India releases its Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures Guidelines at CBD COP-17 in Yerevan
environment · ssc-cgl, upsc-prelims, ugc-net, ibps-po, rrb-ntpc
The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, released the Guidelines for the designation of India's Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures 2026 at a side event of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, Armenia on 03 November 2026.
Sources: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2332733
The side event, titled From Policy to Practice: Advancing India's Biodiversity Commitments through Innovation, Finance, ABS and OECMs, was organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Biodiversity Authority and the United Nations Development Programme.
Sources: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2332733
The Guidelines provide a framework for recognising and reporting areas outside the legally protected and conserved areas that deliver positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in-situ conservation of biodiversity.
Sources: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2332733
The initiative supports India's implementation of Target 3, known as 30x30, of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and of National Biodiversity Target 3 under the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2024-2030.
Sources: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2332733
Why this mattersThe defining idea is what a question will test: an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure is conservation achieved OUTSIDE forests and protected areas, which is why a sacred grove or a community-managed irrigation tank can qualify and a national park cannot. The framework it serves is also examinable, Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, better known as 30x30.
Linked static GK: The Convention on Biological Diversity has three objectives, conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources, the last being what ABS or access and benefit sharing refers to. In-situ conservation protects a species in its natural habitat, as against ex-situ conservation in a zoo or gene bank.
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