Biodiversity and its Conservation

1. Biodiversity: meaning, levels, distribution and value

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• Biodiversity ("bio" = life, "diversity" = variety) is the number and variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they carry and the ecosystems they form. It is the product of 2.5–3.5 billion years of evolution, and NCERT calls it our "living wealth".
• A species is a group of similar organisms that can breed with each other and have fertile young. Estimates of the total run from 2 million to 100 million. About 10 million is the best estimate (Class 11), but only about 2 million have been described.
• The three levels:
• Genetic diversity is the variation of genes within one species, such as differences in human height or between crop varieties. It is needed for healthy breeding and for adapting to change.
• Species diversity is the variety of species in an area, measured by richness, abundance and types.

• Ecosystem diversity is the variety of ecosystem types, habitats and processes, such as the grasslands and sholas of Anamalai in the Western Ghats. Ecosystem boundaries are not sharp, so they are hard to mark.

• Latitudinal diversity gradient: life is richest in the tropics and thins out towards the poles, where there are large populations of only a few species. Tropical rainforests hold about half of all species. More solar energy and water are part of the reason.

• An endemic species is found naturally in one place only. About 85% of Madagascar's plants and animals are endemic. Indian examples are the Nilgiri tahr, the lion-tailed macaque and the tree Humboldtia decurrens of the southern Western Ghats.
• Importance of biodiversity has four parts:
• Ecological: the more diverse an ecosystem, the more stable it is.
• Economic: it gives us food, timber, fish, medicines and cosmetics.
• Scientific: it gives clues to how life evolved.

• Ethical: every species has a right to exist.

• Ecosystem services are the benefits nature gives us, such as storing energy, breaking down waste, cycling water and nutrients, fixing gases and regulating climate. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) groups them as provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting.

• Agro-biodiversity is the variety of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. It is the base for plant and animal breeding. It is threatened when farmers switch to a few high-yielding varieties.

2. Loss of biodiversity: drivers and evidence

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• Loss of biodiversity speeds up as the population grows and people consume more. The tropics cover about one-quarter of the world's area but hold about three-quarters of its people, and the same tropics hold half of all species (Class 11).
• Habitat loss is the biggest driver. Forests and grasslands are cleared or broken up for farms, logging, mining, settlements and roads.
• Other causes:
• natural calamities (floods, fires, droughts, earthquakes)
• pesticides, hydrocarbons and heavy metals

• lopping trees for fodder and fuel, grazing and sport hunting (Class 11, Natural Vegetation)

• Exotic species are species brought into a habitat where they do not occur naturally. Invasive alien species are exotics that spread fast and harm native life. Indian examples are Lantana camara, Prosopis juliflora (Banni grasslands, Kachchh), water hyacinth, Parthenium and African catfish. Hawaii's island species are also at risk. IPBES (2023) found invasives played a part in about 60% of recorded extinctions and cost over US$423 billion a year.

• Poaching (illegal hunting) kills tigers, elephants, rhinos and crocodiles for their horns, tusks, hides and bones.
• Overfishing means catching fish faster than they can breed. India counters it with a 61-day monsoon fishing ban during the spawning season.
• Extinction is the permanent loss of a species. About 99% of all species that ever lived are extinct, and an average species lasts 1–4 million years. Human activity now drives extinction far faster than the natural rate.
• IPBES (set up in 2012, often called the "IPCC for biodiversity") warned in its 2019 Global Assessment that about 1 million species face extinction. It ranked the drivers as: land and sea use change > direct exploitation > climate change > pollution > invasive species.
• Living Planet Report (WWF, 2024): monitored vertebrate populations fell by an average of 73% between 1970 and 2020. The fall was 95% in Latin America and 85% in freshwater.

