Biodiversity Conservation, Sustainability, and Equity: India's NBSAP outcomes

Biodiversity in India

Highlights of the Final Technical Report

of the National Biodiversity

Strategy and Action Plan

What is biodiversity? • The variety of life around us

Ecosystem diversity(forests, farmlands)

Species diversity(bamboo, rice)

Genetic diversity(30 varieties of rice)

Ecosystem diversity(forests, farmlands)

Species diversity(bamboo, rice, forest trees)

Genetic diversity(Varieties of rice)

India’s biodiversity: Ecosystems • Natural ecosystem diversity

– 10 Biogeographic Zones – > 200 types of forest, 5-6 grassland,

13 wetland, 3 desert, marine/coastal

Sunita Rao

India’s biodiversity: Ecosystems • Agricultural ecosystem diversity

– 20 Agro-Ecological Zones– Settled, shifting– Cultivated, pastoral, fisheries

India’s biodiversity: Species • 8% of world’s diversity on 2.4% of its area

• Wild species diversity– 47,000 wild plant species

(33% flowering plants endemic

to India)

India’s biodiversity: Species • Wild species diversity

– 90,000 wild animal species (62% amphibians endemic)

– ? Species of micro-organisms

India’s biodiversity: Species • Domesticated species diversity

– 166 crop species originate in India– Amongst world’s highest livestock diversity

India’s biodiversity: Genetic Genetic diversity within each species– Diversification within crops/livestock, e.g.

• Rice: 50,000 - 300,000 varieties• Mango: >1000 varieties• Sorghum: >5000 varieties• 27 cattle, 40 sheep, 22 goat, 18 poultry breeds• Centre of diversity for rice, wheat, sugarcane, legumes, sesame,

eggplant,

okra, citrus, banana, mango,

jamun, jute, ginger, millets….

Why is biodiversity important? • Ethical / moral: all species have a right to the earth’s

resources

• Humanity’s survival: climatic stability,

water cycles, oxygen, soil fertility…

defence against disasters

Why is biodiversity important?

• Ecosystem-dependent people (70% of India’s population): food, medicine, livelihoods, fuel, shelter, clothing: use of over 10,000 plant/animal species

Why is biodiversity important? • Agricultural/industrial development: genetic resources,

raw materials

• Aesthetic resource

Destruction of India’s biodiversity

• Habitat loss

– >50% forest disappeared in last 200 years

– >70% waterbodies polluted or drained out

– >40% mangroves destroyed

Smitu Kothari

Destruction of India’s biodiversity• Species loss

– >6% of wild plants/animals threatened– 2 mammals, 3 birds, 15-20 plants extinct– 2/3rds species could become extinct in next 50 years

• Genetic loss– Most indigenous agricultural diversity threatened

Vivek Gour-Broome

Impacts of biodiversity loss

• Climatic, water, soil instability• Productivity loss in natural & agricultural ecosystems• Loss of livelihood resources (esp. from CPRs)• Loss of critical health/nutrition inputs• Less resilience for farmers/pastoralists, narrowing

genetic base for country’s agriculture• Loss of potential medicinal and industrial benefits• Erosion of traditional knowledge base

GREATEST IMPACT ON THE POOR

One Vision of the Future: National Biodiversity Strategy

and Action Plan

• 70 action plans across country: local, state, ecoregional, thematic

• National plan built from these

India’s most participatory planning exercise: India’s most participatory planning exercise: workshops, public hearings, festivals, yatras, workshops, public hearings, festivals, yatras, students’ events, boat/cycle rallies...students’ events, boat/cycle rallies...

