Relevance: UPSC GS-III (Environment & Biodiversity)

Context
Invasive alien species—brought in as ornamentals, game fish, pets or “quick fixes” for degraded land—now outcompete native life, damage farms and fisheries, and complicate conservation choices in India.

The Extent of Invasion 

• What counts as invasive?
  A species moved by people beyond its natural range that establishes, spreads fast, and causes harm—to biodiversity, economy, health or culture.
  
• Why this matters now
  
  • Fast spreaders include Lantana camara (dry forests), water hyacinth (lakes and canals), Parthenium hysterophorus (croplands), Prosopis juliflora (arid zones) and African catfish (rivers and tanks).
    
  • Impacts: loss of native plants and pollinators, fire risk (lantana thickets), clogged waterways and disease vectors (hyacinth), heavy crop losses and allergies (parthenium), collapse of local fish stocks (exotics).
    
  • The global biodiversity pact’s Target 6 asks countries to cut new introductions and establishments by at least half by 2030 and to eradicate or control priority invasives, especially on islands.
    

The dilemma in the field—document or conserve?

• Documenting is essential: maps, growth rates, and damage estimates power early warning, risk screening and control.
  
• Conserving livelihoods is real: some communities now depend on invasive biomass (furniture from lantana, mats from hyacinth).
  
• Middle path: Document to act, not to legitimise. Where safe, use the biomass to finance removal, but never plant or spread invasives for income. Follow with restoration using native species.
  

Acts & Policies and Other Measures

• Biological Diversity Act, 2002 — National Biodiversity Authority, State Boards and local committees for conservation and access regulation.
  
• Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 — empowers regulation of invasive alien species and aligns with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
  
• Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003 — border checks for plants, seeds and pests.
  
• Live-stock Importation Act, 1898 (as amended) — controls entry of live animals and products to avoid exotic pests and diseases.
  

• What actually works
  
  • Prevention first: strong biosecurity at ports, risk assessments before import of pets, aquarium species, seeds and saplings.
    
  • Early detection and rapid response: citizen science alerts, quick manual removal, safe disposal, follow-up sweeps.
    
  • Control with co-benefits (no re-seeding): time-bound use of removed biomass—crafts, briquettes, compost—under rules that forbid planting or transport that spreads the species.
    
  • Restore the ecosystem: after clearance, replant native grasses and trees, manage fire and grazing, and monitor reinvasion.
    
  • Governance nudges: district invasive action plans, dedicated funds in forest working plans, and state-level positive lists of safe trade species.
    

Key terms 

invasive alien species • biosecurity • pathway management • propagule pressure • enemy release • allelopathy • early detection and rapid response • biological control • restoration ecology • precautionary principle

Exam hook

Key takeaways

• Document to act; restore to heal: records enable control, not protection of invasives.
  
• India has laws from biodiversity to quarantine; the gap is fast screening, border control, and local rapid response.
  
• Livelihood use of invasive biomass is a bridge, not a license—tie it to strict no-spread rules and mandatory native restoration.
  

UPSC Mains question
“India’s invasive alien species challenge is ecological, economic and social at once.” With examples of Lantana camara, water hyacinth and Parthenium hysterophorus, design a policy package that combines prevention, early response, livelihood co-benefits and restoration. (250 words)

UPSC Prelims question
Q. With reference to invasive alien species in India, consider the following:

1. The Plant Quarantine Order of 2003 is a frontline tool to prevent risky plants and seeds from entering India.
   
2. The 2022 amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act enables regulation of invasive alien species and implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora schedules.
   
3. The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calls for at least a fifty percent reduction in new introductions and establishments of invasive alien species by 2030.
   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
Answer: (d)

One-line wrap
India can beat invasives by blocking their entry, acting early, using removed biomass wisely, and bringing native ecosystems back to life.