3. Threatened species: IUCN and the Red List

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• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) was founded in 1948 at Fontainebleau. Its headquarters are at Gland, Switzerland. Its members are states, government agencies and NGOs; India has been a state member since 1969. NCERT uses its older name, "IUCN and Natural Resources".
• The IUCN Red List (since 1964) records the conservation status of species. It now covers over 170,000 species, more than 47,000 of them threatened (verify current).
• NCERT's three categories come from the scheme used before 1994:
• Endangered species: in danger of extinction, such as the red panda, Bengal tiger and Asian elephant.
• Vulnerable species: likely to become endangered soon if threats continue, because their numbers have fallen sharply. Examples are the snow leopard and the one-horned rhino.

• Rare species: very small populations, either confined to a small area or thinly scattered. "Rare" is no longer an IUCN category.

• Current categories (v3.1): Extinct → Extinct in the Wild → Critically Endangered → Endangered → Vulnerable → Near Threatened → Least Concern, plus Data Deficient and Not Evaluated.

• Threatened species means CR + EN + VU together. Status is judged by numbers, such as population decline, range size and population size.
• Indian examples:
• Critically Endangered: gharial, Great Indian Bustard, white-rumped vulture, pygmy hog
• Endangered: tiger, red panda, Gangetic dolphin

• Vulnerable: snow leopard, rhino, dugong, olive ridley

• Trap: IUCN status and Schedule I of the Wildlife Act are separate lists.

4. Conservation strategies and the global regime: in situ, ex situ, CBD and its offspring

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• Biodiversity conservation needs three things: educating people, development that is sustainable, and local communities and local institutions taking part. NCERT says the "critical problem" is keeping the conservation process going.
• In situ conservation protects species in their natural home: national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves. It keeps whole ecosystems and evolution running.
• Ex situ conservation protects species outside their home: zoos (under the Central Zoo Authority), botanical gardens (Howrah), the National Gene Bank (NBPGR, New Delhi), captive breeding and the Svalbard Seed Vault (Norway, 2008).

• World Conservation Strategy (IUCN, UNEP and WWF, 1980) gave six steps: 1. save endangered species 2. plan to prevent extinction 3. preserve crop, livestock and timber varieties and their wild relatives 4. protect the habitats of wild relatives 5. safeguard feeding, breeding, resting and nursing habitats 6. regulate the wildlife trade

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):

• Signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992; India signed with 155 other nations. In force from 29 December 1993. The USA has not ratified it.
• Three aims: conservation, sustainable use, and fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources.

• Secretariat in Montreal. International Day for Biological Diversity is 22 May.

• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000, in force 2003) governs the cross-border movement of GMOs.

• Nagoya Protocol (2010, in force 2014) covers access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (ABS) with the countries and communities that provide them. It targets biopiracy, as in India's neem and turmeric patent fights.
• Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (COP15, December 2022) has 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030. Target 2 is to restore 30% of degraded ecosystems. Target 6 is to halve introductions of invasive species. India's updated NBSAP (2024) has 23 national targets.
• 30 by 30 target (Target 3): conserve at least 30% of land, inland waters, coasts and oceans by 2030.
• CITES (Washington, 3 March 1973; in force 1975; India joined 1976) controls the wildlife trade. Appendix I bars trade except in rare cases, Appendix II controls trade, and Appendix III lists species protected by one country.
• Convention on Migratory Species (Bonn, 1979, under UNEP) protects animals that cross borders. India hosted COP13 at Gandhinagar in 2020 and lies on the Central Asian Flyway.

5. Megadiversity countries and biodiversity hotspots

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• Megadiverse countries are mostly tropical countries that hold a large share of the world's species.
• NCERT lists 12: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, DR Congo, Madagascar, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia.
• Conservation International's list (1998) has 17, adding the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, the USA and Venezuela. Together they hold about 70% of all species.

• India is part of the Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries group (Cancun, 2002).

• A biodiversity hotspot is a region with many endemic species that is under severe threat. NCERT credits IUCN, but Norman Myers proposed the idea (1988) and Conservation International set the criteria (Myers et al., 2000):

• at least 1,500 endemic vascular plants, and

• at least 70% of the original habitat lost.

