National Initiatives for Biodiversity Conservation

After understanding in-situ and ex-situ conservation, let us now look at what India is doing at a national level to protect biodiversity. These initiatives focus on real-world challenges like highways cutting wildlife corridors, invasive species entering India, and ecological degradation of the Ghats.

Wildlife Mitigation Measures — Eco-Bridges

Modern infrastructure—especially highways—often splits natural habitats into isolated fragments.
This creates barriers for animal movement, leading to accidents, genetic isolation, and reduced wildlife survival.

To solve this, India is constructing eco-bridges (also known as wildlife crossings) along sensitive highways like NH-44, which intersects key tiger reserves—Kanha, Pench, Satpura, Bandhavgarh and Panna.

Purpose of Eco-bridges

• Restore connectivity between fragmented habitats
• Reduce animal–vehicle collisions
• Allow safe movement for multiple species

Types of Eco-bridges

1. Canopy Bridges
   • Built above highways
   • Used by arboreal species such as monkeys, langurs, squirrels
2. Underpasses / Overpass Tunnels / Viaducts
   • Designed for large mammals like tigers, leopards, deer, elephants
3. Amphibian Tunnels / Culverts
   • Special small passages for frogs, toads, reptiles

These bridges are often covered with soil and vegetation to visually blend with the surrounding forest, giving animals a continuous, natural pathway.

Quarantine Centres to Check Invasive Species

One major threat to India’s biodiversity is the entry of invasive pests, weeds, and pathogens through imported agricultural products.

To prevent this, India operates plant quarantine centres at:

• Major airports
• Seaports
• Railway stations

These centres function under:

• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)
• In coordination with Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage (DPPQS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MAFW)

Legal Basis

• Governed by the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914
• MAFW decides which plants are allowed / restricted / prohibited for import

Phytosanitary Certification Process

When agricultural cargo arrives:

1. Customs checks for a phytosanitary certificate issued by the exporting country.
2. If present → DPPQS re-examines and clears it after sample testing.
3. If absent → DPPQS fumigates the shipment (e.g., methyl bromide treatment) and then issues a certificate.

“Fumigates” here means treating the shipment with toxic gas to kill insects, pests, or pathogens present in it.

Issues with India’s Quarantine System

1. Only half of the quarantine centres are functional
   • Many shut due to low traffic or staff shortages
2. Cargo often released without DPPQS checks
   • Example: Nepal once stopped Indian agricultural imports lacking proper phytosanitary certification
3. Poor security
   • Items often go missing in transit
   • Increases the risk of invasive species entering India

This highlights the need for stronger screening mechanisms to protect India’s agriculture and biodiversity.

Preservation of the Western and Eastern Ghats

India’s Ghats are ecological lifelines.
They regulate monsoons, support thousands of endemic species, and house dense forests.
However, deforestation, mining, plantations, and tourism threaten these fragile landscapes.

Western Ghats

• Spread across 1,64,280 sq km
• Stretch from Kanyakumari to Gujarat, covering 6 states
• Among the world’s eight hottest biodiversity hotspots
• UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Extremely high endemism (unique species found nowhere else)

Major threats:

• Iron ore mining (notable in Goa)
• Sand mining
• Deforestation
• Encroachment & unplanned tourism

Eastern Ghats

• Cover ~75,000 sq km
• Extend from northern Odisha → Andhra Pradesh → Tamil Nadu, with patches in Karnataka & Telangana
• Discontinuous because rivers like Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi, Kaveri cut across them

Major issues:

• Heavy deforestation leading to barren hills
• Drying of streams
• Expansion of coffee, tea, and orchard plantations
• Illegal removal of Red Sanders (Seshachalam Hills)

Madhav Gadgil Committee (WGEEP)

In 2010, MoEF set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) under Madhav Gadgil.

The Panel’s 2011 report was strongly conservation-oriented, leading to criticism that it had not balanced development needs.

Key Recommendations of the Gadgil Committee

1. Bottom-up governance
   • Gram Sabhas → Taluk → District → State → National levels
2. 64% of the Western Ghats should be declared Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA)

Within this:

2. 75% was to fall under ESZ I or II or existing protected areas
3. Restrictions in ESZ I
   • No new large dams
   • No new polluting industries (including thermal power plants)
   • Existing red/orange category industries must adopt zero-pollution technologies by 2016
4. Statutory Western Ghats Ecology Authority
   • To regulate development activities

The committee faced opposition from mining lobbies, sand mafias, and local political interests.

Kasturirangan Committee (HLWG)

Due to pressure from multiple stakeholders, MoEF formed the High-Level Working Group (HLWG) under Dr. K. Kasturirangan.

This committee diluted several strict recommendations of the Gadgil report.

Major Recommendations of the Kasturirangan Report

1. 37% of Western Ghats (60,000 sq km) declared as ESA
2. Ban on:
   • Mining, quarrying, sand mining
   • New polluting industries
3. Thermal power projects prohibited; hydropower allowed with conditions
4. Construction up to 20,000 sq m allowed
   • However, townships banned
5. Forest diversion permitted with extra safeguards

October 2018 MoEF Notification

MoEF proposed ~57,000 sq km of Western Ghats as ESA, aiming to ban:

• Red-category industries
• Thermal power plants
• Large-scale construction
• Mining, quarrying, sand mining

Allowed:

• Existing activities
• Orange-category industries
• Hydropower projects (with conditions)

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) set a deadline of March 2020 for finalising ESAs.
However, the notification is still pending.

Historic Citizen Movements for Biodiversity

India’s environmental consciousness is also shaped by people’s movements, not just government policy.

Sunderlal Bahuguna (1927–2021)

• Leader of the Chipko Movement and Anti-Tehri Dam Movement
• Called the “Defender of the Himalayas” and “Environmental Gandhi”
• Believed that “Ecology is the permanent economy”

Chipko Movement

Origin of the name: “Chipko” = to hug

A movement where villagers, especially women, hugged trees to prevent them from being cut.

Historical Roots

• First recorded: 1730 AD, Khejarli, Jodhpur
• 363 Bishnois led by Amrita Devi sacrificed their lives to protect Khejri trees
• Example of traditional environmental protection

Modern Chipko (1973)

• Started in Upper Alaknanda Valley (Garhwal, Uttarakhand)
• Trigger: Government allotted forest land to a private company
• Spread across India by the 1980s
• Led to forest-sensitive policies and bans on commercial tree felling

Role of Sunderlal Bahuguna

• Walked 5000 km to mobilise villagers
• Met PM Indira Gandhi → resulted in 15-year ban on felling green trees (1980)

Role of Women

• Led by Gaura Devi in Reni village
• Challenged loggers with non-violent resistance
• Therefore, Chipko is rightly known as a women-led movement

Appiko Movement

• “Appiko” = “to hug” in Kannada
• Started in Karnataka (1983)
• Inspired by Chipko
• Triggered environmental awareness in southern India

Anti-Tehri Dam Protest

• Led by Sunderlal Bahuguna
• Opposed the Tehri Dam on the Bhagirathi River
• Concerns: earthquakes, landslides, displacement, ecological damage

Tehri Dam Details:

• 2400 MW multipurpose project
• India’s tallest dam
• Located in a seismic gap of the Himalayas (prone to earthquakes)