INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

IUCN engagement in India

India became a State Member of IUCN in 1969. The IUCN General Assembly, predecessor to the World Conservation Congress, was held that same year in New Delhi. IUCN now has 42 Members from India, and over 435 experts represented in the six IUCN Commissions. This association has been significant in the establishment of the India National Committee (INC), Chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). INC comprises of Government institutions, research organizations and NGOs, and works towards collaborative conservation efforts in India.

IUCN has been granted the status of an autonomous, international non-profit organization, in accordance with an MoU signed with the Government of India. Accordingly the IUCN India Country Office was established in New Delhi in 2007.

IUCN in India seeks to build synergies amongst its constituency across the country and Asia region. Our work focuses on IUCN’s three themes of valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development.

Past Initiatives

The Livelihood and Landscapes Strategy (LLS) project, demonstrated in the states of Odisha and Haryana, built on the Joint Forest Management programme, initiated by the Government of India. The project strengthened livelihood security through Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) enterprise development, and strengthened institutional capacity in addressing benefit-sharing mechanisms.

Integrated fishery and mangrove farming systems, developed through an IUCN project in West Bengal, have provided livelihood security for artisanal fishermen © IUCN/Nisha Maria D’Souza

For more information visit www.iucn.org/india or contact priya.sinha@iucn.org

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

The Water and Nature Initiative (WANI) built on IUCN’s global Water programme, and brought together stakeholders to demonstrated sustainable management of water resources in the Himalayas, including improved access and benefits from water.

The Connecting People and Ecosystems in the India Himalayas project improved community resilience in the Himalayas through watershed restoration and livelihood strengthening.

Ecosystems for Life: A Bangladesh-India (E4L) Initiative was a trans-boundary multi-stakeholders dialogue process to strengthen management of shared ecosystems in Bangladesh and India. The key outputs were shared visions of food, livelihood and water security challenges through collaborative research, creation of a knowledge hub, research-based policy recommendations and enhanced capacity of civil society stakeholders for ecosystem management.

IUCN engaged with the Dhamra Port Company Ltd. (DPCL) in designing mitigation measures and implementing global environmental standards for port development. The project showcased a first of its kind, Environment Management Plan, for the development and operation of DPLC, and was the flagship project with the IUCN Business & Biodiversity Programme in India.

Ongoing Initiatives

The Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative aims to address threats to all coastal and marine ecosystems and communities across Asia. MFF in India focuses on building socio-ecological resilience of local coastal communities. Key outputs include strengthening of livelihoods and income security, science-based policy recommendations, knowledge and awareness products and capacity building of stakeholders for enhanced governance.

Through the IUCN Tata Steel Partnership a comprehensive biodiversity management policy and site-specific biodiversity

management plans are beind developed for Tata Steel’s mining operations in India, to minimize impacts on biodiversity.

The IUCN Tata Power Partnership is working towards strengthening the companies overall biodiversity management. Additionally, IUCN will work with Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL), a subsidiary company of Tata Power to develop Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Protocols.

Leaders for Nature (LfN) is a network of multi-national, and national enterprises. In offering knowledge & training, project support and inspiration, LfN in India encourages and facilitates companies to take lead in incorporating natural capital in their core business, sensitizes companies to the value of nature, and assesses biodiversity related risks and opportunities to inform strategic decision-making. LfN has 10 Member companies: Tata Steel, Tata Power, HUL, Apollo Tyres, Wipro, ACC, Cairn India, Rio Tinto, Veolia India and Aditya Birla Group

The Monitoring the Killing of Elephants (MIKE) initiative is an international collaboration that tracks trends in information related to the illegal killing of elephants from across Africa and Asia, to monitor effectiveness of field conservation efforts. The Subregional Support Unit for South Asia is hosted by IUCN in India.

As part of the South Asia Vulture initiative, the Governments of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, have signed a Regional Declaration for the conservation of endangered Gyps species. In addition to working at the policy and research levels, IUCN in India has recently completed an economic valuation study of the regulating services provided by vultures.

The IUCN ITC Partnership is developing Sustainable Agriscapes, incorporating ecological and biodiversity concerns, whilst supporting agriculture, and allied livelihoods, in Munger, Bihar.