• There are 36 hotspots; Forests of East Australia was added in 2016. They cover about 2.5% of the land but hold over half of all endemic plants. Hotspots are defined by their plants because plants set an ecosystem's primary productivity.

• Madagascar hotspot: about 85% of its plants and animals, such as lemurs, live nowhere else. Its forests are cleared for food, firewood and farmland. Hawaii's species are threatened by introduced species and by development.
• Biodiversity hotspots in India:

Hotspot	Indian part
Himalaya	The whole Indian Himalaya
Indo-Burma	North-east India (extends to Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina)
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka	Western Ghats
Sundaland	Nicobar Islands only

• Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspot: many endemic amphibians, reptiles and plants, such as the Nilgiri tahr, lion-tailed macaque and Humboldtia decurrens. The Western Ghats became a World Heritage Site in 2012. The Gadgil (2011) and Kasturirangan (2013) reports on protecting it are still debated (verify current).

6. India's conservation laws: the Wildlife Act, the Biological Diversity Act and eco-sensitive zones

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• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: conservationists pushed for it in the 1960s and 1970s. It published an all-India list of protected species, banned hunting, protected habitats and restricted the wildlife trade. National parks and sanctuaries are set up under it.
• Key amendments:
• Notifications of 1980 and 1986 added butterflies, moths, beetles and one dragonfly to the protected list.
• 1991 added plants for the first time (six species) and made penalties tougher.

• 2006 created the NTCA and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

• Conservation reserves and community reserves were added in 2002, along with the National Board for Wildlife:

• Conservation reserves are on government land near protected areas.

• Community reserves are on community or private land, managed with local people.

• Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022 (in force 1 April 2023):

• cut the schedules from six to four: I and II for animals, III for plants, IV for CITES specimens
• removed the vermin schedule

• set up CITES authorities, regulated invasive species and raised fines

• NCERT error: biosphere reserves are not declared under this Act.

• Biological Diversity Act 2002 puts the CBD into Indian law through three tiers: the National Biodiversity Authority (Chennai), State Biodiversity Boards and local committees. It also allows Biodiversity Heritage Sites; the first was Nallur Tamarind Grove (2007). The 2023 amendment eased rules for AYUSH users, turned offences into penalties and changed the definition of foreign-controlled firms. Critics say it weakens benefit-sharing.
• Biodiversity Management Committees are set up in every panchayat and municipality. They keep People's Biodiversity Registers of local species and traditional knowledge.
• Eco-sensitive zone: a buffer of up to 10 km around a protected area, notified under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (2011 guidelines). Mining and polluting industry are banned or regulated there. In T.N. Godavarman (2022) the Supreme Court required a minimum 1 km ESZ, then relaxed the order in April 2023.

7. Protected forests and protected areas: national parks, sanctuaries and World Heritage sites

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• Forest categories (Class 10):

Category	Share and status
Reserved forests	More than half of forest land; most valuable for conservation
Protected forests	About one-third; protected from further depletion
Unclassed forests	Other forests and wastelands of government, individuals and communities

• Reserved and protected forests are "permanent forest estates".
• Madhya Pradesh has the largest permanent forest area (75% of its forests).

• The north-eastern states and parts of Gujarat have mostly unclassed forests run by communities.

• National park: strictly for wildlife. No forestry, grazing or cultivation is allowed. NCERT counts 107.

