India's conservation laws: the Wildlife Act, the Biological Diversity Act and eco-sensitive zones

Detail

1. Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: why it came and what it does

• Background: In the 1960s and 1970s, many wild animals in India were falling fast in number. Hunting, habitat loss and the wildlife trade were the main causes. Conservationists asked for a national law.
• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (the main Indian law that protects wild animals, birds and plants, and the places where they live). It did four main things:
• It published an all-India list of protected species.
• It banned hunting of the listed species.
• It gave legal protection to their habitats.

• It restricted trade in wildlife and wildlife products.

• Protected areas: National parks and wildlife sanctuaries are declared under this Act. Each is a fixed area of land or water set aside for wildlife.

2. Amendments to the Act, step by step

Year	What changed
1980 and 1986 (notifications)	Butterflies, moths, beetles and one dragonfly were added to the protected list. Insects became protected species for the first time.
1991	Plants were added for the first time, starting with six plant species. Penalties were made tougher.
2002	Conservation reserves, community reserves and the National Board for Wildlife were created.
2006	The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) were created.
2022 (in force 1 April 2023)	Schedules cut from six to four. Vermin schedule removed. CITES authorities set up. Invasive species regulated. Fines raised.

• NTCA: the statutory body that runs Project Tiger and oversees tiger reserves.
• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau: a central agency that fights organised poaching and illegal wildlife trade.

3. Conservation reserves and community reserves (added in 2002)

• Before 2002, protected areas were all government-controlled. This often clashed with local people. These two new types give local people a role.

Feature	Conservation reserve	Community reserve
Land	Government land	Community or private land
Location	Usually next to or between national parks and sanctuaries. They act as corridors or buffers.	Wherever a community or person offers land for conservation
Who manages	State government, with local people consulted	Local people (community), with the state
Main idea	Link protected areas and protect landscapes	Give legal backing to conservation by local people

• National Board for Wildlife (NBWL): the top advisory body on wildlife. It is chaired by the Prime Minister. Its standing committee clears projects inside or near protected areas.

4. Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022

• In force: from 1 April 2023 [2].
• Schedules cut from six to four:
• Schedule I: animals with the highest protection.
• Schedule II: animals with lower protection.
• Schedule III: protected plants.

• Schedule IV: specimens listed in the CITES Appendices.

• CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora: a global treaty that controls trade in wild animals and plants so that trade does not threaten their survival).

• CITES protection brought into Indian law: The 2022 amendment extended protection to species listed in the CITES Appendices [3].
• Section 49M: people must register when they hold, transfer or breed live animals listed in Schedule IV. They must also report any death [2].
• The last date to declare exotic animals listed in Schedule IV was 28 August 2024 [4].

• Two bodies were set up for CITES: a Management Authority (gives trade permits) and a Scientific Authority (advises whether a trade will harm the species).

• Schedules I and II were rationalised: overlapping listings of wild animals were cleaned up [5].

• Vermin schedule removed. Vermin means wild animals declared harmful so they may be killed, such as crop-raiding animals. The Centre can still declare a species vermin for a fixed area and time.
• Invasive alien species (plants or animals brought in from outside that spread and harm native species) can now be regulated or banned.
• Fines raised for breaking the law.
• Other changes: The Indian Coast Guard got enforcement powers. The Gangetic dolphin and the Indus river dolphin are now listed as separate species in Schedule I [6].

5. A common error: biosphere reserves

• Biosphere reserves are NOT declared under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. (NCERT, Class 11, says the Act provides for biosphere reserves. That is wrong.)
• Biosphere reserve: a large area that protects a whole ecosystem and also allows people to live and work there sustainably. It has a core zone, a buffer zone and a transition zone.
• They come under a non-statutory programme of the MoEFCC, which means no law creates them. Some Indian biosphere reserves are also part of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
• What the Act does declare: national parks, sanctuaries, conservation reserves, community reserves and (through the NTCA provisions) tiger reserves.

