India Biodiversity Awards is a unique initiative of the Government of India in partnership with UNDP, which identifies and recognises good practices of a range of stakeholders towards conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use and governance at the grassroots level. The main objective of the awards is to incentivise effective implementation of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The awards were first presented at the high- level segment of the Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity, held in Hyderabad, India.

Since then, four rounds have been successfully conducted and over 600 good practices on biodiversity conservation have been gathered. The first three awards held during the years 2012, 2014 and 2016, were facilitated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in association with UNDP. The Awards were institutionalised with the National Biodiversity Authority in 2017. UNDP India continues to serve as the knowledge partner for the awards.

Multiple co-benefits of the award process:

• The Awards process while recognising and honouring good practices, from across the country, also helps sensitise and incentivise people and institutions to adopt sustainable conservation measures. A large number of stakeholders learn about the laws and policies related to conservation. Interaction of the jury during the field visits, with a range of stakeholders including district collectors, officers and frontline staff of different line departments, corporates, community etc., helps in future scale up and replication of good practices across different landscapes. Jury also learns from the field, the challenges being faced by the stakeholders in the implementation and compliance of the legislation. This experience helps in providing a feedback to and in informing the policy makers especially the National Biodiversity Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards.
• Moreover, with Other Effective Area- Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) getting recognition by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Awards process is also a good method to gather conservation measures adopted by stakeholders in the country. Aichi Target 11 of the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity recognises the role of OECMs in protecting biodiversity, establishing corridors and connectivity, better representing eco-region conservation efforts, and finally showcasing a diverse range of equitable models of governance for biodiversity management. India is using Awards as a process to gather and validate good models and cases of biodiversity governance in the country.