India has launched the National Red List Assessment initiative, marking a significant step towards a science-based, equitable, and people-centred approach to the conservation of flora and fauna by 2030, as announced in Dubai.
The initiative is part of India’s commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
In a statement, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), which is leading the National Red List Assessment in collaboration with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), emphasised that this document will be a national effort of unprecedented scope.
Under this initiative, India will establish a Nationally Coordinated Red-listing System, a tool designed for accurate assessment, conservation planning, and informed policy development regarding the conservation of approximately 11,000 species of flora and fauna, including 7,000 species of flora and 4,000 species of fauna.
The development of this system will occur in close collaboration with IUCN-India and the Centre for Species Survival, India.
Some Asian nations, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and China, have conducted similar multi-taxa assessments.
However, the MoEFCC stated that India’s National Red List Assessment aims to stand out as one of the most comprehensive and collaborative national efforts.
“It will bring together the country’s leading taxonomists, conservation biologists, and subject matter experts under a unified, nationally coordinated framework to achieve this important task,” said Kirtivardhan Singh, Minister of State at the MoEFCC.
During the launch of India’s National Red List Roadmap at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, Singh noted that this vision document represents India’s extraordinary efforts in biodiversity documentation, threat assessment, and conservation.
India is recognised as one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries and is home to four of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots — the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, Indo-Burma, and Sundaland, which includes India’s Nicobar Islands. The country harbours nearly 8% of global flora and 7.5% of global fauna, with approximately 28% of plant species and over 30% of animal species being endemic.
“India has long upheld robust legal frameworks for the protection of biodiversity, with the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972 being the primary legislation, recently amended in 2022 to extend protection to species listed under CITES appendices,” Singh emphasised.