Balancing Religious Tourism and Ecological Conservation in Protected Areas

The Hindu - Opinion · 8 Mar 2026 · 2 min read
Prelims · Environment Mains · GS3 Environment and biodiversity High relevance

The National Board for Wildlife's deliberations on religious structures in sanctuaries highlight the tension between faith-based tourism and ecological conservation, necessitating a governance framework that respects both cultural practices and environmental laws.

Key points

National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) recently debated a proposal to expand a religious establishment in a Gujarat sanctuary, later withdrawn due to concerns about setting a precedent for protected area diversion.

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 treats any construction or expansion on forest land post-1980 as encroachment, while the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 permits only limited, justified interventions in protected areas.

Forest Rights Act, 2006 mandates recognition of rights of Scheduled Tribes and traditional forest dwellers, requiring their consent for any diversion or regulation affecting traditional access.

[GS3-Environment] Unregulated religious tourism leads to habitat fragmentation, increased human-wildlife conflict, and pollution, threatening India's biodiversity hotspots like tiger reserves and sacred groves.

Sacred groves have historically functioned as biodiversity refuges due to belief-based restrictions on extraction, demonstrating the potential for faith-based conservation models.

The Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and WWF's 2023 guidelines propose a green pilgrimage model with no-expansion principles, pilgrim caps, and waste management for sustainable religious tourism.

[GS2-Governance] Multi-stakeholder mechanisms involving forest departments, temple authorities, and local communities are essential for balancing ecological and cultural needs in protected areas.

Pilot projects in Kalakad-Mundanthurai and Ranthambhore have shown measurable reductions in roadkill and pollution through managed pilgrimage practices without displacing communities.

Way Forward: India should adopt a zero-tolerance policy for new encroachments, implement case-by-case evaluations of existing sites, settle forest rights mandatorily, and institutionalize green pilgrimage models with continuous monitoring.

Key terms

Green pilgrimage model

Sustainable tourism framework that limits ecological impact through regulated visitor numbers, waste management, and transport restrictions. Pioneered by ATREE-WWF, it represents an institutional approach to reconciling cultural practices with conservation goals in protected areas.

National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)

Statutory body under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 that approves projects in protected areas. Chaired by the Prime Minister, it balances development and conservation, particularly crucial when reviewing proposals affecting ecologically sensitive zones with religious significance.

Forest Rights Act, 2006

Landmark legislation recognizing rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and resources. Section 3(1) specifically protects community rights including access to biodiversity and cultural practices, making it legally mandatory to settle these rights before any forest land diversion.

Sacred groves

Forest fragments protected by religious communities through traditional belief systems. These serve as critical biodiversity reservoirs and exemplify community-based conservation, recognized under India's National Biodiversity Act as important biological heritage sites.