The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, released the “Guidelines for the designation of India’s Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (I-OECMs) 2026” at a side event of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-17) in Yerevan, Armenia on 03 November 2026. The event, titled “From Policy to Practice: Advancing India’s Biodiversity Commitments through Innovation, Finance, ABS and OECMs”, was organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Minister of Environment of Armenia and the Executive Secretary, CBD joined in the release.
Minister has stated that, “OECMs is the new era of conservation approach where effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity is achieved mainly through effective landscape management lying outside forests and protected areas”.
The Guidelines have been prepared by MoEFCC in partnership with NBA. They provide a framework for recognising and reporting areas outside the legally protected and conserved areas that deliver positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in-situ conservation of biodiversity. The initiative supports India’s implementation of Target 3 (30×30) of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) and of National Biodiversity Target 3 under the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP, 2024–2030).
The Guidelines cover terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems. Illustrative sites include biodiversity parks, sacred groves, community-managed irrigation tanks, seagrass and seaweed beds, and fisheries seasonal ban areas. Four criteria are mandatory for recognition. The area must not be a legally protected or conserved area, and it must be governed and managed under Central or State Government frameworks or by government-recognised local institutions such as Panchayats and Biodiversity Management Committees. It must also have defined boundaries and must not overlap with any area already reported to the World Database on Protected Areas. Finally, recognition must not alter the existing activities, governance or regulatory regime of the area. Sites may additionally qualify on the strength of their biodiversity significance and their ecosystem services and cultural values.
Applications may be submitted to NBA by Central and State Government departments, agencies and institutions, local self-governments and Biodiversity Management Committees. NBA will conduct a preliminary examination and forward each application to the concerned State Biodiversity Board or Union Territory Biodiversity Council within 30 days. The Board or Council will validate the information and send its recommendation to NBA within 30 days. With the support of an Inter-Departmental I-OECM Committee, NBA will take the final decision in coordination with MoEFCC, which will authorise recognition. Each recognised site must have a monitoring framework with measurable indicators, assessed at least once every five years, and State Biodiversity Boards/Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs) will maintain records of the sites in their States. MoEFCC and NBA will liaise with UNEP-WCMC to publish recognised sites on the World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas.
The Guidelines also provide for capacity-building programmes by NBA, SBBs/(UTBCs) and line departments, and for non-monetary recognition of good practices. I-OECM recognition does not make an area a protected area and does not change its ownership or legal status.
The Government of India has also commissioned a GEF-8 Project to implement these Guidelines in six demonstration landscapes and seascapes. The project is titled “Enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity to meet India’s commitment to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets by 2030”. It is being executed by NBA and MoEFCC, under the National Implementation Modality, with support from UNDP, and was approved by the Local Project Appraisal Committee on 29 December 2025. The project runs for 72 months, from 15 May 2026 to 15 May 2032. Its total financing is USD 60.79 million, comprising a GEF Trust Fund grant of USD 6.65 million and confirmed co-financing of USD 54.14 million.
The project aims to add 3 per cent of India’s land and marine area to the country’s conservation estate, over and above the existing 27 per cent under protection, through OECMs and other conservation initiatives, including community and private conservation areas. It is structured around five components: an enabling framework for expanding and strengthening the conservation network; financing, incentives and capacities for operationalising OECMs; increased coverage and management effectiveness of the conservation network; knowledge management; and monitoring and evaluation. The six demonstration sites are the Gori Valley in Uttarakhand, the Kumbhalgarh–Mount Abu–Jaisalmer landscape in Rajasthan, the Satkosia–Kalahandi landscape in Odisha, the Srisailam–Cumbum landscape in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Sahyadri–Konkan landscape in Maharashtra and Goa, and the Lakshadweep Islands Marinescape.
The project aims to establish 50,000 hectares of new terrestrial conservation areas. It will also restore at least 5,000 hectares of degraded land and directly benefit at least 50,000 people, half of them women. It will further establish State-level OECM coordination mechanisms, a monitoring, reporting and verification system. Together, the Guidelines and the Project will help translate India’s commitment under the KM-GBF into recognised conservation sites on the ground.