Conservation of Biodiversity in India: Current Status and Future Strategies

India being one among the various biogeographical provinces of the world embraces a huge variety of biological diversity. The country has diverse climatic zones ranging from subtropical, tropical, arctic, and temperate climatic conditions. The various climatic zones have produced diverse ecosystem types varying from the cold-deserts (Ladakh), humid tropical (Western ghats), and warm coastline to hot deserts (Rajasthan). The altitudinal gradients along various climatic zones coupled with diversified ecosystems subsidized enormously to the rich biological wealth of the nation with diversified fauna and flora. India is regarded as a mega-biodiverse nation among the 17 megadiversity regions of the world. Despite having only 2.2% of the world’s geographical area, the country represents 12% of the world's species. Globally, out of the entire figure of 12,44,360 species, India ranked 12 th by having a total estimate of 1,50,170 catalogued species. These comprise of 1,01,167 animal species and 49,003 plant and fungal species. The country has a dense web of protected areas including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves, and community reserves covering a total of 1,71,921 km 2 (5.03%) of the total geographical area of the country. This chapter is therefore aimed to provide a complete picture of the status of biodiversity of the country with special insights about the species richness, the pressures they face, and various strategies in place for their conservation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Environmental Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190006, India Shahid Ahmad Dar
2. Department of Environmental Science, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun, India Sajad Ahmad Dar
3. Department of Environmental Science, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190006, India Masarat Nabi

1. Shahid Ahmad Dar