Invasive alien species in India: how they are listed and managed
Why in news: On 21 March 2026, the National Biodiversity Authority set up an Expert Committee on Invasive Alien Species on the National Green Tribunal's direction.
Invasive alien species are plants, animals or microbes that people move beyond their natural range and that establish, spread and harm native biodiversity. A 2023 IPBES assessment found them a major factor in 60% of recorded global extinctions. In March 2026, India's National Biodiversity Authority set up an expert committee to prepare a national list.
Syllabus: Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Environment & Conservation; GS2 · International Institutions
Why this matters for UPSC
GS3 environment and conservation: Prelims can ask what IPBES is, what Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework says and which bodies handle invasive species in India; Mains, how India should manage biological invasions.
In short
Invasive alien species are organisms people move beyond their natural range that establish, spread and harm native biodiversity; IPBES ranks them among five direct drivers of biodiversity loss.
India's response must move from scattered records to one ranked national list, with prevention at borders funded ahead of costly eradication.
Why it matters
Invaders hit people who live closest to nature. A fisher can lose a catch when an invasive mussel spreads: IPBES cites the Caribbean false mussel damaging fishery resources in India. Farmers lose crops and food supplies when invasive pests and weeds spread. Invasive mosquitoes spread diseases such as Zika. The global bill exceeded $423 billion a year in 2019, by the IPBES estimate. India has had no single national list, so States and agencies act separately; the NBA committee is meant to fix that and set national guidelines. The larger issue is that trade and travel keep adding species, and climate change helps established invaders spread further.
Prelims pointers
- IPBES: independent intergovernmental body set up in 2012, secretariat in Bonn; it assesses the state of biodiversity for governments, as the IPCC does for climate.
- Convention on Biological Diversity: opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit; India is a Party.
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: adopted at CBD COP15 in December 2022, with 23 targets for 2030; Target 6 is on invasive alien species.
- Target 6 carries forward Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 and links to Sustainable Development Goal target 15.8.
- Biological Diversity Act, 2002: gives effect to the CBD; three tiers: National Biodiversity Authority (Chennai), State Biodiversity Boards, Biodiversity Management Committees.
- National Green Tribunal: set up under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for environmental cases.
- Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 lets the Central Government regulate or prohibit import, trade, possession or spread of invasive alien species.
- Global Invasive Species Database: developed by the Invasive Species Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), consider the following statements:
1. Its 2023 assessment found invasive alien species a major factor in 60% of recorded global plant and animal extinctions.
2. It is an intergovernmental body set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
3. It counts invasive alien species among the five main direct drivers of biodiversity loss, alongside climate change and pollution.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only
1 is correct: the 2023 IPBES assessment found invasive alien species a major factor in 60% of recorded extinctions and the only driver in 16%. 2 is incorrect: IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body set up in 2012, not a body under the UNFCCC. 3 is correct: IPBES lists invasive alien species with land- and sea-use change, direct exploitation, climate change and pollution as the five direct drivers.
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