Environment Ministry releases 2026 guidelines for recognising India's OECM conservation sites

The Union Environment Minister released the Guidelines for the Designation of India's Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (I-OECMs), 2026 on 3 November 2026 at a side event of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-17) in Yerevan, Armenia. Prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), the Guidelines create a framework to recognise areas outside India's legally protected and conserved areas, such as biodiversity parks, sacred groves, community-managed irrigation tanks and seagrass beds, that still deliver long-term biodiversity outcomes. They support India's Target 3 (30x30) commitment under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and National Biodiversity Target 3. Recognition requires that a site not already be a protected area, be governed under a Central or State framework or a government-recognised local institution such as a Panchayat or Biodiversity Management Committee, have defined boundaries not overlapping the World Database on Protected Areas, and keep its existing activities and legal status unchanged.

Central and State departments, local bodies and Biodiversity Management Committees may apply to the NBA, which refers each application to the State Biodiversity Board or Union Territory Biodiversity Council for validation within 30 days before a final decision. Recognised sites need a monitoring framework reviewed at least every five years. The Government has also approved a USD 60.79 million GEF-8 project to implement the Guidelines across six demonstration landscapes.