Few national parks, sanctuaries meet criteria for IUCN Green List

India may be home to several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, but only a handful of them meet the criteria for inclusion in the IUCN Green List -- a global standard of good practices for protected areas launched by the conservation organisation last year.

"Of 58 reserves evaluated, only nine (16 per cent) would possibly meet the IUCN Green List criteria, but many (a further 38 per cent) could reach this level with some targeted improvements in performance," said James Hardcastle of IUCN's Global Protected Areas Programme.

Noting that 14 <g data-gr-id="14">per cent</g> of the assessed protected areas were seen as being poor in terms of management, Hardcastle said that IUCN wishes to collaborate with India on using the Green List standard to improve the performance of the country's conservation efforts.