Specific Frameworks for planning, management and policy mechanisms have been evolved   by the organisation to develop Conservation and Management Plans for Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves. These have the potential for   a Site-Specific application.

Conservation Reserves

What are Conservation Reserves?

It is a state-owned area adjacent to National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries for the protection of the landscape, seascape, and habitat of fauna and flora. It is overseen by a Conservation Reserve Management Committee.

After consulting with local communities, the State Government may declare any area owned by the Government as a conservation reserve.

What is Conservation Reserves?

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 amendment, 2002

Sec  36A. Declaration and management of a Conservation Reserve.- (1) The State Government may, after having consultations with the local communities, declare any area owned by the Government, particularly the 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: Provided that where the conservation reserve includes any land owned by the Central Government, its prior concurrence shall be obtained before making such declaration.

Sec-36B. Conservation Reserve management committee.-

(1) The State Government shall constitute a conservation reserve management committee to advise the Chief Wild Life Warden to conserve, manage and maintain the conservation reserve.

(2) The committee shall consist of a representative of the forest or Wild Life Department, who shall be the Member- Secretary of the Committee, one representative of each Village Panchayat in whose jurisdiction the reserve is located, three representatives of non- governmental organisations working in the field of wild life conservation and one representative each from the Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

(3) The Committee shall regulate its own procedure including the quorum.

Conservation reserves and community reserves in India are terms denoting protected areas of India which typically act as buffer zones to or connectors and migration corridors between established national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved and protected forests of India. Such areas are designated as conservation areas if they are uninhabited and completely owned by the Government of India or the State Government but used for subsistence by communities and community areas if part of the lands are privately owned.

These protected area categories were first introduced in the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 − the amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. These categories were added because of reduced protection in and around existing or proposed protected areas due to private ownership of land, and land use.

There are 100 existing Conservation Reserves in India covering an area of 4927.28 km², which is 0.15% of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database, May. 2022).

State-wise break up of Conservation Reserves 

Community Reserves

36C. Declaration and management of community reserve.-

• (1)The State Government may, where the community or an individual has volunteered to conserve wild life and its habitat, declare any private or community land not comprised within a National Park, sanctuary or a conservation reserve, as a community reserve, for protecting fauna, flora and traditional or cultural conservation values and practices.
• (2) The provisions of sub- section (2) of section 18, sub- sections (2), (3) and (4) of section 27, sections 30, 32 and clauses (b) and (c) of section 33 shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to a community reserve as they apply in relation to a sanctuary.
• (3) After the issue of notification under sub- section (1), no change in the land use pattern shall be made within the community reserve, except in accordance with a resolution passed by the management committee and approval of the same by the State Government.

36D. Community reserve management committee-

• (1) The State Government shall constitute a Community Reserve management committee, which shall be the authority responsible for conserving, maintaining and managing the community reserve.
• (2) The committee shall consist of five representatives nominated by the Village Panchayat or where such Panchayat does not exist by the members of the Gram Sabha and one representative of the State Forests or Wild Life Department under whose jurisdiction the community reserve is located.
• (3) The committee shall be the competent authority to prepare and implement the management plan for the community reserve and to take steps to ensure the protection of wild life and its habitat in the reserve.
• (4) The committee shall elect a Chairman who shall also be the Honorary Wild Life Warden for the community reserve.
• (5) The committee shall regulate its own procedure including the quorum.”.
• There are 219 existing Community Reserves in India covering an area of 1446.28 km², which is 0.04% of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database, May. 2022).

State-wise break up of Community Reserves

Conservation reserves are a type of protected area intended to protect significant natural and cultural features. Conservation reserves are an important part of the protected area system. They protect sensitive and important places and enable visitors to participate in environmentally-responsible recreational activities. They allow for ecologically-sustainable land uses and research to take place. Conservation reserves are selected and designed based on their ecological, geological, and cultural heritage features, and are selected using very specific criteria. Each Conservation Reserve needs a management plan like any other Protected Area. Our organisation has the requisite experience to develop such plans.

We either compete for the project through EOI and tender or we submit our proposal to the client. The project is executed under a MOU between us and the client.