Key Details
India released four publications at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP-17 meeting on 28 October 2026. The designation guidelines are the most consequential for conservation practice; the other publications support reporting, institutional understanding and benefit-sharing.
India’s Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (I-OECMs) Guidelines 2026 aim to recognise sustained conservation outcomes outside conventional protected areas, subject to criteria and governance requirements.
India’s Fifth National Report on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety concerns implementation of the international agreement on the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms.
The Convention on Biological Diversity Handbook: Reference Guide and Indian Perspective is intended to help readers navigate the Convention and its implementation.
India’s ABS Success Story presents India’s experience with access and benefit-sharing—arrangements for sharing benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
Conservation Can Extend Beyond Protected Areas
A national park or wildlife sanctuary is not the only place where biodiversity can be conserved. An OECM is an area outside a formal protected area whose governance and management produce positive, sustained conservation results. The 2026 guidelines are intended to provide a basis for recognising such contributions across different landscapes and management systems.
This work predates the new publication. MoEFCC, NBA and UNDP issued criteria and guidelines for identifying OECMs in India in 2022, covering potential sites across terrestrial, freshwater and marine settings. The newly released document is described as designation guidance; the announcement does not specify how its criteria or procedures differ from those earlier guidelines.
Recognition Must Be Matched by Lasting Results
OECMs form part of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 3, which calls for at least 30% of the world’s land and inland waters, and 30% of coastal and marine areas, to be effectively conserved and managed by 2030. The target also emphasises equitable governance and respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
Recognising more areas could widen the picture of conservation in India, but designation alone does not establish an outcome. The relevant test is whether an area continues to protect biodiversity under its actual management arrangements.
The Other Publications Address Reporting and Benefit-Sharing
The Cartagena Protocol report is part of India’s international biosafety reporting. India’s fifth report was already listed by the treaty’s Biosafety Clearing-House before the October event, so its presentation at COP-17 should not be confused with a new biosafety rule.
The CBD handbook is a reference resource rather than a policy decision. India’s ABS Success Story addresses how benefits from the use of genetic resources can be shared fairly. The announcement stresses transparent procedures, capable institutions and community engagement, but does not provide figures from the publication with which to assess those results.
Policy Relevance
The I-OECM guidelines could help conservation authorities recognise effective protection beyond the existing protected-area network. Their value will depend on credible evidence of biodiversity outcomes, clarity about who governs each area, and respect for the people whose livelihoods and rights are connected to it. For the other three publications, the next useful step is to examine their underlying findings rather than treat their release as evidence of a new regulation or achieved outcome.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: What evidence and governance safeguards will be required before an area is designated an I-OECM—and how will its conservation results be checked over time?
Follow the Full Press Release Here: India Releases Four Publications on Biodiversity Conservation, Biosafety and Benefit-Sharing at COP-17