India’s Eco-Conservation: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

India shared its unique conservation philosophy at a high-level dialogue during the IUCN World Conservation Congress, emphasizing an evidence-based, equity-driven, and culturally rooted policy framework. The country underscored that its deep-seated traditions inherently promote conserving natural resources and living harmoniously with the environment, reflecting principles now recognized globally as sustainability and climate action. ‘Mission LiFE,’ a Prime Minister-led initiative, was introduced as a global movement encouraging conscious and deliberate resource use to protect the planet, drawing inspiration from India’s traditional ethos. India actively bridges traditional knowledge with scientific research, validating and incorporating indigenous practices into formal conservation systems. This is illustrated by ancient methods of predicting weather patterns and sustainable water management systems. A major step forward is India’s National Red List Assessment initiative, a forward-looking plan to document and assess the extinction risk of approximately 11,000 species by 2030. This endeavor, a collaboration involving leading scientific institutions, aims to create a robust, science-based system for monitoring species conservation status nationwide.