Legal Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity in India: An Analysis of Statutory Framework and Judicial Activism

On April 17, 2025 a significant development towards the protection of aquatic biodiversity could be seen in out country where the “Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and Wildlife Institute of India” in collaboration launched a digital platform to boost the “Aquatic Biodiversity Conservation in India.” These are some of the instances where the concern regarding protection of aquatic biodiversity in India has been shown. The aquatic ecosystem of our country is very diverse in nature as India provides a variety of spectrum for the aquatic biodiversity ranging from fresh water lakes and river to marine ecosystem. The range of these aquatic species also varies from being microscopic level to large scale mammals such as whales. Moreover, it is to understand that the term ‘Aquatic Biodiversity’ should not be confused totally with ‘Aquatic Species’ as the former includes large varieties of species living inside as well as outside the water bodies in a way that they are interdependent with the aquatic species. Considering the diversity in the geographical conditions of our country, the aquatic ecosystem emerges out to be very rich in its nature. It can be further divided into two broad categories i.e., Freshwater ecosystem which primarily includes lakes, rivers and wetlands, and Marine ecosystems which includes “mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, sea shores and the vast ocean.” Considering the rich aquatic biodiversity of our country it becomes utmost important for us to discuss about the protection of this biodiversity as well as the role played by the judiciary and the legal entities for the protection of the same. The author in this research paper titled “Legal Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity in India: An Analysis of Statutory Framework and Judicial Activism” has tried to analyse the need of protecting biodiversity and the efforts of the legal framework towards the same.