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Context: 

India has been labelled among the worst performers in the 2024 Global Nature Conservation Index.

Global Nature Conservation Index (NCI)

It is an index and a valuable tool for assessing the effectiveness of conservation efforts in various countries.

It examines various factors like protected area coverage, species at risk, conservation laws, and future trends. 

This 360-degree view of the index helps countries to find problems, track progress, and make informed decisions to protect our planet and promote sustainable development.

It was launched and developed by the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev along with BioDB.com.

Its objective is to aid governments, researchers, and organisations to identify and improve  conservation policies.

Indicators:

The NCI is determined based on 25 key indicators and provides a straightforward look at biodiversity and conservation progress across 180 countries in the world. 

Markers: 

Its purpose is to assess conservation efforts globally using four markers: 

• land management, 
• threats to biodiversity, 
• capacity and governance, and 
• future trends in biodiversity loss.

India’s Ranking in Global Nature Conservation Index (NCI) 2024.

India has scored 45.5 out of 100 in the index.

India has scored a Global Rank of 176th out of 180 countries.

Worst Performers included India, Kiribati (180), Turkey (179), Iraq (178) and Micronesia (177). This makes India one of the worst performers.

Reasons for India’s Low Rank

Land Management Issues: Inefficient land use has been found to be the major issue with 53% of land converted for urban, industrial, and agricultural uses in India.

Marine Conservation:

In India, the report noted that the protected areas cover only 0.2 per cent of national waterways.

There is a lack of adequate marine protection within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

Biodiversity Threats: High levels of soil pollution, fertility loss, poor Nutrition nitrogen index of 0.77 due to high pesticide usage are posing threats to biodiversity.

Biodiversity Threats in India

Habitat Loss and Fragmentation:

The habitat loss and land fragmentation in India are driven by unsustainable agriculture, urbanisation, infrastructure development, and climate change among others.

The report highlights that 23,300 square Kilometres of tree cover was lost between 2001 to 2019.

Climate Change Impacts: Climate change is severely affecting sensitive ecosystems like alpine regions and coral reefs in India, especially in coastal regions.

Species Decline:

As per this report, 40% of marine species and 65% of terrestrial species located in Protected Areas of India have seen a decline. 

Overall there was a significant decline in marine species and terrestrial species accounting for 67.5% and 46.9% of their total populations.

High Population Density: The doubling of the population of India since the late 1970s has strained the ecological resources in India.

Illegal Wildlife Trade:

In terms of illegal wildlife trade, India ranks 4th globally and the sales value is around 15 billion pounds annually. This calls for stronger enforcement and international cooperation to curb the wildlife trade.

Sustainable development threats in India:

In regard to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) are the areas where major challenges remain.

Sources:

DOWNTOEARTH

BIODB