Biodiversity: India's conservation priorities are misplaced, say experts

The 'Living Planet Report 2020' by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) identified land and sea use change and overexploitation of resources as the key drivers of biodiversity loss across the globe

In May this year, a group of scientists and conservation experts from across the world lay bare an unfolding catastrophe: Almost 50% of the world's birds are undergoing population decline.

The group released a report titled The State of the World's Birds which stated that barring 30 bird species of the 146 studied in India, all are declining.

"This (nation-wide study)," said Ashwin Vishwanathan, a researcher with Nature Conservation Foundation who also contributed to the report, "is the first step to be able to bring in any priorities regarding conservation or policy intervention for bird species."

Birds only make up a fraction of