'Invasive alien species eradication underfunded in India'

Eradication of invasive alien species is "underfunded" in India, an official of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) said here on Friday.

The NBA is hosting the BIOFIN (Biodiversity Finance Initiative), a global United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative, that helps the country generate national level expenditure data on biodiversity.

Since 2015, the NBA has been assessing the cost of implementation of the National Biodiversity Targets.

"There are some targets where under-funding is there. For example, the subject of invasive alien species -- India has no policy, mechanism and there is no corresponding money allotted for eradication of such species," J. Sounderapandi, Project Officer, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai, told IANS.

Invasive alien species (IAS) are species whose introduction and/or spread outside their natural past or present distribution threatens biological diversity.

IAS occur in all taxonomic groups, including animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms, and can affect all types of ecosystems.

They are considered to be main direct drivers of biodiversity loss across the globe. In addition, alien species have been estimated to cost our economies hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

The official was speaking on the sidelines of 'Understanding the National Biodiversity Targets and the Biodiversity Act' workshop organised by the Centre for Environment Communication and West Bengal Biodiversity Board.

"As far as I know... there is no legislation in the country... no dedicated department to tackle invasive alien species. We need to integrate socio-economic issues with biodiversity conservation... it should not be conservation for conservation's sake," he explained.

As an obligation under the Convention on Biological Diversity, India prepared the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) in 2008.

Thereafter, India has developed 12 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs) in consultation with concerned ministries/departments, using the Strategic Plan and its 20 Aichi targets as the framework, and has included these in NBAP Addendum 2014 to NBAP 2008.

"Every action has cost... when these documents are prepared the costs are not indicated. We are examining how much each biodiversity target (NBT) will cost," he said.

BIOFIN in India is led by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

--IANS

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