• Wildlife sanctuary: collecting minor forest produce is allowed if it does not harm wildlife. NCERT counts 573. All protected areas together cover about 5–6% of India (verify current).
• Corbett National Park: India's first, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park in Nainital, Uttarakhand, on the Ramganga. Project Tiger was launched here in 1973.
• Kaziranga National Park: on the Brahmaputra floodplain in Assam, with about two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhinos. It became a World Heritage Site in 1985 and a tiger reserve in 2006.
• Keoladeo National Park: a wetland at Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The Siberian crane was last seen here in 2002. Ramsar site since 1981, World Heritage Site since 1985.
• Great Himalayan National Park: in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh; World Heritage Site in 2014. It shelters the snow leopard, Himalayan tahr and western tragopan.
• Sundarbans: the world's largest mangrove forest, in the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta. India holds about 40% and Bangladesh the rest. It shields the coast from cyclones.
• Sundarbans National Park: one of the first nine tiger reserves (1973), a World Heritage Site (1987) and a Ramsar site (2019). Its tigers swim in salt water.
• Natural World Heritage Sites of India:
• Kaziranga, Manas and Keoladeo (1985)
• Sundarbans (1987)
• Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers (1988, extended 2005)
• Western Ghats (2012)
• Great Himalayan NP (2014)
• Khangchendzonga, a mixed site (2016)

8. Biosphere reserves and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme

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• The Man and Biosphere Programme (UNESCO, 1971) aims to improve relations between people and nature. It runs the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
• A biosphere reserve is a large, typical land or coastal ecosystem with three zones:
• a core, legally protected with no human interference
• a buffer, for research and limited use

• a transition zone, with settlements and sustainable use

• Its aims are conservation, development and logistic support (research, monitoring, training). In India it is a central government scheme, not a category under the Wildlife Act.

• India has 18 (Class 11, Natural Vegetation). The 13 on UNESCO's list are marked with a ✔. NCERT says 12; Cold Desert joined in 2025 (verify current).

Reserve (year)	State and key fact
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (1986) ✔	TN, Kerala, Karnataka; the first
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (1988) ✔	Uttarakhand; Valley of Flowers
Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (1988) ✔	Garo hills, Meghalaya; wild citrus, red panda
Manas Biosphere Reserve (1989)	Assam, on the Bhutan border
Sunderban Biosphere Reserve (1989) ✔	West Bengal; mangroves, tiger
Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve (1989) ✔	TN; first marine reserve, 21 islands, dugong
Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (1989) ✔	Shompen people, leatherback turtles; debated port project
Similipal Biosphere Reserve (1994) ✔	Mayurbhanj, Odisha; black (melanistic) tigers
Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve (1997)	Assam; feral horses; smallest
Dehang-Debang Biosphere Reserve (1998)	Arunachal; Siang and Dibang valleys
Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (1999) ✔	Satpura range, MP
Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (2000) ✔	Sikkim
Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (2001) ✔	Kerala–TN; Kani tribe, medicinal plants
Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (2005) ✔	MP–Chhattisgarh; source of the Narmada and Son
Kachchh Biosphere Reserve (2008)	Gujarat; largest; wild ass, flamingos
Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve (2009) ✔	Lahaul-Spiti, HP; snow leopard
Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve (2010)	Eastern Ghats, AP; red sanders
Panna Biosphere Reserve (2011) ✔	MP; tigers brought back after 2009

9. Wetlands, coasts and seas: Ramsar sites, mangroves, reefs and marine species

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• A wetland is land covered by shallow water all year or for part of the year, such as marshes, lakes, lagoons, mangroves and floodplains. NCERT gives India 3.9 million ha of wetlands, about 70% under paddy (verify current).
• Ramsar Convention: signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 (now World Wetlands Day); in force 1975. India joined in 1982. Domestic law is the Wetlands Rules 2017.
• Ramsar sites of India: the first were Chilika and Keoladeo (1981). The list reached 100 in June 2026 with Surha Tal, Uttar Pradesh, the most in Asia. Tamil Nadu has the most sites, and the Sundarban Wetland is the largest (verify current).
• Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites whose condition is getting worse. Keoladeo and Loktak (Manipur) are on it. Chilika was removed in 2002 after it was restored.
• Blue carbon is the carbon stored by mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes. They bury carbon in their soils far faster per hectare than land forests. India has about 5,000 sq km of mangroves, with the Sundarbans the largest share (verify current). MISHTI (2023) promotes planting mangroves.
• Coral bleaching happens in steps:
• heat stress → corals expel the zooxanthellae (tiny algae that give them colour and food)
• corals turn white
• if the heat lasts, the corals die

• NOAA confirmed the 4th global bleaching event in 2024.

