India: Climate, Vegetation and Wildlife

UPSC GS1 — Monsoon and India:

The monsoon is not just a meteorological event — it is the backbone of India's economy, culture, and water security:

• Agriculture: ~50% of India's farmland is still rainfed; a good monsoon = good kharif harvest (rice, maize, cotton, pulses, soybean); a failed monsoon → drought → food inflation
• Water recharge: Monsoon recharges rivers, groundwater, reservoirs — 80% of India's annual rainfall occurs in the June–September southwest monsoon season
• El Niño effect: El Niño (warming of central/east Pacific) typically weakens the Indian monsoon → below-normal rainfall; La Niña typically strengthens it → above-normal rainfall
• Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD): Positive IOD (warmer western Indian Ocean) → enhances monsoon; Negative IOD → suppresses it
• Climate change impact: Intensifying extreme rainfall events (flooding), longer dry spells within monsoon season, delayed onset — all signs of a changing monsoon pattern
• IMD forecasting: India Meteorological Department releases Long Range Forecast (LRF) of monsoon each year (April for the season); important for government agricultural planning

Monsoon variability: A 10% shortfall from normal is "deficient"; 20%+ shortfall is "drought year." India has experienced severe drought years (2002, 2009, 2014-15) and exceptional monsoon years (2019, 2023 were above-average).

Forest cover data is a high-frequency UPSC topic — questions appear in both Prelims (exact percentages) and Mains (forest policy, CAMPA, carbon sinks).

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) — the benchmark data source:

• Published biennially by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun (under MoEFCC)
• Uses satellite remote sensing (wall-to-wall) + National Forest Inventory (ground truthing)
• Latest officially released report: ISFR 2023 (18th edition), released January 2024
• Key numbers from ISFR 2023:

• Note on the 33% target: India's National Forest Policy (1988) sets a target of 33% of land under forest+tree cover; India is currently at 25.17% — a significant gap
• Top states by forest cover area: MP > Arunachal Pradesh > Chhattisgarh
• Top states by % cover: Lakshadweep (91.33%) > Mizoram (85.34%) > A&N Islands (81.62%)

Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025 — FAO's global benchmark:

• Released: October 22, 2025 (by FAO, in Bali)
• GFRA 2025 ranked India 9th globally in total forest area (up from 10th in GFRA 2020)
• India's total forest area per FAO: ~72.739 million hectares (~2% of world's forests)
• India ranked 3rd globally in net annual forest area gain (countries adding forest fastest)
• India ranked 5th among global carbon sinks — India's forests remove 150 Mt of CO₂ per year (2021–2025)
• Context: India is one of very few large countries with a net positive forest gain each year; most tropical nations are still losing forest

ISFR 2025 — status: The next biennial ISFR (19th edition, covering 2024–25 data) is scheduled but had not been officially released by FSI as of May 2026. Use ISFR 2023 data in exams until the 2025 edition is officially launched by MoEFCC.

CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund): The chapter's reference to Rs 54,000 crore in CAMPA refers to cumulative unspent funds that were transferred into the national CAMPA authority after the Supreme Court's 2006 order. These funds are released to states for afforestation, forest rehabilitation, and wildlife protection. CAMPA is an important GS3 topic linking mining/infrastructure approvals with forest conservation funding.

Critically important species for UPSC:

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris):

• National Animal of India
• Population: 3,682 (AITE 2022) — India has ~75% of world's wild tigers
• Top states: MP (785) > Karnataka (563) > Uttarakhand (560) > Maharashtra (444)
• Threats: Habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, poaching

Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps):

• IUCN: Critically Endangered; ~150 birds remaining
• Mainly Rajasthan (Desert National Park, Jaisalmer) — ~90% of surviving population
• State bird of Rajasthan
• Main threat: Collision with overhead power transmission lines (Supreme Court ordered underground cables in critical habitat); also habitat loss to agriculture and solar farms
• Captive breeding: Sam (Jaisalmer) and Ramdevra centres; 8 chicks hatched in 2025

