India is one of the recognized mega-diverse countries of the world, rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge. With just 2.4% of the land area, India accounts for nearly 7% of the recorded species even while supporting almost 18% of human population.

• In terms of species richness, India ranks seventh in mammals, ninth in birds and fifth in reptiles. In terms of endemism of vertebrate groups, India’s position is tenth in birds with 69 species, fifth in reptiles with 156 species and seventh in amphibians with 110 species.
• India’s share of crops is 44% as compared to the world average of 11% to space.
• Of the 34 globally identified biodiversity hotspots, India harbours two hotspots, i.e., Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
• The varied Edaphic, Climatic and Topographic conditions have resulted in a wide range of ecosystems and habitats such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, and deserts in India with greater biodiversity.

There are 10 bio-geographic zones which are distinguished clearly in India. They are as follows:

1. Trans-Himalayas: An extension of the Tibetan plateau, harbouring high-altitude cold desert in Laddakh (J&K) and LahaulSpiti (H.P) comprising 5.7% of the country’s landmass.
2. Himalayas: The entire mountain chain running from north-western to north-eastern India, comprising a diverse range of biotic provinces and biomes, 7.2% of the country’s landmass.
3. Desert: The extremely arid area west of the Aravalli hill range, comprising both the salty desert of Gujarat and the sand desert of Rajasthan. 6.9% of the country’s landmass.
4. Semi-arid: The zone between the desert and the Deccan plateau, including the Aravalli hill range. 15.6% of the country’s landmass.
5. Western ghats: The hill ranges and plains running along the western coastline, south of the Tapti river, covering an extremely diverse range of biotic provinces and biomes. 5.8% of the country’s landmass.
6. Deccan peninsula: The largest of the zones, covering much of the southern and south central plateau with predominantly deciduous vegetation. 4.3% of the country’s landmass.
7. Gangetic plain: Defined by the Ganges river system, these plains are relatively homogenous. 11% of the country’s landmass.
8. North-east India: The plains and non-Himalayan hill ranges of north-eastern India, with a wide variation of vegetation. 5.2% of the country’s landmass.
9. Islands: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, with a highly diverse set of biomes. 0.03% of the country’s landmass.
10. Coasts: A large coastline distributed both to the west and east, with distinct differences between the two; Lakshadeep islands are included in this with the percent area being negligible.

Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The Biological Diversity Act 2002 was born out of India’s attempt to realize the objectives enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992 which recognizes the sovereign rights of states to use their own Biological Resources.
• The act provide for conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological/genetic resources, knowledge and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• The Act envisages a three-tier structure to regulate access to the biological resources, comprising of National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBB) and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) at the local level.