The Indian subcontinent has been colonised multiple times, starting with the Arabs around 1200, followed by the Mughals and the Europeans. With the colonisers came numerous plant and animal species. Some of them eventually escaped cultivation or captivity to become invasive pests. According to a global estimate, India currently has 88 alien animals and 2,082 alien plants, of which 16 animals and 266 plants have become invasive. The number of new invasive species and their impacts will increase in the coming decades due to globalisation and climate change.
As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, India has adopted the Aichi Biodiversity Targets that include identifying and prioritising invasive species, controlling or eradicating the priority species, and implementing measures to prevent their introduction and spread.
India currently has ten pieces of legislation related to invasive species. However, the existing regulations barely cover the broad spectrum of invasive species present in the country. For example, the list of plants that are prohibited, restricted, and regulated for trading in India has just 57 species, most of which are hosts of important pests or diseases of crops and forestry. Agencies like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research naturally focus on agricultural pests, but this has led to inaction on other invasive plant species. The quarantine list does not even include species recognised by other government and research agencies in the country.