• Great Barrier Reef: about 2,300 km long, off Queensland in the Coral Sea. World Heritage Site since 1981. It has bleached repeatedly since 1998.

• Dugong: a marine mammal that grazes on seagrass (Vulnerable). It lives in the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Gulf of Kachchh and Andaman waters. India's first Dugong Conservation Reserve was notified in Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu, in 2022.
• Olive ridley turtle: famous for "arribada" (thousands of females nesting together) at Gahirmatha, Rushikulya and the Devi river mouth in Odisha. Trawler nets are a major threat. The Coast Guard protects the nesting season under Operation Olivia.

10. Project Tiger and the tiger reserves

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• Why it was needed: by 1973 tigers had fallen to 1,827, from an estimated 55,000 around 1900 (Class 10).
• causes: poaching for skins and bones (used in traditional Asian medicine), shrinking habitat, less prey and a growing human population

• India and Nepal held about two-thirds of the world's wild tigers.

• Project Tiger (1973) aimed to protect whole "biotypes", not just one species. The tiger acts as an umbrella species (saving it protects its whole habitat).

• It began with 9 reserves (16,339 sq km): Corbett, Manas, Melghat, Palamau, Ranthambore, Similipal, Sundarbans, Kanha, Bandipur.

• It now has 58 reserves (84,487 sq km of core area) (verify current).

• National Tiger Conservation Authority: a statutory body since the 2006 amendment, chaired by the Environment Minister. It approves tiger plans and audits reserves.

• All India Tiger Estimation: done every 4 years with camera traps.
• 1,411 (2006) → 2,967 (2018) → 3,682 (2022; minimum 3,167)
• This is about 75% of the world's wild tigers.

• Madhya Pradesh has the most, then Karnataka and Uttarakhand. The 2026 round is under way (verify current).

• Sariska Tiger Reserve (Aravallis, Alwar, Rajasthan): all its tigers were poached by 2004–05. Tigers were moved in from Ranthambore in 2008, India's first such relocation. Villagers there fought mining by citing the Wildlife Act.

• Manas Tiger Reserve (Assam, on the Bhutan border): World Heritage Site since 1985; it was on the danger list from 1992 to 2011. It is home to the golden langur, pygmy hog and wild buffalo.
• Periyar Tiger Reserve (Idukki and Pathanamthitta, Kerala) lies around the lake of the Mullaperiyar dam (1895). It is known for elephants and for ecotourism run by local communities.

11. Saving other species: elephants, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, crocodiles and more

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• Project Elephant (1992) protects elephants, their habitats and corridors and reduces human–elephant conflict. A DNA-based count (2025) found about 22,000 wild elephants (verify current).
• One-horned rhinoceros (Vulnerable) lives in the Brahmaputra and Terai grasslands. Most are in Kaziranga; smaller groups are in Pobitora, Orang, Manas, Jaldapara and Dudhwa.
• Asiatic lion (Endangered) lives in the wild only in Gir and the wider Saurashtra area, Gujarat. The 2025 count was 891 (verify current). The Supreme Court ordered a second home at Kuno in 2013, but the move never happened.
• Project Cheetah: the cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952.
• 8 cheetahs came from Namibia (September 2022) and 12 from South Africa (February 2023) to Kuno, MP.

• Gandhi Sagar became a second site in 2025 (verify current).

• Gharial (Critically Endangered) has a long, thin snout and eats fish. It survives mainly in the National Chambal Sanctuary and the Girwa and Gandak rivers. The crocodile breeding project began in 1975.

