Lok Sabha Question No. 4086 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-18
Subject: National Action Plan on Climate Change
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Pratima Mondal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION. NO. 4086

TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.08.2025

## National Action Plan on Climate Change

## 4086.  SMT. PRATIMA MONDAL:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  steps  taken  to  integrate  climate  resilience  into  urban  planning,  agriculture  and infrastructure  development  through  the  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change (NAPCC) and State Action Plans;
- (b) the measures adopted to conserve biodiversity hotspots such as the Western Ghats, Himalayas and Northeast and to increase community-led conservation efforts; and
- (c) the progress of Project Tiger and Project Elephant, including population trends, habitat conservation measures and strategies to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a)  To address challenges from climate change, the Government of India has taken a range of initiatives, including inclusive policy measures, focusing on adaptation, resilience-building, and social  protection.  Key  programs  linked  to  climate  action  include  efforts  to  enhance  climateresilient housing and infrastructure in coastal, flood-prone, and drought-affected regions.

The  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change  (NAPCC)  outlines  a  multipronged  strategy  to address the effects of climate change. As part of the NAPCC, the National Mission for Sustainable Habitat  (NMSH)  aims, inter  alia ,  to  build  resilience  of  cities  to  climate  change  impacts  and strengthen their capacities to 'bounce back better' from climate-related extreme events and the disaster risk.

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) under NAPCC implements strategies to make Indian agriculture more resilient to the changing climate. Several schemes under NMSA deal with adverse climate situations in agriculture. Per Drop More Crop scheme increases water use  efficiency  at  the  farm  level  through  Micro-Irrigation  technologies,  i.e.,  drip  and  sprinkler irrigation  systems.  The  Rainfed  Area  Development  scheme  promotes  the  Integrated  Farming System (IFS) for enhancing productivity and minimising risks associated with climatic variability.

Further, Thirty-four States /Union Territories (UTs) have prepared and some have updated their State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in line with NAPCC, taking into account the Statespecific issues relating to climate change. These SAPCCs outline sector-specific and cross-sectoral priority actions, including adaptation and climate-resilient infrastructure.

(b) The Government of India stands committed to conserve the biological resources of the country. The Government has implemented several measures to conserve important biodiversity hotspots such  as  the  Western  Ghats,  Himalayas,  and  Northeast  region,  and  to  enhance  community-led conservation efforts. These include the establishment of the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards, and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils under the Biological Diversity Act,  2002;  the  declaration  of  50  Biodiversity  Heritage  Sites;  the  creation  of  Biodiversity Management Committees; and the preparation of People's Biodiversity Registers.

National  Biodiversity  Strategy  and  Action  Plan  (NBSAP)  in  line  with  the  Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) by adopting a 'whole of government' and 'whole of society' approach, etc. The updated NBSAP comprises 23 National Biodiversity Targets (NBTs) along with 142 indicators. It comprehensively addresses conservation, sustainable use, and benefit sharing and envisages protecting terrestrial and marine areas, restoring degraded ecosystems and reducing biodiversity threats. Additionally, the plan emphasises active community participation in biodiversity governance to ensure inclusive and sustainable outcomes.

Furthermore, organisations including the Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India aid in surveys, inventories, taxonomic validation, threat assessment of floral and faunal resources, along with ex-situ conservation through their regional centres across the country, including India's four Biodiversity hotspots. In the Himalayas, flagship programmes such  as the Snow Leopard Project, Himalayan Wildlife Project, and the recovery of hangul, musk deer, and Himalayan monal have been initiated as part of hotspot conservation.

The Ministry has notified Eco-Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Sanctuaries, under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Eco-sensitive Zones around Protected Areas i.e. National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are declared to create some kind of 'Shock Absorber' for the specialized Ecosystem, such as Protected Areas or other natural sites and is meant to act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection. Eco-Sensitive Areas  such  as,  Dahanu  Taluka,  Mahabaleshwar-Panchagani,  Matheran,  Bhagirathi  and  Doon valley and 120 Eco-Sensitive Zones have been notified in the biodiversity hotspots of North-East, Himalayas and Western Ghats.

Biosphere Reserves (BRs) are designated to deal with one of the most important questions of reconciling the conservation of biodiversity, the quest for economic and social development and maintenance of associated cultural values. There are 18 Biosphere Reserves in the country. Out of these, 12 BRs are under the World Network of Biosphere Reserve (WNBR) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and the remaining 6 BRs are under consideration in WNBR of UNESCO.

(c) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has established policies and laws to conserve  natural  heritage.  The  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  provides  for  notification  of

Sanctuaries, National Parks, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves for the protection of wildlife and its habitats.

The  Ministry  is providing financial and  technical  assistance  to  State  Governments/UTs Administrations under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme Project Tiger & Elephant (CSS-PT&E) for protection of elephants, their habitat and corridors, to address issues of human-elephant conflict and welfare of captive elephants in the country. Financial assistance is provided under the scheme as per the Annual Plan of Operations submitted by the State Governments/UTs Administration for management of wildlife and its habitat in the country.

The tiger population has increased as per the All India Tiger Estimation done in 2022, with an estimated number of 3682 (range 3167-3925) as compared to the 2018 estimation of 2967 (range 2603-3346) and 2014 estimation of 2226 (range 1945-2491). To conserve tigers, 58 tiger reserves have been notified in India, covering nearly 2.5% of the country's geographical area.

The  Government  of  India,  through  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  (NTCA),  has advocated a three-pronged strategy to manage human-wildlife negative interactions, viz.,

- i. Providing material and logistical support;
- ii. Restricting habitat interventions and,
- iii. Three Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which include, (a) to deal with emergency arising due to straying of tigers in human dominated landscapes; (b) to deal with tiger depredation on livestock and (c) for active management towards rehabilitation of tigers from source areas at the landscape level.

The three SOPs inter alia include the issue of managing dispersing tigers; managing livestock kills to reduce conflict, as well as relocating tigers from source areas to areas where the density of tigers is low, so that conflict in rich source areas does not occur. In addition, as per Tiger Conservation Plans, need-based and site-specific management interventions are undertaken by the tiger reserves.

The Project Elephant was started in the year 1992 with the objectives to protect elephants, their habitat and corridors, to address issues of man-elephant conflict and welfare of captive elephants in the country. Critical elephant habitats are notified as ' Elephant Reserve ' to enhance focus and synergy in elephant conservation and reduce conflict. The latest elephant estimation in the country was completed in 2017. The elephant population was estimated as 29,964 in 2017, as compared to the  estimated  range  of  29,391-30,711  in  2012.  For  the  conservation  of elephants,  33  Elephant Reserves have been established across 14 elephant range States.

The management of wildlife including mitigation and management of human-elephant conflict (HEC) is primarily the responsibility of State Governments/UTs Administration. The State Forest Departments works with the local people to address the HEC issues through periodic awareness campaigns to sensitize guide and advise the general public on human-animal conflict including dissemination of information through various forms of media. Further, State Forest Departments engage with local communities to monitor the movement of elephants and to caution local people to avoid human-animal conflict, prevent damage or loss of human life, property and elephants.

Further, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 provides regulatory functions for dealing with humanwildlife situations.

Additionally,  the  Ministry  has  released  Guidelines  for  Human-Elephant  Conflict  mitigation adopting  a  Harmonious  Coexistence  Approach  (2023)  to  address  human-elephant  conflicts. Furthermore, the Field Manual for Frontline Staff on Human-Elephant Conflict Management was also issued during the 16th Meeting of the Steering Committee on 29 April, 2022.

In addition to compensation schemes of the State Governments/UTs Administration, the Ministry also provides financial assistance to States/UTs under Centrally Sponsored Scheme, Project Tiger & Elephant, for ex-gratia relief, depending upon availability of funds.

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