Cabinet approves establishment of International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA)
- Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the establishment of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) with headquarters in India.
The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA)
- The concept of IBCA was introduced by the Prime Minister of India during Global Tiger Day in 2019.
- Objective: To spearhead efforts towards the protection and conservation of the seven major big cats viz. tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar, and cheetah.
- Out of these five big cats viz. Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Cheetah are found in India.
- It aims to unite 96 big cat range countries, non-range countries, conservation partners, scientific organizations, and corporate entities
- Funding
- The Government of India has allocated a one-time budgetary support of Rs.150 crore for the period from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
- The alliance will also explore contributions from bilateral and multilateral agencies, financial institutions, and donor agencies to augment its corpus.
- Activities: knowledge sharing, capacity building, networking, advocacy, financial support, research, technical assistance, education, and awareness.
- The alliance emphasizes on integrating biodiversity policies with SDGs and mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors.
Governance and Funding
- IBCA's governance structure includes a General Assembly of Members, a Council of elected member countries and a Secretariat.
- The General Assembly appoints the Secretary General of IBCA upon the recommendation of the Council.
- The framework of agreement is modelled after the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and will be finalised by the International Steering Committee (ISC).
Prelims Takeaway
- The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA)
- Project Tiger
- International Solar Alliance (ISA)