• Hangul (Kashmir stag) is India's only surviving red deer. It is Critically Endangered, the state animal of J&K, and lives mainly in Dachigam NP. Project Hangul began in 1970.
• Red panda (Endangered) lives in the eastern Himalaya. It is Sikkim's state animal and is bred at the Darjeeling zoo.
• Snow leopard (Vulnerable): India's first count (SPAI 2024) found about 718, mostly in Ladakh, with Hemis NP a stronghold.
• Great Indian Bustard (Critically Endangered) has fewer than 150 birds, mostly in the Desert NP, Rajasthan. Many die by flying into overhead power lines. The Supreme Court acted in M.K. Ranjitsinh (2021, modified 2024), which also recognised a right against the harms of climate change.
• Blackbuck is an antelope of the open plains, revered by the Bishnois. NCERT's "black buck (chinkara)" is wrong: the chinkara is the Indian gazelle, a different animal.
• Gangetic river dolphin (Endangered) is nearly blind and finds food by echolocation (bouncing sounds off objects). It became the National Aquatic Animal in 2009 and is protected in the Vikramshila sanctuary, Bihar.
• Project Dolphin (2020): the first river-dolphin survey (2025) found about 6,300, mostly in Uttar Pradesh (verify current).
• Vulture conservation in India: vulture numbers fell by over 95% from the 1990s.
• The cause was diclofenac, a painkiller given to cattle; vultures died after eating the carcasses.
• Diclofenac was banned for animal use in 2006.
• Breeding centres (such as Pinjore) and the Vulture Action Plan 2020–25 followed.

12. Community conservation and sacred ecology

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• Community participation in conservation: Class 11 says conservation with sustainable use is possible only with local communities and local institutions. Class 10 adds that India's forests are home to traditional communities.
• Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri: five villages of Alwar, Rajasthan, declared 1,200 ha of forest their own sanctuary. They made their own rules, banned hunting and keep outsiders out.
• Chipko movement (Himalaya; Mandal and Reni in Chamoli, 1973–74; Gaura Devi, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Sunderlal Bahuguna): villagers stopped tree felling and showed that planting native species works.
• Beej Bachao Andolan (Tehri Garhwal, late 1980s, Vijay Jardhari) saves native seeds and barahnaja mixed cropping.
• Navdanya (Vandana Shiva, 1987) runs community seed banks and promotes organic farming.
• Joint Forest Management began formally in 1988, when Odisha passed the first resolution. Village groups protect degraded forest and in return get non-timber produce and a share of the timber.
• Bishnoi community (Rajasthan) follows the 29 rules of Guru Jambheshwar (15th century), which forbid harming trees and animals. In 1730, Amrita Devi and 362 others died at Khejarli to protect khejri trees.
• A sacred grove is a forest patch dedicated to a deity and left untouched, which preserves virgin forest, rare species and small water bodies. Regional names (Class 7):
• kavu (Kerala), kovilkadu (Tamil Nadu), devare kadu (Karnataka), devrai (Maharashtra)
• khlaw kyntang (Khasi; Mawphlang), dev van (Himachal), sarna (Jharkhand), devgudi (Chhattisgarh), oran (Rajasthan)
• A Thanjavur grove protects fruit bats, which pollinate flowers and spread seeds.

• Groves are shrinking as people encroach on them.

• Sacred ecology (Class 7):

• tirthas (pilgrim sites) sit by rivers and on mountains, so the land itself is punyakshetra (sacred space)
• the peepal (Ficus religiosa) is sacred to four religions
• the Todas of the Nilgiris hold peaks and sholas sacred

• Sikkim notified sacred sites for protection in the early 2000s

• Niyamgiri Hills (Rayagada and Kalahandi, Odisha) are the abode of Niyam Raja for the Dongria Kondh. In 2013 the Supreme Court let gram sabhas decide on mining, and all 12 rejected Vedanta's bauxite mine.

• Rights of nature gives rivers or mountains legal rights, voiced by guardians. Examples are the Whanganui River (2017) and Taranaki Maunga (2025) in New Zealand. The Uttarakhand High Court declared the Ganga and Yamuna living entities in 2017, but the Supreme Court stayed the order.

