Biodiversity and Ecosystem (BE) conservation finance in India, is highly fragmented. Multiple institutions are involved in directing finance often with overlapping functions. This has adversely impacted BE conservation efforts and outcomes in India. While a couple of studies have attempted to map the flow of funds towards biodiversity and ecosystem (BE) conservation, there is no comprehensive estimate of total public funding, including budgetary flows, in India. The paper not only fills this gap by presenting a methodology for mapping and estimation of fund flows for BE expenditure through budgetary and other public sources but also estimates fund flows from externally aided projects and corporate sector. Using a modified Rio-marker methodology and budgetary data on actual expenditure it estimates expenditure on BE for a period of 7 years (2009-10 to 2015-16) thereby contributing to both theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The study estimates that states in India, on an average spend between 1.93 and 3.19 percent of their total expenditure towards BE conservation. Paper finds that owing to the fact that BE conservation in India is driven by programs of multiple institutions rather than National Biodiversity Targets; there is no mechanism for measuring either conservation expenditures or outcomes. The paper makes suggestions to address this policy gap.

 

 

 

Keywords: Biodiversity and ecosystem financing, Ecosystem Services, government expenditure, sub-national government, Biodiversity mainstreaming

 

JEL Classification: Q5