India's Updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2024–2030 (Plan) serves as the country's roadmap for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The document recognizes biodiversity as fundamental to ecological stability, food security, climate resilience, livelihoods, and human well-being. It builds upon India's long history of biodiversity governance under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), while incorporating new global commitments and emerging challenges such as climate change, habitat degradation, pollution, invasive alien species, and unsustainable consumption patterns. The Plan identifies persistent threats to biodiversity, including habitat fragmentation, ecosystem degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, invasive species, pollution, and climate change. Rapid urbanization, infrastructure development, unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and increasing demands on land and water resources further compound these challenges. The Plan emphasizes that biodiversity conservation cannot be pursued in isolation and must be integrated into agriculture, fisheries, forestry, urban planning, infrastructure, finance, and other development sectors through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. The Plan organizes strategies and action plan around 23 National Biodiversity Targets. It focuses on: reducing threats to biodiversity, including integrated land and sea-use planning, ecosystem restoration, conservation of degraded ecosystems, protection and connectivity of critical habitats, management of invasive alien species, reduction of pollution, and strengthening climate adaptation and mitigation through nature-based solutions; meeting people's needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing, including sustainable agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, restoration of ecosystem services, expansion of urban green spaces, and strengthening access and benefit-sharing mechanisms for genetic resources; mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors, by integrating biodiversity into policies, planning, budgeting, business practices, financial systems, and consumption patterns. The implementation strategy also emphasizes strengthening regulatory frameworks, repurposing harmful subsidies, mobilizing domestic and international biodiversity finance, building institutional and human capacity, promoting research and innovation, improving biodiversity monitoring systems, and enhancing knowledge management. A strong focus is placed on participation of women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth, academia, and the private sector, ensuring inclusive governance and equitable access to biodiversity-related benefits. The Plan further establishes a national monitoring framework with indicators linked to each target, enabling regular tracking of progress toward India's biodiversity commitments through 2030.
India · 2024-10-30