Shillong, April 27: Garo Hills has been identified as a primary landscape for a five-year biodiversity governance initiative aimed at strengthening conservation through community-led planning and local institutional involvement, officials said.
The programme, to be implemented from 2025 to 2030, has been launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with the National Biodiversity Authority. Alongside Meghalaya, the Sathyamangalam landscape has also been selected due to its ecological significance at the intersection of the Western and Eastern Ghats.
Officials said the project will focus on integrating biodiversity considerations into local governance frameworks, particularly by strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions and Biodiversity Management Committees. The initiative aims to embed conservation priorities within development planning processes at the grassroots level.
At the community level, the programme will promote the inclusion of biodiversity concerns in Gram Panchayat Development Plans while introducing innovative financing mechanisms. Authorities said this approach is intended to align environmental protection with rural development and livelihood generation.
The project also proposes the creation of landscape-level coordination platforms involving forest departments, revenue authorities, elected representatives and civil society groups. These platforms are expected to design and implement biodiversity strategies that are locally driven and financially sustainable.
Funding mechanisms will include access and benefit-sharing arrangements, corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions and the promotion of green micro-enterprises linked to conservation outcomes. The initiative is supported by international partners including the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme, with a grant of $4.88 million allocated for the project period.
Officials said the inclusion of Garo Hills reflects its ecological importance and expressed confidence that the programme would serve as a model for community-driven biodiversity conservation across other regions of the country.