6. Biological Diversity Act 2002

• Purpose: It puts the CBD into Indian law. The CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) was signed at the Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992. It has three goals:
• conserve biodiversity
• use it sustainably

• share its benefits fairly

• Access and benefit-sharing (ABS) means that anyone who uses biological resources or traditional knowledge, such as a medicine company, must get permission first. They must then share part of the gain with the local people who kept those resources.

• Three-tier structure [7]:

Level	Body	Role
National	National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai (Tamil Nadu)	Advises on conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing. Approves access by foreign entities.
State/UT	State Biodiversity Boards and UT Biodiversity Councils	Guide action in the state. Regulate commercial use by Indian entities.
Local	Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in rural and urban local bodies	Prepare People's Biodiversity Registers and support conservation led by the community

7. Biodiversity Management Committees and People's Biodiversity Registers

• BMC: a committee set up by every panchayat and municipality. It conserves local biodiversity, records it and documents knowledge about it [7].

• Number: more than 2,76,653 BMCs across India (PIB, 2026) [7].

• People's Biodiversity Register (PBR): a local record of biodiversity, prepared by the BMC with local people. It records:

• local species and habitats
• landraces (old local crop varieties), folk varieties and cultivars
• domestic animal breeds and micro-organisms
• traditional knowledge linked to them [7]

• Number: over 2,72,648 PBRs prepared (PIB, 2026) [7].

• Why PBRs matter: A PBR is written proof of who holds a resource or a piece of knowledge. This helps stop biopiracy (outsiders patenting local resources or knowledge without permission). It also helps decide who should receive a share of the benefits.

8. Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)

• Biodiversity Heritage Site: a well-defined area with unique, fragile biodiversity, declared by the state government under the Biological Diversity Act. Local people are consulted.
• First BHS: Nallur Tamarind Grove, near Bengaluru (Karnataka), declared in 2007. It is an old grove of tamarind trees.
• Link to sacred groves: Many communities keep sacred groves, patches of forest protected for religious reasons, such as the devrais of Maharashtra and the kavus of Kerala. These are informal, community-run conservation areas, and the BHS idea builds on them.

9. Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023

• In force: 1 April 2024 [7].
• Main changes:
• Easier compliance for domestic companies [7].
• AYUSH practitioners and users of codified traditional knowledge are exempt from sharing benefits with local communities [7][8]. AYUSH covers Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. Codified traditional knowledge is knowledge already written down in old texts.
• Research and bio-survey activities no longer have to follow benefit-sharing rules [7].
• Offences decriminalised: most violations now lead to fines, not jail.

• Foreign-controlled company redefined: Indian firms with foreign shareholding are treated as Indian unless control is foreign. They therefore deal with the state board, not the NBA.

• Criticism: These exemptions mean that a large share of commercial use pays nothing to local communities, so critics say the amendment weakens benefit-sharing. This goes against the CBD's third goal.

10. Eco-sensitive zones (ESZ)

• Eco-sensitive zone: a buffer area around a national park or sanctuary. Human activity there is controlled so that the protected area is shielded from outside pressure. It acts like a shock absorber.
• Legal basis: ESZs are notified by the MoEFCC under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, not under the Wildlife Act [9].
• How an ESZ is declared [9]:
• The state government sends a proposal.
• The proposal must follow the Guidelines for Declaration of ESZ, 9 February 2011.
• The MoEFCC notifies the ESZ.

• The state must prepare a Zonal Master Plan within two years of the notification. This plan controls development in the zone.

• Width: generally up to 10 km from the protected-area boundary. The width can vary with local ecology.

• Default rule: Where an ESZ is not yet notified or is only in draft, any project within 10 km of a national park or sanctuary needs prior environmental clearance [9].
• Three types of activity:
• Prohibited: commercial mining, polluting industries, major hydroelectric projects.
• Regulated: hotels and resorts, felling of trees, building roads.

• Permitted: local farming, organic farming, rainwater harvesting.

• Himalaya: 92 ESZs and 2 Ecologically Sensitive Areas had been notified in 13 states of the Indian Himalayan Region (PIB, 2023) [10].

