Balancing Conservation and Community: Critical Analysis of Legal Mechanisms Protecting Wildlife and Indigenous Rights in India

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_24How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Fortress conservation; Indigenous rights; Wildlife protection; Forest Rights Act; Ecological governance; Indian constitutional law

Abstract

Over the past century, global and domestic environmental regulations have heavily relied on “fortress conservation,” an exclusionary model that coercively displaces indigenous populations under the premise of environmental protection. However, empirical evidence demonstrates that tribal sovereignty and biodiversity conservation are deeply intertwined, with the cultural and economic practices of forest-dwelling communities acting as custodians rather than vectors of ecological degradation. India, rich in both biodiversity and indigenous populations, faces acute conflicts between modern wildlife conservation policies and the traditional rights of these communities. This paper provides an exhaustive critical analysis of the legal mechanisms designed to balance wildlife protection with indigenous rights in India. It examines the evolution of the international legal framework, tracking the paradigm shift from the assimilationist approach of early ILO Conventions to modern models emphasizing self-determination. Domestically, the research critically evaluates India’s constitutional framework and key legislation, including the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the Forest Rights Act of 2006, and the Biological Diversity Act of 2002. Ultimately, the study highlights the substantial contradictions embedded within recent legislative amendments, underscoring the escalating tension between centralized macroeconomic development and decentralized ecological governance.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Padmaja Kathikar
AU  - Rahi Ajabe
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/07
TI  - Balancing Conservation and Community: Critical Analysis of Legal Mechanisms Protecting Wildlife and Indigenous Rights in India
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Conceptualizing Legal Framework and Policies for Domestic Animal and Wildlife Conservation: Issues and Challenges in Hybrid Mode (ICAR 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 294
EP  - 307
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_24
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-725-5_24
ID  - Kathikar2026
ER  -