) operate at the local level, documenting biodiversity through People’s Biodiversity Registers and facilitating community participation in conservation decisions.

This decentralized structure is designed to ensure that conservation is not just a top-down mandate but involves the people who live closest to the ecosystems being protected.

Role of agriculture and forestry 🔗

Agriculture and forestry are two of the most significant sectors for biodiversity conservation in India. The country has 22 agrobiodiversity hotspots and has developed over 168 crop varieties. Agricultural policies increasingly recognize the link between farming practices and biodiversity outcomes. Initiatives like the National Mission on Natural Farming promote chemical-free farming, while the PM-PRANAM scheme incentivizes states to reduce chemical fertilizer use by reallocating savings to conservation programmes.

Forest management is guided by working plans that serve as tools for scientific management of forest resources. The National Forest Policy of 1988 mandates that no forest should be worked without an approved working plan. Meanwhile, community-led initiatives – such as sacred groves maintained by indigenous communities – contribute to biodiversity conservation at the local level.

Other key actors 🔗

Beyond government, the policy framework engages researchers, NGOs, the private sector, and international partners. The World Bank supports projects in states like Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya to restore forest cover, conserve biodiversity, and improve rural livelihoods. UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) has worked with India to identify how subsidies can be reformed to support conservation. More than 400 access and benefit-sharing agreements have been signed between local communities and companies using biological resources, generating revenue for state biodiversity funds.

Challenges in policy execution 🔗

Despite the ambitious scope of India’s biodiversity policy, turning plans into measurable outcomes on the ground faces several significant obstacles.

Resource allocation and financing 🔗

Implementing the updated NBSAP is projected to cost an average of Rs. 81,664 crores (approximately Rs. 816 billion) per year through 2030, spread across 23 ministries and departments. Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, India spent around Rs. 32,200 crores on biodiversity protection, conservation, and restoration – a figure that needs to more than double annually to meet the new targets. Mobilizing this level of funding requires not just government budgets but also private sector investment, international finance, and innovative mechanisms like green bonds and payments for ecosystem services.

Balancing conservation with development 🔗

India’s rapid economic growth means that infrastructure expansion, industrialization, and urbanization often come into direct conflict with conservation priorities. A study published in Nature Sustainability found that only about 15% of India’s identified priority biodiversity areas fall within the existing Protected Area network, and several high-importance landscapes were missing entirely from conservation planning. Less than 5% of India’s land area is effectively protected for conservation, despite the country housing the world’s second-largest human population.

This tension is visible in specific cases – from proposals to drill in wildlife sanctuaries to the classification of grasslands and scrublands as “revenue wastelands” available for industrial use, even though they harbour unique and threatened species. The Nature Conservation Index released in October 2024 assigned India a score of just 45.5 out of 100, ranking it 176th among 180 countries in conservation effort – a sobering indicator of the implementation gap.

Gaps in multi-sector coordination 🔗

While the “Whole-of-Government” approach is a strong principle, actual coordination across 23 ministries and departments remains challenging. Research published in Biodiversity and Conservation highlights critical gaps in implementation, including weak multi-sector coordination, insufficient capacity building, inadequate benefit-sharing arrangements, and limited participatory decision-making. Many biodiversity targets require synchronized action across agriculture, forestry, fisheries, urban development, and energy – sectors that often have competing priorities.

Inclusivity and stakeholder buy-in 🔗

One of the more nuanced challenges is ensuring that the policy goes beyond government institutions and technical experts. As environmental policy researcher Kanchi Kohli has noted, the success of any plan depends on broader buy-in from communities, civil society, and the private sector. If local communities – the actual custodians of much of India’s biodiversity – are treated as recipients of implementation rather than partners in it, the targets are unlikely to be met.

Managing invasive species and ecosystem degradation 🔗

Ecosystem degradation driven by agricultural expansion, mining, and infrastructure development remains a persistent challenge. The spread of invasive alien species is replacing native biodiversity in several regions. Experts have pointed out that India’s conservation approach has historically focused on a few charismatic mega-fauna species like tigers, while less visible taxa – amphibians, insects, freshwater fish – suffer alarming population declines. Shifting from a species-centric to an ecosystem-based conservation model is essential but difficult to operationalize.

Looking ahead 🔗

India’s National Biodiversity Policy represents a comprehensive framework with genuinely ambitious goals. The alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework places India within a global effort involving 196 nations. The three-tier governance structure, sectoral integration plans, and targeted financial commitments all point in the right direction.

However, the gap between policy on paper and conservation outcomes on the ground remains wide. Success will depend on sustained political will, adequate funding, meaningful community participation, and the willingness to make difficult trade-offs between development and conservation. The next few years – leading up to the 2030 deadline – will be decisive.

What do you think? Can India realistically achieve its “30 by 30” conservation target given the pace of development and urbanization? How can local communities be better empowered as true partners – rather than passive beneficiaries – in biodiversity conservation?

References

1. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/shifting-needle-biodiversity-conservation-india
2. https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/in/in-nbsap-v3-en.pdf
3. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2070401
4. https://india.mongabay.com/2024/11/conserving-indias-biodiversity-will-cost-rs-816-billion-per-year-says-new-plan/
5. https://india.un.org/en/171990-environment-climate-wash-and-resilience
6. https://climatechange.academy/climate-change-society/india-climate-action-sdg13-implementation/
7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320720309253
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9. https://www.biofin.org/news-and-media/indias-strategy-repurpose-subsidies-biodiversity-conservation
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11. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01063-2
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13. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-024-02924-8