How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helpful in conservation of flora and fauna?
Approach · directive: “how”
What it asks · Describe how India's biodiversity varies by region and ecosystem, and explain how the 2002 Act, through its institutions and provisions, helps conserve flora and fauna.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- How biodiversity varies across India: regions, ecosystems, hotspots and endemism, with data
- How the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helps conserve flora and fauna: aims, institutions, regulation and conservation tools, with their limits and the way forward
Open with · India holds only 2.4 per cent of the world's land area but 8.1 per cent of its recorded species (NCERT); that wealth is spread unevenly with climate, terrain and altitude, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is the law meant to keep it.
Cover
- Variation by region: Himalayan alpine and temperate forests, the wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, the rich north-east, dry Deccan and Thar zones, wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs and islands.
- Hotspots and endemism: four hotspots (the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sundaland, which includes the Nicobar Islands), with high endemism in Western Ghats amphibians, reptiles and plants; crop and livestock diversity too.
- Aims of the Act: to conserve biological diversity, use its components sustainably, and share the benefits of biological resources and related knowledge fairly and equitably; it gives effect to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- Three tiers: the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards and local Biodiversity Management Committees, which record local knowledge in People's Biodiversity Registers.
- Regulation: NBA approval is needed for foreign nationals, non-resident Indians and foreign-owned firms to access biological resources; benefit-sharing with local communities; control over intellectual property claims based on Indian resources.
- Conservation tools: notification of Biodiversity Heritage Sites and threatened species; the Act works alongside the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 through community management.
- Limits: weak funding and capacity of local committees, slow registers, thin benefit-sharing so far, and complaints of compliance burden on research and traditional healers.
Close with · India's varied biodiversity is protected in letter and spirit when the Act's village committees become real custodians, the 'whole of society' approach the updated NBSAP promises under the Kunming-Montreal framework.
Add value (verified)
- The Environment Ministry describes the Act's institutional framework as three-tier: the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards and local Biodiversity Management Committees.India launches updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) at COP 16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, PIB (3 November 2024) ↗“This framework includes a three-tier institutional structure comprising the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards, and local Biodiversity Management Committees, ensuring effective implementation at all levels.”
- MoEFCC's Fourth National Report to the CBD: India has four global biodiversity hotspots; its Table 1.3 gives endemic plant species of 3,160 (Himalaya), 7,000 (Indo-Burma), 3,049 (Western Ghats and Sri Lanka) and 15,000 (Sundaland), with remaining vegetation of 185,427, 118,653, 43,611 and 100,571 sq km respectively.MoEFCC: India's Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Table 1.3, Attributes of Indian biodiversity hotspots) ↗“India has four global biodiversity hot spots (Eastern Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, and Sundaland).”
- The Western Ghats account for under 6 per cent of India's land area but hold over 30 per cent of its plant, fish, herpetofauna, bird and mammal species (CEPF hotspot profile).Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund: Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot ↗“Although the area accounts for less than 6 percent of the national land area, it contains more than 30 percent of all plant, fish, herpetofauna, bird and mammal species found in the”
- The High Level Working Group on Western Ghats (Kasturirangan): the range traverses six States, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.MoEFCC: Report of the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats, Volume I ↗“traverses through Six States viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.”
- PIB (June 2026): India has established more than 2,76,653 Biodiversity Management Committees and over 2,72,648 People's Biodiversity Registers; the 2023 Amendment made implementation more facilitative for research and traditional knowledge-based practices.PIB backgrounder on biodiversity conservation in India (June 2026) ↗“India has established more than 2,76,653 BMCs and over 2,72,648 People’s Biodiversity Registers, documenting local species, ecosystems and traditional knowledge across the country.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 372words · Minimalist IAS
India holds 2.4 per cent of the world's land but 8.1 per cent of its recorded species, a megadiversity country (NCERT). That wealth is spread unevenly with climate, terrain and altitude, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 is the law meant to keep it.
How biodiversity varies across India
- By region: alpine and temperate forests of the Himalaya, wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, the species-rich north-east, the dry Deccan and Thar, and the wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs and islands of the coast.
- Hotspots: four global hotspots touch India: the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka and Sundaland (the Nicobar Islands).
- Endemism: the Western Ghats run through six States from Gujarat to Tamil Nadu, under 6 per cent of the land yet over 30 per cent of India's plant, fish, herpetofauna, bird and mammal species.
- Agro-biodiversity: crop and livestock varieties add a cultivated layer to wild richness.
| Hotspot | Endemic plant species | Vegetation remaining (sq km) |
|---|---|---|
| Himalaya | 3,160 | 1,85,427 |
| Indo-Burma | 7,000 | 1,18,653 |
| Western Ghats-Sri Lanka | 3,049 | 43,611 |
How the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helps conservation
- Aims: conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable benefit sharing, giving effect to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- Three tiers: the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards and local Biodiversity Management Committees, which record species and knowledge in People's Biodiversity Registers; over 2,76,653 BMCs and 2,72,648 registers by June 2026.
- Regulating access: foreign nationals, NRIs and foreign-owned firms need NBA approval to use Indian biological resources; IP claims built on them are checked, and benefits flow back to communities.
- Conservation tools: Biodiversity Heritage Sites and threatened-species notifications, working alongside the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Limits
- Weak base: committees lack funds and capacity, registers are slow, benefit-sharing is thin, and researchers and traditional healers complained of compliance burden, which the 2023 Amendment eased.
Way forward
- Empower the base: fund and train BMCs, digitise registers and route benefit-sharing to conserving communities; the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (October 2024) aligns India's targets with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
India's biodiversity is protected in letter and spirit when the Act's village committees become real custodians, the 'whole of society' approach the updated NBSAP promises under the Kunming-Montreal framework.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
