India accounts for 7-8% of recorded plant & animal species of the world.
India has four global biodiversity hotspots - Eastern Himalayas, North East, Sunderbans and Western Ghat.
Total Forest and Tree cover of the country is estimated as 23.84 percent of geographical area of the country.
Total numbers of Protected Areas (PAs) in India is 661 consisting of 100 National Parks, 514 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 43 Conservation Reserve, 4 Community Reserves, encompassing 4.8% of the total geographic area of the country.
15 biodiversity rich areas of the country covering an area of approximately 74000 sq kms have been designated as Bio-sphere reserve and four Biosphere reserve viz Nilgiri, Nandadevi, Sundarbans & Gulf of Mannar have been recognize by UNESCO under world network of Biospheres.
Presently 25 Indian Wetlands have been designated as Ramsar sites in the country and six new sites are under consideration.
Carbon stocks in our forests stood 6662 m MT in the year 2005.
Nearly 27% of the total population of the country, comprising 275 million rural people, depends on forests for its livelihood.