One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis):

• IUCN: Vulnerable; ~4,000–4,075 globally
• India has ~81–85% of global population (~3,271)
• Mainly Assam — Kaziranga NP (2,613 rhinos); also Orang NP, Pobitora, Manas
• Also in Jaldapara NP and Gorumara NP (West Bengal)

Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia):

• IUCN: Vulnerable; 718 in India (India's first-ever scientific estimate; WII Snow Leopard Population Assessment SPAI, released January 2024)
• Found in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim
• India launched Project Snow Leopard (2009)
• Threatened by climate change (shrinking alpine habitat), retaliatory killing

Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica):

• IUCN: Endangered; 891 lions (16th census, May 2025) — spread across 11 districts of Gujarat
• Census 2020 had recorded 674; the jump to 891 in 2025 is a major conservation milestone
• Only in Gujarat — world's only wild population; 384 within Gir NP + WLS; 507 now outside the protected area (a range expansion concern and conservation success both)
• India has resisted relocating some lions to Kuno-Palpur (MP) under Supreme Court order — conservation and political debate ongoing
• Population grown from ~177 (1968) → 674 (2020) → 891 (2025) — one of India's greatest wildlife conservation successes

Project Lion — Key Facts:

• Announced: August 15, 2020, by PM Modi in his Independence Day address
• Formally approved (budget): March 2025; allocated Rs 2,927.71 crore for a 10-year conservation plan
• Nodal agency: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) + Gujarat Forest Department
• Objectives: Habitat management, wildlife health security (disease surveillance), human-wildlife conflict mitigation, eco-tourism development, and long-term population resilience
• Gir National Park: Core of lion range; total area 1,410.30 sq km (of which 258.71 sq km is strictly protected National Park; 1,151.59 sq km is Wildlife Sanctuary); located in Saurashtra, Gujarat
• Second home within Gujarat — Barda Wildlife Sanctuary: Located near Porbandar; a single lion migrated there in 2023; by 2025 census 17 lions (6 adults + 11 cubs) established; grassland restoration and prey base improvement underway; Gujarat proposes Barda as the official "second home" under Project Lion
• Kuno-Palpur (MP) — pending second population: Supreme Court in 2013 ordered translocation of some lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur WLS (Madhya Pradesh) to create a second wild population as insurance against disease or disaster; Gujarat has opposed the move; as of 2025 the translocation is still not implemented — Kuno was subsequently used for Project Cheetah (2022) instead
• Why a second population matters: All 891 lions are in one connected landscape; a single epidemic or catastrophic event (fire, disease) could wipe out the species — the same vulnerability that nearly drove lions to extinction before conservation began

Gangetic River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica):

• National Aquatic Animal of India
• IUCN: Endangered
• Nearly blind (vestigial eyes); navigates by echolocation
• Found in Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems; major threat is river pollution, dams, and fishing gear entanglement
• Project Dolphin (2020): Similar to Project Tiger; launched by PM Modi on Independence Day 2020

[Additional] Project Cheetah — Three Batches, Deaths, Controversies, and Current Status (GS3 — Environment / Science & Technology):

Cheetah extinction in India:

• Cheetahs were once widespread across India; used by Mughal emperors for hunting (Akbar alone kept 1,000 cheetahs)
• Three male cheetahs shot by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Surguja (now Chhattisgarh): 1947–48 — last known killing
• Last confirmed sighting: 1951 (a female, Koriya district, Chhattisgarh)
• Officially declared locally extinct in India: 1952
• Cause: Hunting for sport, habitat loss, prey depletion

Three introduction batches:

Cubs born in India:

• 45 cubs born across multiple litters in India (as of May 2026)
• 33 surviving cubs (12 cubs died)
• First cub born to an India-born female: Jwala's litter, Kuno, May 2026 — a conservation milestone

Deaths:

