India harbors nearly 8% of all recorded species and four of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. It is home to unique wildlife like the Asiatic lion, Nilgiri tahr, and Great Indian Bustard, as well as wide-ranging species such as the Royal Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, Himalayan Brown Bear, and One-Horned Rhinoceros. With the recent reintroduction of cheetahs, India is now the only country hosting four of the world’s five wild big cat species: tigers, lions, leopards, and cheetahs.
Map of tiger corridors and protected areas in India (Courtesy: NTCA 2020)
However, as a nation distinguished by the world’s largest human population and fastest growing major economy, nature and people are closely competing for limited space and resources. Expanding urban areas and corresponding infrastructure development is accelerating habitat fragmentation.
The identification and conservation of corridors in India has been largely motivated to conserve two flagship species: tigers and elephants. India has a total of 32 tiger corridors and nearly 150 elephant corridors.
The legal foundation for conservation and connectivity
India’s laws do not define ecological corridors, but they recognize ecological connectivity as an essential management practice. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, provides the foundational legal basis for declaring and managing wildlife and protected areas, including Sanctuaries and National Parks. It allows for the creation of conservation reserves, which includes areas linking one protected area with another.
Under this Act, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is empowered to ensure that the Tiger Reserves and areas linking them are not diverted for ecologically unsustainable uses. However, because conservation reserves lack the strict protections of National Parks and Sanctuaries, tiger reserves are more vulnerable to fragmentation and loss of connectivity. This Act also mandates the creation of Tiger Conservation Plans which operationalize the 32 major tiger corridors.
Mirroring the approach of conserving areas around protected areas, the government issued guidelines in 2011 to notify Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs). The ESZs are meant to serve as transition zones from areas of higher protection to areas of lower protection, and guidelines explicitly note that in the case of sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important linkages should be included within ESZs. Judicial interpretation has also played a major role in expanding the scope and implementation of these provisions.
In furtherance of these constitutional values, India has enacted policies and legislation to operationalize conservation, including:
- The National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031) calls for “maintaining and restoring landscape connectivity, especially for wide-ranging species like tigers and elephants.” The Plan prioritizes identifying, mapping, and legally protecting wildlife corridors in all states, and calls for their integration into regional EIA, forest clearance, and land-use planning processes, while promoting multi-stakeholder participation in landscape governance.
- The National Environment Policy 2006 calls for the adoption of ‘best practice’ norms for infrastructure construction in mountain regions to avoid or minimize damage to sensitive ecosystems.
- The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 requires all large infrastructure projects to undergo EIA. The EIA process includes site visits, public hearings, and a final clearance only after mitigation of corridor impacts and an environmental/wildlife management plan is agreed upon.
- The National Environment Policy 2006 includes calls for programs for conservation of endangered species outside protected areas.
- India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2030 includes action to “undertake restoration of degraded ecosystems through multi-stakeholder partnerships to enhance ecological connectivity.” A further stated action is to “initiate actions to restore vital spatial and temporal connectivity (longitudinal, horizontal, vertical and temporal) within riverscapes and ensure environmental flow.”
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 provide that any diversion of forest land for non-forest use requires central approval and compensatory afforestation, often pushing for minimal-impact alignments of infrastructure.
- The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognizes the right of forest-dwelling communities to claim, protect, and manage forest lands where they have been residing for generations, which includes lands on critical corridors.
- In 2016, the Wildlife Institute of India released guidelines on ‘Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure on Wildlife’. The information outlines best practices for wildlife crossings, connectivity, and collision prevention, including design and non-structural measures for highways and railways in elephant and tiger landscapes.
- Certain state-specific laws or policies are also in place: for example, 121 wildlife corridors have been identified across the state of Chhattisgarh as part of the Strategic Plan for Conservation of Corridors. Of those, 14 have been selected as critical and needing special attention.
In addition, numerous conservation organizations are working actively with government departments and local communities to demarcate and manage ecological corridors. Notably, the Coalition for Wildlife Corridors was created in 2021 by a group of 16 NGO partners to be a collaborative network of people and organizations working to advance connectivity conservation in India.
However, increasing developmental pressures from the expansion of railway lines, construction of new highways, and mining activities continue to compete with requirements of ecological connectivity. Any additional legal recognition and protection of ecological corridors in India will be a significant next step toward safeguarding these vital links and strengthening existing efforts through greater budgetary, administrative, and political support.
Please note: This digest is intended to provide up-to-date information on policy development from a neutral, unaffiliated position as it relates to connectivity and corridor science and management.
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