11. ESZs in the Supreme Court: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India

• 3 June 2022 order:
• Every national park and wildlife sanctuary must have an ESZ of at least 1 km from its boundary.
• The 2011 guidelines must be strictly followed inside this zone [11].

• Where a state sends no ESZ proposal, a 10 km ESZ applies [9].

• Why the order was challenged: States such as Kerala objected. Many towns, farms and homes lie within 1 km of protected areas, and a uniform rule would have frozen normal life there.

• 26 April 2023 modification:
• The uniform 1 km rule was modified.
• Activities are allowed if they strictly follow the MoEFCC's 9 February 2011 guidelines [11][12].
• The ban on mining within 1 km of protected-area boundaries stays in force across India, because such mining is hazardous to wildlife [12].

12. Where this section fits

Law	Year	What it protects	Key institutions
Wildlife (Protection) Act	1972 (amended 1991, 2002, 2006, 2022)	Species and protected areas	NBWL, NTCA, WCCB, CITES authorities
Environment (Protection) Act	1986	Environment as a whole. ESZs are notified under it.	MoEFCC
Biological Diversity Act	2002 (amended 2023)	Genetic resources, traditional knowledge, benefit-sharing	NBA, SBBs, BMCs

• Forest laws (Indian Forest Act 1927, Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and its 2023 amendment, Forest Rights Act 2006) are covered in the natural vegetation and forests note.

Prelims Hooks

• Plants first came under the Wildlife (Protection) Act through the 1991 amendment (six species). Insects (butterflies, moths, beetles, one dragonfly) came earlier, through the 1980 and 1986 notifications.
• Conservation reserves are on government land. Community reserves are on community or private land. Both were added in 2002.
• NTCA and WCCB were created by the 2006 amendment. The NBWL, chaired by the Prime Minister, was created in 2002.
• 2022 amendment (in force 1 April 2023): 4 schedules. Schedule IV = CITES specimens. The vermin schedule was removed, but the Centre can still declare vermin.
• Trap: Biosphere reserves are not declared under the Wildlife Act. Eco-sensitive zones come under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, not the Wildlife Act.
• NBA headquarters: Chennai. First Biodiversity Heritage Site: Nallur Tamarind Grove, Karnataka (2007).
• PBRs are prepared by BMCs, not by the NBA or the State Biodiversity Boards.
• The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023 came into force on 1 April 2024. It exempts AYUSH practitioners and codified traditional knowledge from benefit-sharing.
• ESZ guidelines are dated 9 February 2011. The default ESZ is 10 km. The SC set a 1 km minimum on 3 June 2022 and modified it on 26 April 2023. The mining ban within 1 km remains.

Mains Points

• From protecting species to protecting landscapes and people:
• 1972: lists of species and areas kept free of people
• 2002: conservation and community reserves, plus BMCs under the Biological Diversity Act

• Result: local communities slowly became partners in conservation. More than 2.76 lakh BMCs now exist [7]. Mains use: GS-III conservation, and community participation.

• Dealing with global trade and invasive species: The 2022 amendment brought the CITES Appendices into Indian law (Schedule IV, Section 49M registration). It also gave power to regulate invasive alien species. This links India's law with CITES and with the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) on trade and invasive species [2][3].

• Benefit-sharing debate: The 2023 amendment helps AYUSH, research and domestic companies. But it narrows benefit-sharing with the communities that kept the resources. Fair sharing is the CBD's third goal. Way forward: use PBRs as the base for prior-consent records and track ABS income in a transparent way [7][8].
• Development versus buffers: The Supreme Court's 1 km ruling (2022) and its modification (2023) show a real conflict:
• On one side, the buffer must stay intact for wildlife.
• On the other, people live, farm and build near protected areas, as in Kerala and the Western Ghats.
• Response: tailor ESZs to each site (up to 10 km), finish the Zonal Master Plans on time, and keep the mining ban strict [9][12].