BHUBANESWAR: In June, an international study that assessed distribution data of 14,000 species of amphibians and reptiles found that climate change would harm more of these animals inhabiting outside of the protected areas (PAs) than those living inside.
Earlier last year, a Living Planet report revealed that ‘monitored wildlife populations’ had witnessed a 69 per cent drop in the four decades between 1978 and 2018.
As climate change sets off a rapid pace of species extinction, there is an increased focus on bigger financial commitment towards biodiversity conservation. The Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP), a report prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in collaboration with UNDP and the National Biodiversity Authority, had projected that India needed about USD 16.5 billion between 2017 and 2022. Against it, the total resources that could be pooled stood at USD 10 bn, leaving a gap of USD 6.5 bn.
As the country celebrates the 50th year of Project Tiger and its Cheetah Reintroduction Project remains under the close watch of the international community, it is also pertinent to analyse the spending on species conservation.
India is home to around 427 mammals, 1,340 birds, 554 reptiles, 414 amphibians and thousands of fish and invertebrate species but a major chunk of funds allocated for conservation programmes seems focused on large umbrella species.
For 2023-24, the budgetary allocation for the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) stood at Rs 491 crore. A centrally sponsored scheme, IWH funds Project Tiger, Project Elephant and Development of Wildlife Habitats (DWH). Of this, the fund set aside for Project Tiger and Project Elephant currently merged into one division known as Project Tiger and Elephant (PT&E) Division, is approximately Rs 331 crore.
The remaining Rs 160 crore is set aside for DWH, one of the sub-schemes of IDWH that funds three different components - conservation of protected areas, conservation of wildlife outside protected areas and species recovery programme. In 2022-23, out of around `510 crore earmarked under IDWH, Rs 335 crore was allocated for Project Tiger and Project Elephant. Similarly, the ambitious Project Cheetah has been earmarked an estimated Rs 91 crore for the first phase (five years) implementation.
As the country puts focus on the protection of key species, experts call for more spread of financial commitments as more and more species are under increasing threat due to the rapid rise in temperature. According to IUCN, at least 73 species that includes 9 species of mammals, 18 species of birds, 26 species of reptiles and 20 species of amphibians are designated as Critically Endangered in India.
Abhijith Vijay, Assistant Field Officer, Amphibian Recovery Project of Wildlife Trust of India in Kerala, points out that there has been considerable change to India’s conservation approach in the last 10 or 15 years but it still remains a challenge to work for the conservation of small species, amphibians in particular, for various factors. “Around 41 per cent of all amphibians assessed are under threat. Despite this, it is very hard to convince agencies to bring them under conservation,” he says.
Apart from Central and State funding, external agencies also support conservation. These agencies, however, fund the conservation of those species that are critically endangered, endangered or at least vulnerable in the IUCN list. “However, with the status of many of the amphibian species yet to be evaluated, getting funds for conservation has not been possible,” he told this paper.
Wildlife biologist Tanushree Srivastava works for the conservation of Markhor, the world’s largest mountain goat and Hangul - the Kashmir stag - in Jammu and Kashmir. She says funding for the conservation of different species, at present, is fine but feels there should also be the focus on other smaller and lesser-known species such as Kashmir Musk Deer, Himalayan Goral, barking deer and serow in the region.
In the high-altitudes, where the population of these species is very less, it is extremely important to conserve them as these are the only prey to the large predators. If we conserve these species, the top predators will be conserved on their own,” Srivastava said.
Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) Odisha head Rudra Prasanna Mahapatra, said the focus on umbrella species such as tigers and elephants is always pronounced as their conservation helps other species besides safeguarding the forests.
A senior scientist from the Zoological Survey of India said budgetary allocation is not a major constraint. “It should be adequate to ensure more species are covered in the conservation plan,” he said. The species list should be revised from time to time by the government, while there should be an adequate focus on ex-situ conservation where the species could be relocated, he said.
]A senior MoEFCC official said funding for DWH is 100 per cent for Union Territories, 90:10 for North East and Himalayan states and 60:40 for other states.
“Proposals from states are received for DWH in the form of Annual Plan of Operations and funds are earmarked as per the budget availability,” he said.
The Government of India has more focus on species recovery programmes, estimation and periodic monitoring of the critically endangered species, he added.