New Delhi – India’s ecological protection efforts are under intense scrutiny following a directive from the Supreme Court on Monday and a sobering new international report on the state of the country’s biodiversity hotspots.
In a move aimed at reversing large-scale ecological violations, the Supreme Court ruled that tiger safaris must be established only on “non-forest land or degraded forest land in buffer areas provided they are not part of a tiger corridor.” This directive is expected to halt the commercial exploitation of core tiger habitats, such as those recently seen in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand.
Global Body Raises Alarm on Western Ghats
Simultaneously, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) raised serious concerns over some of India’s most vital landscapes. The World Heritage Outlook 4 (2025) report, which assesses 271 natural and mixed World Heritage sites, categorized the Western Ghats as being of “significant concern.” Two other crucial Indian sites, Assam’s Manas National Park and West Bengal’s Sundarbans National Park, received the same worrying classification.
The Western Ghats, an ancient 1,600 km mountain chain and one of the world’s eight global biodiversity hotspots, holds immense ecological value. Recognized by UNESCO in 2012, this natural site spans six states and acts as a crucial climatic regulator for peninsular India by influencing the South-West monsoon. It is home to diverse ecosystems and several threatened species, including the lion-tailed macaque and Nilgiri Tahr, with around 325 species in the region listed on the IUCN Red List.
Major Threats Highlighted
According to the IUCN report, the integrity of these sites is threatened by systematic, large-scale pressures. The four biggest threats identified in South Asia are:
• Climate Change Red-flagged as the most prevalent threat, climate impacts are accelerating biodiversity loss and altering fragile ecosystems.
• Tourism Activities unregulated activities are the second biggest threat, increasing waste, disturbing wildlife, and straining natural resources.
• Invasive Alien Species these disrupt native ecosystems and reduce biodiversity.
• Infrastructure Development for the first time, expansion projects like roads and railways have been listed among the major threats, compounding local pressures such as logging and encroachment.
Policy Implementation Remains the Bottleneck
India has adopted a combination of policy frameworks and legal safeguards, including the Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Forest Act, to protect these areas. However, the report’s findings underscore a major challenge: weak implementation.
Efforts to declare the Western Ghats an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) have stalled. Based on expert panel reports (Madhav Gadgil and Kasturirangan), a draft notification was issued in 2024 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to declare approximately 56,000 sq. km as ESA. This measure aims to minimize negative anthropogenic activities like mining and hydropower projects. However, the draft has been opposed and not yet implemented due to fears of negative impacts on local livelihoods.
The IUCN report serves as a timely reminder that protecting the Western Ghats is not just an environmental priority, but a national necessity vital for climate stability and economic well-being. The push for conservation now hinges on achieving participatory decision-making to harmonize environmental protection with responsible economic activities.