Biodiversity conservation is necessary to support a natural and vital ecosystem - across flora and fauna conservation, wildlife habitats, soil health, plant pollination, pest control and more. Biodiversity is critical for global food security and agriculture and its loss at an alarming pace over the past few decades is an issue of serious environmental and economic concern.
In India, almost two-thirds of the population lives in rural areas and is dependent on agricultural livelihoods. Recognising that its operations and value chains are dependent on nature for essential resources such as water, key raw materials and agri commodities, ITC has launched an extensive biodiversity conservation programme that also looks at restoration of wastelands and building community awareness. In addition, as our business operations can also impact nature, ITC also works for protection of biodiversity in its catchments.
Preserving and restoring biodiversity is key for the long-term sustainability of agriculture and to build climate resilience. ITC's biodiversity conservation programme focuses on reviving ecosystem diversity and services provided to agriculture. This facilitates natural regulation of pests, pollination, nutrient cycling, soil health retention and genetic diversity, which have witnessed considerable erosion over the past few decades.
ITC's Agri Business promotes sustainable agricultural practices. Several crops are covered under various sustainability certifications. Crops such as chili, cumin, turmeric, celery, coffee, and mangoes are covered under Rain Forest Alliance (RFA), Global GAP, and Fairtrade certifications. Several of these crops are also certified organic under Indian and US standards.
Under these certifications, the farms are audited regularly to verify that farmers are compliant with the standard's comprehensive requirements, leading to continuous improvement on the journey to sustainable agriculture. The farmers follow the principles of sustainable farming, which includes biodiversity conservation, improved livelihood and human well-being, and natural resource conservation.
With support from ITC, the farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Punjab undertook effective planning and farm management systems that benefit communities, forests, native vegetation, ecosystem services, and wildlife.
ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business is committed to Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) principles. ITC works towards ensuring that all rare, threatened and endangered species are conserved in its plantations. It also follows internally benchmarked methods for enhancing the biodiversity potential of the planted areas, like retention of old growth / snag trees, retention of large woody debris, creation of water bodies, agro-chemical management, etc.
ITC's Agri-Business is committed to ensuring 'Zero Deforestation' across the leaf tobacco value chain. The Business has implemented a three-pronged approach towards conserving energy and ensuring sustainable fuel management in tobacco curing. This entails introduction of fuel-efficient technologies, promotion of self-sustenance in meeting fuel requirements through energy plantations, and use of alternative fuels.
ITC is driving biodiversity conservation with a focus on livelihood generation to ensure that communities value its importance. Studies are undertaken to assess the status of flora and fauna in watersheds, plans prepared to improve green cover and native flora population and mosaic restoration to rehabilitate degraded common lands as biodiversity hot spots.
ITC promotes community-based biodiversity conservation by implementing Nature Based Solutions. The goal is to conserve biodiversity in landscapes by restoring degraded village commons, encouraging the plantation of native species and reducing pressures on forests. The primary focus is on restoring village commons, which involves community-led social protection to expedite in-situ native root stock regeneration, as well as soil and moisture conservation. In highly degraded patches where in-situ regeneration is not feasible, trees of native species are planted.
ITC has launched a pilot programme for mangrove conservation in Andhra Pradesh, involving restoring biodiversity through restoration activities for degraded mangroves as well as planting of native species.
Ecosystem services are a flow of benefits provided by nature to businesses and society. ITC has collaborated with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to develop a template for 'Sustainable Agriscape for Future'. This involved mapping ecosystem services benefitting agricultural activities and livelihoods like regulating hydrological cycle for year-round water flow in streams, hosting pollinators and predator birds (on crop pests), improving soil microbial health and provision of food, fodder and fuelwood for the local communities, and designing and implementing plans to revive those services.
