The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Notification of Threatened Species under Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. This SOP aims to establish a uniform, transparent, and scientifically robust process for the identification, assessment, and notification of threatened species by States and Union Territories.
Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 empowers the Central Government, in consultation with State Governments, to notify species on the verge of extinction as Threatened Species. Such notification regulates or prohibits collection and mandates appropriate rehabilitation and conservation measures. The Central Government may delegate these powers to State Governments. To date, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified 159 plant species and 173 animal species as threatened across 17 States and 3 Union Territories.
The SOP provides State Biodiversity Boards and UT Biodiversity Councils with a clear step-by-step framework covering scientific assessment, stakeholder consultations, validation, notification, conservation planning, monitoring, and periodic review. It promotes using the best available scientific evidence, field-based assessments, and traditional knowledge while ensuring participation of local communities, Biodiversity Management Committees, the Botanical Survey of India, the Zoological Survey of India, academic institutions, and subject experts.
This initiative gains additional significance due to the Biological Diversity (Access to Biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulations, 2025, which provide differential treatment in determining benefit-sharing obligations for biological resources belonging to species notified as threatened under Section 38.
The SOP emphasizes preparation of species recovery and conservation action plans following notification, along with regular monitoring and periodic review to assess conservation outcomes and emerging threats. This release contributes to implementing the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2030 (particularly Target 4 on halting human-induced extinction), and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.