---
title: "Community Reserve: India's Wildlife Act Category"
description: "A Community Reserve is a protected area declared on community or private land under India's Wildlife Act, unlike a Conservation Reserve set on government land."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/community-reserve"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- A Community Reserve is a category of protected area in India, declared on private or community land to conserve fauna, flora, and traditional habitats with local participation.
- What is the legal difference between a Community Reserve and a Conservation Reserve?
- Who manages a Community Reserve?
- Can land use be changed inside a Community Reserve?
- When were Community Reserves added to Indian law?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

Edge cases and controversies persist. A recurring critique is that the consent requirement, while progressive, gives communities limited ongoing financial support, leaving many reserves under-resourced once notified. The 2002 framework originally restricted declaration to land not already a Sanctuary or National Park, but practitioners have debated how Community Reserves interact with Forest Rights Act claims and with Eco-Sensitive Zone notifications. The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 revised related provisions and broadened the scope for community participation, and some states have used the category to regularise sacred groves and village ponds. Disputes arise where a single contiguous habitat spans both private and government parcels, requiring parallel Conservation and Community Reserve notifications.

### Opponents

The Management Committee under Section 36D comprises five representatives nominated by the village Panchayat — or, in areas where a Panchayat does not exist, by the members of the Gram Sabha — together with one representative of the State Forest or Wildlife Department under whose jurisdiction the reserve falls. The committee elects a Chairperson, who is also the Honorary Wildlife Warden for the reserve, and frames its own management plan and conservation regime. The committee functions in line with state-framed rules and is answerable for the reserve's protection. Critically, the change of land use within a Community Reserve cannot be effected except in accordance with a resolution passed by the Management Committee and approved by the State Government, embedding a consent-based safeguard against unilateral conversion.

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Example

In the early 2000s, Tamil Nadu declared Tiruppadaimarathur in Tirunelveli district as India's first Community Reserve to protect a village-managed riverine bird habitat.

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