Conservation laws are increasingly sidelining the very communities that have nurtured nature for generations. Instead of empowering Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), current legal systems often criminalize them and alienate them from their traditional lands.
A growing body of evidence shows that a just and inclusive model—one that acknowledges the vital role of IPLCs—can significantly enhance global biodiversity outcomes.
The Colonial Legacy IConservation
Exclusion Through Protection
Modern conservation policies frequently mirror colonial ideologies that view nature as untouched and separate from humans. Under the fortress conservation model, landscapes are declared protected areas, managed solely by state authorities. This model displaces local communities and strips them of their rights to their ancestral lands.
Displacement on a Global Scale
This exclusionary approach has led to the forced relocation of 10 to 20 million people worldwide. Communities like the Masai (Kenya), Batwa (Uganda), Ashaninka (Peru), and India’s Adivasis have been uprooted from their territories, severing their cultural and ecological ties with the land.
IPLCs As Natural Stewards
Guardians of Biodiversity
The world’s richest biodiversity zones overlap significantly with lands managed by IPLCs. These communities have traditionally protected ecosystems through sustainable practices passed down across generations, making them invaluable partners in conservation.
Securing Rights, Securing Forests
Granting legal rights and tenure to IPLCs reinforces their traditional governance systems, which are often better suited for ecological preservation than top-down models. Legally recognising these rights fosters more resilient and equitable conservation strategies.
Conservation Laws In Practice
Global Legal Frameworks
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)—signed by 196 nations since its 1992 inception—guides national conservation laws. Its core objectives are conservation, sustainable resource use, and equitable benefit-sharing.
India’s Conservation Architecture
As a CBD signatory, India passed the Biological Diversity Act (BDA) in 2002, establishing a multi-tiered system involving national, state, and local biodiversity boards. Despite these structures, community rights have often been overlooked, particularly through rigid laws like the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) and Project Tiger (1973), which displaced around 600,000 people.
Forest Rights Act: A Turning Point
Legal Empowerment of Communities
The Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 marked a paradigm shift. It legally recognises the role of forest-dependent communities in managing biodiversity and grants governance powers to gram sabhas (village assemblies), promoting democratic and decentralised conservation.
Types of Recognised Rights
- Among its 13 categories, two are particularly significant for biodiversity:
- The right to access, use, and protect traditional knowledge and biodiversity
- The right to manage and conserve community forest resources
International Recognition Of IPLCs
UN and CBD Acknowledgements
Since 1992, the CBD has urged countries to protect IPLC knowledge and practices (Article 8(j)). Although implementation has been sluggish, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) further reinforced these rights globally.
India’s Constitutional Approach
While India supported the UN Declaration, it avoids the term “indigenous” domestically, claiming all Indians are native. However, the Constitution acknowledges Scheduled Tribes and includes protective provisions under Articles 244 and 244A. Acts like PESA (1996) and FRA (2006) enhance this framework.
Kunming-Montreal Framework And ‘30 by 30’
A New Global Roadmap
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted at CBD COP-15 in 2022, outlines 23 conservation targets. The ‘30 by 30’ goal aims to place 30% of the world’s land and sea under protection by 2030—while also recognising IPLC rights and knowledge.
India’s Response
India updated its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to align with KMGBF. Though it nods toward bottom-up governance, implementation still leans heavily on centralised forest departments. Local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs), essential for this transition, remain largely non-functional.
30×30 Biodiversity Target
In December 2022, representatives from more than 190 nations reached a landmark agreement known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—also referred to as The Biodiversity Plan. This international accord marks a unified effort to strengthen the protection of Earth’s ecosystems, which are essential for life.
Central to this agreement are 23 concrete goals designed to counteract the alarming decline in species and natural habitats. Among them, Target 3—popularly dubbed the “30×30” goal—calls for safeguarding and responsibly managing 30% of the planet’s land, freshwater, and ocean environments by 2030.
Looking Beyond Protected Areas
The Promise of OECMs
KMGBF encourages Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) as a way to involve communities beyond traditional protected areas. OECMs must be community-managed, already supporting biodiversity, and respect socio-cultural values.
Risks of Greenwashing
Without legal safeguards, OECMs may become another method of resource extraction under the guise of conservation. Critics argue that laws like the BDA risk commodifying biodiversity rather than protecting it unless rooted in frameworks like the FRA.
Towards Inclusive And Equitable Conservation
Strengthening FRA Implementation
India’s Ministry of Tribal Affairs has urged integration of FRA’s gram sabha-led governance into new conservation policies, including biodiversity heritage site declarations. It recommends prior informed consent from communities before making any legal decisions affecting their forests.
Potential and Path Forward
Studies suggest that FRA could safeguard up to 40 million hectares of forest land—including inside existing protected areas—without displacing communities. Realising this potential requires harmonising conservation laws with community rights, ensuring justice and sustainability go hand in hand.