• ~19 adults died through early 2026 (adult mortality rate ~40%)
• ~12 cubs died (cub mortality rate ~29%)
• Confirmed/major causes: Renal failure; septicemia from radio-collar abrasions (collar wounds caused infections — a significant management controversy); prey-related injuries; drowning (Pavan, August 2024)
• NTCA official position: "preliminary analysis points to natural causes"

Sites — current distribution (as of May 2026):

Total alive: ~57 (as of May 2026)

Scientific controversies:

UPSC synthesis: Project Cheetah = GS3 Environment + Science & Technology. Key exam facts: Cheetah extinct in India = 1952 (last killing 1947–48, Surguja; last sighting 1951, Koriya); Asiatic Cheetah = A. j. venaticus = Iran (~12); African cheetah introduced from Namibia (8, Sep 17, 2022) + South Africa (12, Feb 18, 2023) + Botswana (9, Feb 28, 2026) = 29 total introduced; 45 cubs born in India; 33 surviving; total alive = ~57; primary site = Kuno NP, Sheopur, MP; second site = Gandhi Sagar WLS (3 cheetahs); third site = Nauradehi WLS (in preparation); implementing agency = NTCA (under MoEFCC); technical partner = WII; controversy = wrong subspecies (African not Asiatic); radio-collar deaths (septicemia). Prelims trap: Kuno National Park is in Sheopur district, MP (NOT Kuno-Palpur district — the older name was Kuno-Palpur WLS before becoming a NP); cheetahs introduced = African subspecies (NOT Asiatic — Asiatic cheetah survives only in Iran); Project Cheetah implementing agency = NTCA (NOT WWF or WII — WII is only a technical partner); the extinction date is 1952 (NOT 1947 — 1947 is when they were last killed; official declaration of extinction was 1952).

[Additional] India's Ramsar Sites — Count, Key Sites, and Wetland Governance (GS3 — Environment / Biodiversity):

India's Ramsar count — current status:

Why so many additions recently? In 2022 alone, India added 28 Ramsar sites — a world record for a single year by any country. The government has used Ramsar designations as a showcase of environmental stewardship, timed around international events (World Wetlands Day, World Environment Day, G20 summit). This aligns with India's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) commitments ("30×30" target).

Key Ramsar sites in India:

Ramsar legal status — critical nuance for UPSC Mains: Ramsar designation is NOT automatically legally binding under Indian domestic law. To be legally protected in India, a wetland must additionally be notified under:

1. Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (as National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, or Conservation Reserve)
2. Environment Protection Act 1986 (Wetland Rules, 2017)

Many Ramsar sites still face threats from pollution, encroachment, siltation, and invasive species despite their international designation — a common Mains question theme.

UPSC synthesis: Ramsar = GS3 Environment + Biodiversity. Key exam facts: Ramsar Convention adopted February 2, 1971 (Ramsar, Iran); India joined February 1, 1982; India's 99 Ramsar sites (as of April 2026, 99th = Shekha Jheel Aligarh UP); area = ~13.6 lakh hectares; 3rd globally; 1st in Asia (number of sites); Tamil Nadu = 20 sites (most in India); India's first 2 sites (1981) = Chilika Lake (Odisha) + Keoladeo Ghana NP (Rajasthan); Sundarbans = largest Ramsar site in India (4,230 sq km) + 5 simultaneous designations; Loktak Lake = floating NP (Keibul Lamjao) + Sangai deer + Montreux Record; Wular Lake = largest freshwater lake India; Sambhar Lake = largest inland saltwater lake India; Montreux Record = Keoladeo NP + Loktak Lake (Chilika was removed — restoration success); Ramsar designation = international recognition ONLY (NOT domestic legal protection under Indian law). Prelims trap: India's Ramsar rank = 3rd globally (NOT 1st globally — UK has more sites; BUT India is 1st in Asia); Wular Lake = largest freshwater lake in India (Chilika is a lagoon, NOT freshwater; Sambhar is saltwater); Chilika = removed from Montreux Record (Keoladeo and Loktak are still on it); World Wetlands Day = February 2 (NOT February 5 or any other date — it marks the 1971 signing).