Part 1 - English version (PDF) - Convention on Biological Diversity

India’s Fourth National Report to the <strong>Convention</strong> on Biological Diversity
A National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been set up in 2006 to strengthen tiger
conservation efforts.
The WII, a premier training and research institution, maintains a ‘National Wildlife Database’,
that provides up-to-date information on the PA network of the country.
Since the adoption of the ‘Programme of Work on PAs’ by the CBD in 2002, India’s PA network
has increased by 15 per cent.
India has a NWAP which envisages 10% of the geographical area of the country under PA
coverage. The extent of the formal PA network, at present, is around 4.8%. However, it is
pertinent to note that almost all state owned forests and other important ecosystems which are
outside the PA network are under some kind of broad based conservation planning. In addition,
there are several community driven conservation initiatives in the country in the form of sacred
groves, ponds, turtle nesting sites, etc. If all these are taken into account, biodiversity conservation
is the core management paradigm in around one-fifth of the geographical area of the country,
whereas broad based conservation planning is also practiced in most of the other production
sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, etc.
Expansion of PA network is envisaged in the NEP. In order to strengthen and consolidate the
existing wildlife conservation/management efforts, a modified national scheme titled ‘Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats’ has been launched in 2008. Apart from providing support to
PAs, the scheme extends financial and technical support to high value biodiversity formations
outside the formal PA network (including traditional and customary conservation practices like
CCAs and also provide for initiating recovery programmes for select critically endangered species.
Recommendations are in place to establish additional PAs (67 new NPs and 203 new WLSs) to
make it more biogeographically representative. However, due process as per the provisions of the
WPA and other relevant legislations needs to be followed for the establishment of new PAs. More
efforts are also needed to plan and establish new marine PAs.
A Task Force has been constituted with mandate to identify potential areas that can be declared
as Trans-boundary PAs (TBPAs) and a national consultative process for planning and establishing
TBPAs has been initiated. Five TBPAs have been identified for enhancing regional cooperation
with neighboring countries out of the 24 PAs featured in the regional network of TBPAs under
the IUCN framework. Provision for the
implementation of TBPAs has been
incorporated in the scheme of ‘Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats’.
Management Plans of PAs have been
developed by applying the ‘ecosystem
approach’, which provides for a core-buffer
strategy for wildlife conservation. It is
envisioned that whereas the core areas/
critical wildlife habitats are to be largely
inviolate, co-existence agenda is to be
promoted in the buffer.
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