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India presents its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan at COP16
The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) presented on October 30, aligns its biodiversity strategy with global goals and targets for 2030 and 2050 and aims at integrating biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use into national decision making.
The 200-page plan takes a “whole of government, whole of society” approach and includes 23 targets and goals which align with broader targets set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, an agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss that was adopted by countries in 2022.
The plan is projected to cost an average of Rs. 81,664 crores (Rs. 816 billion) per year between 2024-2025 and 2029-2030, split across 23 ministries and departments within government.
The targets include reducing threats to biodiversity, meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit sharing, and including tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming. The plan focuses on area-based conservation and agrobiodiversity noting that India has 22 agrobiodiversity hotspots and more than 168 different crop varieties.
The plan also identifies conservation of wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, genetic diversity and biosafety, participatory approaches, eco-development, communication and public awareness as priority areas that need urgent attention. It aims at effective restoration of at least 30 percent of “prioritised” areas which are degraded terrestrial, inland water, marine and coastal ecosystems by 2030 (Mongabay, India).
Andhra's natural farming outshines industrial agriculture
Andhra Pradesh (AP) launched Zero Budget Natural Farming in 2016 as an alternative to chemical-based and capital-intensive agriculture, through its implementing agency Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, a non-profit established by the state’s agriculture department.
This scheme, which was later renamed Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming, aims to cover six million farmers over six million hectares. The total cultivated area is expected to be 8.3 million hectares (ha) in 2050, against 5.5 million ha with industrial agriculture.
The Andhra Pradesh (AP) model of natural farming has the potential to employ twice the number of farmers than industrial agriculture, thus helping increase farmers’ incomes by 2050, finds an analysis led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), along with the AP state government and CIRAD.
According to this analysis, by 2050, natural farming will employ twice the number of farmers than industrial agriculture (10 million farmers versus 5 million farmers) and will be profitable for farmers due to less production costs (seeds, chemicals, irrigations, credit, machineries) and better market value remunerating high-quality produce (Down To Earth).
Uttarkhand priest starts the GoGreenIndia initiative to reforest the Himalayas
Ankit Dhyani, a 33-year-old priest residing at the confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers in the town of Devprayag is committed to restoring Uttarakhand’s fragile Himalayan landscape by leading a movement to reforest the mountains and the foothills.
Dhyani invites people through his GoGreenIndia initiative to sponsor the planting of saplings in their name or to mark special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
Before he adopted priesthood, Dhyani was earning his livelihood in the urban corporate world. Disillusioned by the smog-choked city life, he sought solace in the serene hills of Devprayag in 2017. His newfound peace was however disrupted when a weather-resistant road was planned between Rishikesh and Badrinath.
Determined to counter this destruction, Dhyani set out on a personal mission to restore what had been lost by planting saplings wherever he could — in the fields surrounding Devprayag, in temple gardens and on unused land. Though small in scale, his efforts were unwavering. He started with species native to the region, which hold deep cultural and ecological significance, but as his efforts grew he realised that the scale of the problem was vast. That is when he turned to social media and launched GoGreenIndia, a grassroots initiative.
With the growing popularity of GoGreenIndia on social media, the number of trees being planted surged. To date, over 15,000 saplings have been planted in the mountains and foothills, including peepal, mango and guava, which offer medicinal benefits and bear fruit, as well as banyan, gulmohar and deodar, which enhance biodiversity and prevent soil erosion. Each tree is carefully chosen to suit the local climate and ecosystem, ensuring it thrives and contributes to the surrounding environment.
What began as a solo effort has now blossomed into a vibrant community movement. Recognising the need to engage others in his mission, Dhyani has now reached out to the local youth, explaining the urgent need to combat global warming and protect the environment (Village Square).
Habitat rights promise to ensure preservation of tribal heritage in Odisha
Durdura village, on the outskirts of the Similipal National Park in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, is home to 30-odd families of the semi-nomadic Mankidia tribes (also referred to as Mankirdias), one of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups’ (PVTGs) in India.
The tribe has been granted habitat rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 in September 2024. Habitat rights legally sanction tribal communities living in a particular geographical area to secure their ancestral lands, cultural practices and livelihoods. The Act states that “habitat includes the area comprising the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved forests and protected forests, of primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities and other forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes”.
Historically, indigenous communities were subjected to decades of deprivation as colonial practices led to British control over forests while the Indian Forest Act of 1865, the Indian Forest Act of 1878, and the Indian Forest Act 1927 prioritised commercial interests and restricted access of tribals to forest resources.
The Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act of 1996 and the Biological Diversity Act of 2002 aimed to empower local communities by granting them self-governance and resource management rights. These laws also recognised the rights of local and indigenous communities over biological resources and traditional knowledge. However, both these Acts faced implementation challenges.
After the Forest Rights Act 2006, the Baigas from the Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh were the first to be accorded habitat rights in 2016 besides Kamar and Baiga tribes from Chattisgarh and Maria Gonds from Maharashtra. In Odisha, the Paudi Bhuyan of Deogarh district was the first PVTG to be officially accorded habitat rights in March 2024, while the Juangs, Chuktia Bhunjia, Saora and Dongria Kondhs have been granted approval subsequently (Indiaspend).
Community comes together to revive the Chithari river tributary in Kerala
Chithari river from Kasargod originates near the town of Iriya and flows northwards before draining into the Arabian Sea at Ajanur village in Kerala. The 25-km-long river is one of the last habitats for mangrove forests in northern Kerala. A biodiversity hotspot, the banks of the river are showing evidence of degradation.
In response to this, the biodiversity management committee of the Pullur Periya Panchayat in Kasargod district of Kerala has initiated a project to restore the patch of degraded land on the banks of Chithari river.The Pullur Periya Panchayat BMC came across a call for proposals by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) for river restoration, and proposed a plan to conduct a biodiversity survey along the Chithari tributary and to identify and restore a patch of degraded land on its banks, which was approved.
The members of the Pullur Periya Panchayat BMC performed a preliminary survey of the trees, shrubs, herbs, birds, spiders, butterflies, moths, odonates, mammals etc along the river tributary and a two-km stretch between the Makkaramkodu and Velloor Vayal bridges was selected as the site for the pilot restoration project. Walks through the site were conducted to identify invasive species.
Awareness generation among stakeholders was one of the key goals of the project. The removal of invasive species on the site was done through workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The first round of planting was completed in two years along with invasive species removal and sourcing saplings through the agro service centre. The next round of weeding and replanting is planned in December 2024, once the northeast monsoon gives way.
The immediate next steps planned include updation of the flora survey list to include many grasses and plants, especially water plants, that have escaped attention and develop a flora inventory along the Chithari tributary. Though the Chithari river project has been commissioned for only three years, it will take another five or six years before nature can take over (Mongabay, India).
This is a roundup of important news updates from November 1st to November 15th, 2024. Read our policy updates here.