The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) have launched a landmark five-year project (2025–2030) to strengthen biodiversity governance at the grassroots level.
Funded by a USD 4.88 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented via the UNDP, the project aims to "green" Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs). By channelling local ecological knowledge into official governance, the initiative ensures that biodiversity conservation is a core component of village-level planning rather than a separate environmental task.
The project is rooted in two critical ecological landscapes: the Sathyamangalam landscape in Tamil Nadu (at the confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats) and the Garo Hills in Meghalaya (encompassing the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve).
A major part of the strategy is strengthening Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and expanding Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) systems so that local communities receive direct financial benefits from the sustainable use of biological resources. This creates an economic incentive for conservation while supporting livelihoods.
Updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2024–2030) and the global 30x30 target of protecting 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.
Key Objectives and Strategic Focus
Greening GPDPs: Mainstreaming biodiversity into local developmental plans to ensure funded, community-owned conservation.
Institutional Empowerment: Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and BMCs as primary managers of local biological resources.
Innovative Financing: Activating ABS arrangements, CSR co-financing, and green micro-enterprises to sustain local livelihoods.
Landscape-Level Platforms: Creating multi-stakeholder forums involving forest departments, revenue authorities, and civil society.
Inclusive Governance: A dedicated focus on advancing the economic and leadership roles of women, Scheduled Castes, and tribal communities.
Global Alignment: Directly supports the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and India's NDCs under the Paris Agreement.
What is "Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)"?
Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is a mechanism that ensures the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge. Under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, when a company or researcher uses a local plant or traditional medicinal knowledge for a commercial product, they must share a portion of the profits with the local community that acted as the steward of that resource. The MoEFCC–NBA project aims to activate these arrangements at the village level, turning conservation into a viable economic activity for Gram Panchayats.
Policy Relevance
Operationalizes the 30x30 Target: As India aims to conserve 30% of its land by 2030, this project provides the template for "Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures" (OECMs) managed by local communities rather than just forest departments.
Decentralizes Climate Action: By "greening" the GPDP, the project moves climate adaptation from national policy to local action, making 2.6 lakh Gram Panchayats potential engines of biodiversity restoration.
Reduces Human-Wildlife Conflict: Focusing on forest-fringe communities in Sathyamangalam and Garo Hills helps secure critical wildlife corridors through community-led stewardship, reducing friction between humans and large mammals like elephants and tigers.
Promotes Tribal Livelihoods: In Meghalaya, integrating conservation into Village Employment Councils (VECs) creates sustainable green jobs in remote tribal areas, aligning with the "Viksit Bharat" vision of inclusive growth.
Captures Scalable Innovations: The project’s focus on knowledge management ensures that successful models of local biodiversity funding can be replicated across all 766 districts in India.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: With the project aiming to mainstream biodiversity into GPDPs, how can the Ministry of Panchayati Raj implement a 'Biodiversity Performance Grant' to reward Gram Panchayats that successfully document and monetise their local resources through the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR)?
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