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Exclusionary Conservation: The Global and Indian Context
- Conservation policies are increasingly excluding Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), treating them as encroachers rather than custodians.
- The fortress conservation model, rooted in colonial frameworks, displaces communities by enforcing state-controlled protected areas.
- Globally, 10–20 million people have been displaced; India has seen at least 6 lakh people affected by similar approaches.
IPLCs: Biodiversity Custodians
- Communities such as the Masai, Ogiek, Batwa, Ashaninka, and India’s Adivasis have sustainably managed biodiversity-rich landscapes for generations.
- Research shows IPLC-managed lands often outperform state-managed protected areas in terms of conservation outcomes.
- Tenure rights and traditional governance systems strengthen conservation efforts when legally recognised.
International Legal Frameworks: CBD and KMGBF
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), signed by 196 countries including India, aims to conserve biodiversity and ensure equitable sharing of benefits.
- In 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) was adopted with 23 global targets, including the ‘30 by 30’ goal.
- A permanent IPLC subsidiary body was created during CBD COP-16 (2025), making the CBD the first UN convention with such a platform.
India’s Legal and Constitutional Landscape
- India enacted the Biological Diversity Act (BDA) 2002 in line with CBD, but its approach remains top-down and bureaucratic.
- The Wildlife Protection Act (1972) and Project Tiger (1973) adopted the exclusionary protected-area model.
- In contrast, The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 offers a decentralised, democratic model by empowering gram sabhas to manage community forest resources.
- The PESA Act (1996) and Articles 244 and 244A of the Constitution also support tribal autonomy and resource governance.
FRA: A Legal Tool for Inclusive Conservation
- FRA recognises 13 categories of rights, especially:
- Right to access biodiversity and traditional knowledge
- Right to conserve and manage community forest resources
- FRA acknowledges historical injustice to forest dwellers and seeks to reverse displacement.
India’s 2025 Biodiversity Strategy
- India updated its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) with 23 targets for 2030.
- Though it supports bottom-up governance, it still leans heavily on State forest departments, neglecting the full potential of gram sabha-led management.
- Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) under the BDA are still not fully functional, limiting community participation.
Moving Beyond Protected Areas: OECMs
- Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs) offer a way to include IPLCs in conservation beyond formal protected areas.
- India plans to notify OECM guidelines, which must:
- Not duplicate protected areas
- Involve community-led or IPLC governance
- Sustain ecosystem and cultural values
- Experts warn OECMs could become tools for resource exploitation unless rights are secured under FRA.
Need for Synergy
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in its response to the draft Biodiversity Rules 2024, stressed:
- Avoiding duplication by integrating with gram sabha systems under FRA
- Ensuring consent and rights settlement before declaring biodiversity heritage sites
- FRA has the potential to protect 4 crore hectares of forest land—including many existing protected areas—without dispossessing IPLCs.
