National Biodiversity
Authority: SOP for Notification of Threatened Species
Prelims: Biological Diversity Act | NBA | Threatened Species
GS-III: Biodiversity Conservation
Why in News?
The National
Biodiversity Authority (NBA) released a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) to guide States and Union Territories in the scientific
identification and notification of threatened species under Section 38 of
the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Section 38 of the
Biological Diversity Act
1.
Section 38 provides the
statutory basis for notifying species that are threatened with extinction and
regulating or prohibiting their collection where conservation requires such
protection.
2. The
SOP creates a more systematic procedure for translating scientific evidence
into statutory protection.
Scientific Basis of
Identification
1.
Threat status cannot rest merely on
rarity or isolated sightings.
2. Assessment
may require consideration of:
i.
Population Decline:
Reduction in abundance over time.
ii.
Restricted Distribution:
Species confined to narrow geographical ranges.
iii.
Habitat Loss: Decline or
fragmentation of essential habitat.
iv.
Exploitation Pressure:
Collection, trade or harvesting that threatens survival.
v.
Ecological Vulnerability: Low
reproductive rates or specialised habitat dependence.
3.
This is important because legal
conservation measures should be supported by repeatable scientific criteria
rather than ad hoc listing.
Institutional Role
1.
The NBA is a statutory body under
the Biological Diversity Act and operates within India's
biodiversity-governance architecture alongside State Biodiversity Boards and
Biodiversity Management Committees.
2. The
new SOP strengthens the interface between taxonomy, field assessment,
State-level proposals and central notification.
Existing Coverage
As of
the June 2026 reporting around the SOP, 159 plant species and 173 animal
species had been notified as threatened across 17 States and 3 Union
Territories.
Conservation
Implications
1.
Notification can support restrictions on
collection and provide the basis for species-recovery planning, habitat
protection and monitoring.
2. However,
statutory listing alone cannot ensure recovery where the principal threats
arise from habitat fragmentation, invasive species, pollution or climate
change.
3. Threatened
Species Notification ≠ Declaration of a Protected Area.
4. The
former concerns legal protection of identified species; the latter concerns
territorial conservation categories under separate statutory frameworks.