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Exam angles

Prelims — high-yield facts and traps

• The three levels are genetic, species and ecosystem. Biodiversity is richest in the tropics. Endemic means native to one place only; exotic means introduced; invasive means introduced and harmful.
• IUCN: founded 1948, headquarters Gland. "Threatened" = CR + EN + VU. "Rare is a current IUCN category" is FALSE.
• Red panda is EN; snow leopard and rhino are VU; gharial and GIB are CR.
• "IUCN defined hotspots" is FALSE: it was Myers and Conservation International. Criteria: 1,500 endemic plants and 70% of habitat lost. There are 36 hotspots, 4 in India; Sundaland reaches India only through the Nicobar Islands.
• Megadiverse countries: 12 (NCERT) or 17 (Conservation International).
• Treaty pairs:
• Ramsar 1971 (Iran)
• CITES 1973 (Washington)
• CMS 1979 (Bonn)
• CBD 1992 (Rio)
• Cartagena 2000 (GMOs)
• Nagoya 2010 (benefit-sharing)

• Kunming-Montreal 2022 (30x30)

• Keoladeo and Loktak are on the Montreux Record; Chilika has been removed.

• Wildlife Act milestones: 1991 plants; 2002 conservation and community reserves; 2006 NTCA; 2022 four schedules. "Biosphere reserves are declared under the Wildlife Act" is FALSE.
• Biological Diversity Act: NBA at Chennai, then SBBs, then BMCs.
• Biosphere reserves: 18 in all. Nilgiri was first (1986), Kachchh is largest, Gulf of Mannar is the first marine one, and Cold Desert is the 13th on UNESCO's list (2025).
• Project Tiger began in 1973 with 9 reserves; there are now 58. The 2022 count was 3,682. Corbett was the first national park (1936, as Hailey).
• Species–place pairs:
• hangul: Dachigam
• lion: Gir
• cheetah: Kuno and Gandhi Sagar
• gharial: Chambal
• dugong: Palk Bay
• olive ridley: Gahirmatha
• GIB: Desert NP
• rhino: Kaziranga

• Gangetic dolphin: Vikramshila

• Khangchendzonga is India's only mixed World Heritage Site. "Blackbuck = chinkara" is FALSE.

Mains — GS-I and GS-III themes

1. Causes of biodiversity loss in India and how to prevent it, using the IPBES ranking of drivers.
2. In situ vs ex situ conservation; the role of biosphere reserves and the protected-area network; what 30x30 means for forest-dwelling communities.
3. Community conservation (sacred groves, JFM, Bishnois, Chipko, Niyamgiri): can communities be partners in conservation rather than obstacles?
4. Project Tiger at fifty: its successes, its limits (corridors, conflict, displacement) and lessons for the cheetah, bustard and lion.
5. Access and benefit-sharing and biopiracy: the Nagoya Protocol and the Biological Diversity Act after 2023.
6. Development vs conservation: the Great Nicobar project, ESZs, power lines and the GIB, mining in sacred hills.
7. Blue carbon and coastal ecosystems as solutions for both climate and biodiversity.

Current-affairs hooks

• New Ramsar sites (100 reached in 2026), new tiger reserves, UNESCO biosphere listings and World Heritage nominations (verify current).
• Results of the All India Tiger Estimation 2026, plus elephant, lion, dolphin and snow leopard counts.
• Project Cheetah at Kuno and Gandhi Sagar, and new source countries.
• CBD COP17 (Armenia, 2026), national 30x30 progress and the Cali Fund (verify current).
• Clearances and court cases over the Great Nicobar project.
• Coral bleaching in Indian reefs and the Great Barrier Reef.
• Control of invasive species (Lantana, Prosopis) and bans on drugs that kill vultures.
• IUCN Red List updates for Indian species (verify current).