By IANS,
Hyderabad : The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is providing $73 million for biodiversity conservation projects in India and remains committed to work with the country, a top official said.
Gustavo Fonseca, head (natural resources), GEF – the designated funding mechanism of Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the world’s largest funder of environmental projects – said India, a mega diverse country, was one of the major recipient of GEF funding.
He was addressing a side event organised by GEF Thursday during the ongoing 11th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP11) to the CBD.
“We are funding 14 projects in India which include a conservation initiative in Western Ghats, eco-development projects and wild tropical fruit diversity project,” he said.
Fonseca said that GEF had learnt lessons from the projects which it was funding in India and that it was looking forward to build on those experiences.
Hem Pande, joint secretary in India’s environment and forests ministry, said GEF had provided $30 million in the previous cycle (2006-2010) and another $30 million during the current cycle (2010-2014).
Along with some other funding the total GEF biodiversity portfolio in India was $70 million, he added.
India, one of the founding members of the GEF, is both a donor to and recipient of GEF Trust Fund.
“GEF provides opportunity for innovation and provides instrumentality to the ongoing programmes of the central and state governments,” he said.
Pande said India was spending $2 billion on conservation of biodiversity every year. He pointed out that India was a recognized megadiversity country with 10 bio-geographic zones, and four global hotspots of biodiversity.
With 2.4 percent of world’s land area, four percent of fresh water, 17 percent of human and 18 percent of livestock population, India accounts for over 8 percent of recorded plant (45,000) and animal (91,000) species.
The official said for India, management of its biodiversity was crucial as it provide goods and services and livelihood to more than 300 million people. The biodiversity contributes to sustainable development and poverty alleviation