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India on Thursday submitted its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), with a focus on agrobiodiversity, area-based conservation, and building ecosystem resilience.
Aligned with the ambitious Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), India's revised NBSAP outlines specific targets and goals as part of a coordinated global biodiversity action. The newly updated NBSAP, presented at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 at Cali, Colombia, outlines 23 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs). These targets aim to address urgent conservation priorities across six broad domains: area-based conservation, ecosystem resilience, recovery of threatened species, agrobiodiversity, sustainable biodiversity use, and enabling conditions for implementation. The NBSAP also emphasizes a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to conservation, mobilizing ministries, state governments, local communities, and civil society organizations. The NBSAP emphasizes biodiversity's vital role as "a life support system, an essential foundation for the maintenance of the environment, and varied ecosystem services vital for human wellbeing and a healthy planet." It stresses that biodiversity, encompassing ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity, is crucial for the natural world's functioning and resilience against environmental changes. The plan highlights the importance of protecting entire ecosystems rather than just individual species, as these systems provide essential services like clean air, water filtration, and soil fertility, which are foundational to food production and public health. The NBSAP warns that "this crucial 'living fabric' is weakening and is on the decline worldwide at rates unparalleled in human history," calling for urgent and transformative action to establish a nature-positive society that prioritizes ecological health for the benefit of all. The updated NBSAP also underscores the importance of investing in biodiversity as a critical asset for sustainable development. It emphasizes the need for financial resources and capacity-building initiatives to empower local communities and stakeholders in managing biodiversity effectively. By promoting a "whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach," the strategy calls on public and private sectors, as well as civil society, to engage actively in conservation efforts. The action plan also highlights India's strides in community-led conservation and agrobiodiversity protection. With 2,77,688 Biodiversity Management Committees and 22 agrobiodiversity hotspots identified across the nation, India continues to promote sustainable practices and safeguard traditional knowledge systems. A major focus of the updated plan is resource mobilization, with an estimated annual funding requirement of INR 81,664.88 crore through FY 2029-2030, up from the current expenditure of INR 32,207.13 crore. Innovative financing solutions, partnerships, and expanded funding channels are proposed to meet these goals. "Implementation of updated NBSAP till 2029-30 would require an annual average estimated investment of Rs 81,664 crores (816,648.80 million) at the central government level," the report has projected. (ANI)
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