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

• Conservation of biodiversity

• Sustainable use of biological resources

• Equity in decision-making, benefit-sharing

• Laws/policies, awareness/education, capacity, funding, technologies

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

Conserving wild biodiversity (wildlife):

• Expansion of conserved sites (protected areas, community conserved sites, heritage sites, IBAs, etc) to 10% of India, with 2% inviolate

• Greater focus on threatened species, incl. plants and small fauna

Official protected areas• Nearly 600 protected areas

• Need to move towards participatory conservation, e.g. Periyar, Chilika

Chilika Lagoon

B a y o f B e n g a l

Gaddis

Changpas

Pipens

Heronries

Traditional tanks

Yuksam

Bishnois

Sacred mangroves Sacred

groves

Tragopan, and Golden langur protection

Turtle conservation

Turtle conservation

Community Forestry

Van Panchayats

Grassland management JFM

COMMUNITY CONSERVED AREAS

Arvari Sansad

Sacred groves

Conservation of India’s biodiversity (contd.)

• Domesticated ecosystems and plants/animals

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

Conserving agricultural biodiversity

• Notifying agrobiodiversity protected areas and landscapes

• Linking Public Distribution System and local grains

• Promoting organic and biodiverse food

• Reviving home gardens, encouraging urban agriculture

Conserving agricultural biodiversityPeople’s initiatives

•Beej Bachao Andolan: Himalayan crops•Deccan Development Society: Dryland crops•SEVA, ANTHRA, Lokhit Pashu Palak Sansthan: Livestock•Others: Navadanya, Green Foundation, ADS, Timbuktu Collective

•Reviving traditional diversity, promoting cultivated and wild foods•Securing people’s access and control over ex situ collections •Creating community gene banks •Empowering women/dalit farmers, securing land rights•Creating consumer-producer links (Zaheerabad org. food restaurant) •Linking to PDS

DDS: integrating conservation, equity, & livelihoods through agrobiodiversity

Root causes of biodiversity loss• Unsustainable model of development, lack

of integration of biodiversity into development sectors

• ‘Development’ vs. biodiversity in a globalising world– Biodiversity as a raw material or dump– Commercialisation and privatisation of

bio-resources for urban/industrial consumption / trade

– Absence of environmental orientation in rural development and poverty alleviation approaches

– Monocultural visions (e.g. agriculture)– Lack of recognition of full value of

biodiversity (e.g. mangroves w.r.t. cyclones and tsunami…or Mumbai’s water security!)

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

• Re-orientation of development model, with biodiversity and livelihoods as central concerns

• Planning at landscape (and seascape) levels; building up to national land/water use plan

• Integration of biodiversity into all sectoral planning….EIAs

• Full valuation of biodiversity into economic planning and budgeting

Root causes of biodiversity loss• Inequities in decision-making and control over

natural resources• Alienation of communities from resource base;

erosion of traditional rights/practices

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

• Governance of natural resources starting from smallest decision-making unit at village and city level…strengthening institutions of self-governance (panchayats, village assemblies, tribal councils, district committees…)

• Participatory protected area management

• Community management or participation across rural and urban landscape

Root causes of biodiversity loss

• Cultural/ethical value changes….consumerism!

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

• Sustaining livelihoods based on biological resources(forest, aquatic, agricultural produce)

Challenge: how to make these sustainable and equitable

– Impact assessment of human uses

– Rights and responsibilities

– Controlling the market

– Special privileges to marginalised sections

– Promoting, protecting traditional knowledge

NBSAP: Key Strategies and Actions

Tools….• Enhancing knowledge of biodiversity and impacts

of human use (including indirect impacts of consumerism)

• Maintaining publicly accessible databases • Doing outreach, communication, education,

training • Generating and using appropriate technologies• Generating innovative funding, taxing luxury

consumerism

The struggle continues…• Final national document not accepted by government

(though several local/state plans accepted and being implemented)

• National report published and disseminated by civil society

• After 3 years (2007), government comes out with its own version of action plan….very dilute, general, unfocused

• Why did people’s plan not become official plan? – Too ambitious?

– Lack of interest?

– Vision too radically different from ‘official’ economic growth / globalisation models?

Contact

Ashish Kothari, Coordinator, NBSAP process

[email protected]