Guardians of Life: Biodiversity Crisis and the Fight to Protect Our Ecosystems

Aditi Joshi
Oct 11
4 min read

From the dense rainforests of the Amazon to the tiger-haunted forests of India, ecosystems are the invisible scaffolding that holds up life on Earth. They regulate our climate, sustain agriculture, purify water, and shelter species that form the delicate web of biodiversity. Yet this foundation is under unprecedented strain. Rising deforestation, habitat destruction, and climate change are accelerating biodiversity loss worldwide, placing not just species but human well-being at risk.

A World in Decline: From Past Abundance to Present Fragility

Just a few generations ago, biodiversity felt endless. In India, vast grasslands supported herds of blackbuck and bustards, wetlands hosted millions of migratory birds, and forests rang with the calls of hornbills, vultures, and tigers. Historical records suggest that India’s tiger population was over 40,000 at the turn of the 20th century which reduced to a few thousands in the late 20th Century. Vulture - numbering in the tens of millions in the late 20th century - has plummeted to just 19,000 individuals across key species today, a dramatic decline with grave ecological and public health consequences.

Expanding agriculture, urban growth, logging, and infrastructure have accelerated ecosystem destruction. In the Amazon basin, deforestation rates - though varying - have ranged from over 18,000 km² per year around 2000 to about 8,400 km² by 2020, highlighting sustained pressure on global forests. India has lost approximately 2.3 million hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2024, equivalent to a 7% decline, and resulting in some 1.29 gigatonnes of CO₂ emissions. While precise data on grassland loss are limited, the shrinking of these key ecosystems exacerbates the crisis. Today, many species that were once widespread, such as the Great Indian Bustard and Bengal Florican are classified as critically endangered, surviving only in small, fragmented habitats.

Tigers and Vultures: Symbols of Fragility

Few species tell the story more starkly than tigers and vultures. Tigers, revered in Indian culture, fell to a low of just 1,411 individuals in 2006, saved from the brink only by urgent conservation efforts like the “Project Tiger”. Though their population has rebounded to 3,167 in 2022, they still occupy less than 10% of their historical range, with poaching and habitat fragmentation continuing to threaten their survival.

Vultures, once ubiquitous across rural India - estimated at tens of millions by the 1990s - suffered a catastrophic decline when populations fell by over 95%, driven primarily by the veterinary use of diclofenac. This rapid collapse nearly pushed the species to extinction and triggered a serious public health crisis. Research now attributes half a million additional human deaths between 2000 and 2005 to the vulture die-off, as disease-carrying corpses went unchecked - highlighting how biodiversity loss can ripple directly into human well-being.

Protected Landscapes: Living Arks of India

India’s network of over 100 national parks and 550 wildlife sanctuaries serve as critical refuges.

Jim Corbett National Park, established in 1936, is not only India’s first national park but also the launchpad of Project Tiger. It remains a cornerstone of tiger conservation.
Kaziranga National Park in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritage site, shelters more than 2,400 one-horned rhinoceroses, over two-thirds of the global population.
Sundarbans mangroves, home to the only population of tigers adapted to a mangrove ecosystem, protect coastal communities from cyclones while sheltering endangered estuarine species.
Gir National Park in Gujarat remains the last refuge of the Asiatic lion, with the population recovering to 674 individuals in 2020, a dramatic turnaround from the brink of extinction in the early 1900s.

These landscapes prove that when protected, ecosystems can rebound. But they also highlight how small and fragmented India’s remaining wilderness is compared to its past.

Human - Wildlife Coexistence: Lessons from Jawai and Beyond

In Rajasthan’s Jawai region, leopards live in close quarters with the Rabari community, a rare example of coexistence supported by cultural tolerance. The Jawai Dam and Reservoir serve as both a biodiversity hotspot and a livelihood hub, with migratory birds, crocodiles, and herders depending on its waters.

Other parts of India are attempting similar balances:

In Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, community conservation programs protect snow leopards by compensating villagers for livestock losses, reducing retaliatory killings.
In Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala, eco-development committees have engaged local communities in eco-tourism and non-timber forest produce, ensuring conservation delivers livelihoods.

Community-led Change: Sukhai Village and the Tizu Valley

In Nagaland, where hunting was once widespread, villages like Sukhai in Zunheboto district are reimagining conservation. By restricting hunting and protecting forest patches, they are regenerating biodiversity while reviving traditional ecological knowledge.

The Tizu Valley Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Network, founded by Ivan Zhimomi, is taking this vision further. Covering multiple villages, it combines biodiversity protection with livelihood opportunities such as eco-tourism, organic farming, and handicrafts. By ensuring that protecting hornbills, orchids, and forests directly benefits communities, Zhimomi has built a model of grassroots conservation that bridges people and ecosystems.

Why Biodiversity Matters Now More Than Ever

Biodiversity is not an abstract luxury - it is the foundation of human survival. Forests regulate rainfall; mangroves buffer coasts; pollinators secure crops; apex predators maintain ecological balance. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that one million species globally are now threatened with extinction, many within decades unless action is taken.

India, with its megadiversity, is at the crossroads. Failure to protect its species and ecosystems will undermine food security, water availability, and resilience to climate change for more than a billion people.

Looking Ahead

The story of India’s biodiversity is one of both decline and resilience. From the near-extinction of tigers and vultures to the recovery of lions in Gir and rhinos in Kaziranga, it shows both the dangers of neglect and the power of conservation. The global crisis of biodiversity loss - from Amazon deforestation to India’s shrinking forests - demands urgent attention.

The lesson is clear: biodiversity conservation cannot be isolated from people. To safeguard ecosystems and species, India and the world must scale community-driven models, strengthen protected landscapes, and invest in nature-based solutions. Biodiversity must be valued not just as heritage, but as the living foundation of our future.