Biodiversity decline persists despite expansion of protected areas, letter to Centre warns

By A Representative

A representation submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has raised serious concerns over what it describes as the rapid erosion of ecological safeguards within India’s legally protected areas, citing recent global research and the proposed approval of a major pumped storage project inside a wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka.

In a letter dated December 18, 2025, addressed to Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and Minister of State Kirti Vardhan Singh, and copied to the Prime Minister, power and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma drew attention to a recent international study reported by Down To Earth that questions the effectiveness of expanding protected areas in halting biodiversity loss. The study warns that while the global coverage of protected areas has increased, biodiversity continues to decline within many such sites, raising concerns that policy targets are prioritising numerical expansion over actual ecological outcomes.

Referring to the Indian context, the letter argues that the situation is particularly worrying, with authorities continuing to clear development projects even within wildlife sanctuaries and eco-sensitive zones. While official narratives often highlight the creation of new protected areas, the submission contends that these gains are undermined by frequent diversions of forest land, allegedly approved without adequate assessment of ecological necessity or alternatives.

The representation highlights data indicating that India lost more than 120,000 hectares of primary forest between 2014 and 2019, a figure said to be nearly 36 percent higher than losses recorded between 2009 and 2013. It also points to reports that over 500 projects in protected areas and eco-sensitive zones were cleared by the National Board for Wildlife between June 2014 and May 2018. According to the letter, India’s total forest and tree cover now stands at about 22 percent of its land area, significantly below the National Forest Policy target of 33 percent, a gap the author says is unlikely to be bridged if current clearance trends continue.

Against this backdrop, the letter expresses strong opposition to the in-principle approval accorded to a proposed 2,000 MW pumped storage project in the Sharavathi Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary in Karnataka, a region within the Western Ghats, which is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot. The project received clearance during the 84th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife. The submission argues that approving large infrastructure projects within sanctuaries represents a serious threat to wildlife habitats, endangered species and freshwater ecosystems.

The letter contrasts the rationale often given for permitting small projects inside protected areas—such as water pipelines or communication towers, which are justified as having no viable alternatives—with what it terms the “irrational and irresponsible” approval of a large pumped storage project despite the availability of alternative energy storage solutions such as battery energy storage systems. It also claims that the Sharavathi project has faced widespread public opposition, including objections from officials within the state forest department and concerns raised by Indian Forest Service officers associated with the Union ministry.

The author questions the strength of the ministry’s commitment to environmental protection in light of the Sharavathi proposal and two other pumped storage projects planned in Karnataka. He urges the Union government to reject all three projects and to undertake a comprehensive review of pumped storage proposals in river valleys across the country, taking into account less ecologically damaging alternatives.

The representation concludes with an appeal for a more precautionary and science-based approach to development decisions within protected areas, warning that continued deforestation and habitat fragmentation could have long-term consequences for biodiversity, water security and the overall well-being of communities dependent on healthy ecosystems.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

The war on junk food: Why India must adopt global warning labels

By Jag Jivan The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi).

The illusion of nuclear abundance: Why NTPC’s expansion demands public scrutiny

By Shankar Sharma* The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog