National Biodiversity Authority Issues New SOP for Threatened Species Notification

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. This move is designed to bring uniformity and scientific rigor to the process of identifying and notifying threatened species across India’s States and Union Territories. Historically, the process of declaring species as threatened has lacked a centralized, standardized framework, leading to inconsistencies in conservation priorities and regulatory enforcement. Under Section 38 of the Act, the Central Government, in consultation with the State Governments, is empowered to notify species that are on the verge of extinction as threatened. The new SOP provides a transparent, evidence-based methodology for this identification. By integrating data on habitat degradation, overexploitation, and the impacts of climate change, the SOP ensures that conservation measures are not only reactive but also proactive and targeted. This framework is expected to facilitate better regulation of the collection of endangered species and enable the implementation of site-specific rehabilitation programs.