Rapid Fire
Global Nature Conservation Index 2024
- 13 Nov 2024
- 2 min read
India ranks 176th in the 2024 Global Nature Conservation Index. It is among the five lowest-ranked countries, along with Kiribati (180), Turkey (179), Iraq (178), and Micronesia (177), out of 180 nations.
- India’s low ranking is due to inefficient land management and increasing biodiversity threats.
- About Nature Conservation Index (NCI):
- It is developed by the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University and BioDB.com, a biodiversity database.
- The first NCI was launched in October 2024 to evaluate conservation efforts.
- It assesses four key markers: land management, biodiversity threats, capacity and governance, and future trends.
- Observation of the NCI:
- Sustainable land use is crucial, as 53% of land is converted for urban, industrial, and agricultural purposes.
- The index highlights high pesticide use and warns about soil pollution,
- Marine conservation needs improvement, with only 0.2% of national waterways protected and none within India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- India ranks as the fourth-largest illegal wildlife trading nation globally, with annual sales totaling approximately 15 billion Euros.
- Deforestation resulted in the loss of 23,300 sq. km of tree cover between 2001 and 2019.
- India's ecological wealth is constantly threatened by overpopulation.
Read More: Environmental Performance Index 2024
