• Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh released India’s updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) at the 16th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali.

• India has updated its biodiversity action plan with a goal to protect at least 30 per cent of its terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030, in line with global biodiversity targets.

• The updated NBSAP outlines 23 national targets aligned with the 23 global goals set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which was adopted at the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada in 2022.

• A key goal of the KM-GBF is to protect at least 30 per cent of the world's land and ocean areas by 2030. It also aims to restore degraded ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, and rivers, to ensure they continue providing essential resources like clean water and air.

• India, recognised as one of the 17 megadiverse countries, became a party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994. It harbours 7-8 per cent of the world's recorded species within just 2.4 percent of the global land area.

What is an NBSAP?

• Entered to force in 1993 to protect the world’s biodiversity, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requires countries to create an NBSAP, which is a key tool for conserving and sustainably using biodiversity at the national level.

• Countries are also required to report their progress every four years through national reports. 

Article 6 of the Convention on General Measures for Conservation and Sustainable Use states that each Contracting Party shall, in accordance with its particular conditions and capabilities:

a) Develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or adapt for this purpose existing strategies, plans or programmes which shall reflect the measures set out in this Convention relevant to the Contracting Party concerned

b) Integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.

• Article 26 and Article 10(a) are closely linked to Article 6. The first calls for Parties to present, through their national reports, information on measures which have been taken for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and their effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the Convention. 

• The latter encourages Parties to integrate consideration of the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources into national decision-making.

• Article 6 creates an obligation for national biodiversity planning. A national strategy will reflect how the country intends to fulfill the objectives of the Convention in light of specific national circumstances, and the related action plans will constitute the sequence of steps to be taken to meet these goals.

Updating India’s NBSAP

• India has a rich tradition of biodiversity conservation, which predates the global biodiversity movement and the establishment of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

• The journey towards formal biodiversity management began with the creation of the first National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in 1999, followed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Project from 2000-2003 that fostered wider stakeholder engagement in biodiversity planning. 

• This culminated in the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) in 2008, which was further refined in 2014 to align with the Aichi Biodiversity Targets established during the CBD’s 2010 meeting.

• India’s commitment to biodiversity was also demonstrated through various national reports and updates, including an overview in 2019 that highlighted the status, threats, strategies, and governance frameworks related to biodiversity conservation.

• In response to the CBD’s decisions, India prioritised the update of its NBSAP to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF). This involved extensive consultations and collaboration among stakeholders to establish National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs) that reflect the nation’s ecological, social, and economic context. 

• The NBSAP outlines 23 National Biodiversity Targets that align with the KM-GBF’s global objectives. 

• These targets focus on reducing threats to biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and enhancing tools for implementation. Each target is linked to specific strategies aimed at promoting ecosystem resilience, species recovery, and sustainable management practices.

Highlights of the updated NBSAP:

• According to the updated NBSAP, India spent around Rs 32,200 crore on biodiversity protection, conservation, and restoration from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022. The projected annual average expenditure for biodiversity conservation through 2029-2030 is estimated to be Rs 81,664.88 crore.

India has set its biodiversity goals in three main areas. 

1) The first theme of ‘Reducing Threats to Biodiversity’ includes eight targets. The first five targets directly address major threats to biodiversity: Land and sea use changes, pollution, species overuse, climate change, and invasive alien species.

The other three targets focus on restoring ecosystems, managing species and genetic diversity, and ensuring the legal, sustainable use of wild species.

2) The second theme of ‘Meeting People’s Needs through Sustainable Use and Sharing Benefits’ includes five targets aimed at sustainably managing agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, and forests. 

These areas are crucial for the livelihoods of rural communities, including farmers, herders, fishers, tribal people, and forest dwellers. These targets also cover sustainable use of wild species, management of ecosystem services, better access to green spaces for urban residents, fair sharing of biodiversity benefits, encouraging public support for conservation.

3) The third theme of ‘Tools and Solutions for Implementation’ includes ten targets focused on integrating biodiversity into broader development goals, promoting sustainable production and consumption, reducing waste and repurposing harmful subsidies, building skills, sharing knowledge, mobilising resources, and supporting inclusive, fair, and gender-responsive planning and decision-making in biodiversity efforts.

• Under National Biodiversity Target 3, India aims to expand Protected Areas and Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to cover 30 per cent of the country’s landscapes. This target emphasises the crucial role of communities in biodiversity conservation while ensuring sustainable use.

• India’s National Biodiversity Target 2 acknowledges widespread ecosystem degradation and aims for the effective restoration of at least 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine ecosystems by 2030.

• Agricultural expansion, industrialisation, linear infrastructure development, mining, urbanisation, and other developmental activities, coupled with the overexploitation of natural ecosystems by resource-dependent communities, especially post-independence, have led to large-scale ecosystem degradation, reducing the ecosystem services they once provided. This makes the target a top priority for focused actions.

• The NBSAP’s Target 16 addresses overconsumption and waste generation as root causes of biodiversity loss. India has launched Mission Life to encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly lifestyles.

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