Conservation Reserve vs Community Reserve under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972

Until 2003, India's protected areas were almost entirely State-controlled national parks and sanctuaries, often in conflict with local communities. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 (in force 2003) added two new, more participatory categories: the conservation reserve and the community reserve. Both protect landscapes and habitats while respecting local use, and both are managed with local participation. The key difference is land ownership and initiative: conservation reserves are on Government land, while community reserves are on community or private land where people volunteer to conserve.

1. Conservation Reserve

Under Section 36A, the State Government may, after having consultations with the local communities, declare any area owned by the Government, particularly areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries and those areas which link one protected area with another, as a conservation reserve, for protecting landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna and their habitat. The 2022 amendment extended this to land owned by the Central Government as well. Under Section 36B, the State Government constitutes a conservation reserve management committee to advise the Chief Wild Life Warden, consisting of representatives of village panchayats and the forest and wildlife departments. The rights of people living inside are not affected. Conservation reserves act as buffers and corridors; examples include Tiruppadaimarathur (Tamil Nadu), and several reserves in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

2. Community Reserve

Under Section 36C, the State Government may declare any private or community land not comprised within a national park, sanctuary or conservation reserve, where an individual or a community has volunteered to conserve wildlife and its habitat, as a community reserve, for protecting fauna, flora and traditional or cultural conservation values and practices. Under Section 36D, a community reserve management committee is constituted, consisting of five representatives nominated by the village panchayat (or the gram sabha where there is no panchayat) and a representative of the forest or wildlife department. The committee is the competent authority to prepare and implement the management plan. Once declared, no change in land use may be made without the committee's resolution and the State Government's approval (Section 36C(2)). Community reserves reflect traditional conservation, such as sacred groves; examples include community reserves in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Punjab (Keshopur-Miani, a wetland).

3. Key Differences

4. Significance

Both categories mark a shift from fortress conservation to inclusive conservation, recognising that wildlife often lives outside formal protected areas and that local communities can be allies. They complement the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (community forest resource management) and Biodiversity Management Committees under the Biological Diversity Act, and help India meet its commitment under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to protect thirty per cent of land and sea through protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. Their number and area remain small compared with national parks and sanctuaries.

5. Related Topics and Provisions