CBSE Class 10 · Forest and Wildlife Resources

Community and Conservation Class 10: How People Protect Forests

Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Local communities in India have long conserved forests and wildlife. Villagers in Sariska fought mining using the Wildlife Protection Act; five Alwar villages declared the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri; the Chipko movement resisted deforestation; Beej Bachao Andolan promoted chemical-free farming; joint forest management, begun in Odisha in 1988, shares forest benefits; and sacred groves protect untouched forest.

Understand Community and Conservation

Why communities matter. Conservation strategies are not new in India. Forests are home to traditional communities, and in some areas local people are struggling, alongside government officials, to conserve habitats because they know this alone will secure their own long-term livelihood. Recall that in the north-eastern states and parts of Gujarat most forests are unclassed and managed by communities, so their role is central.

Examples of community action (NCERT).

Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan: villagers fought against mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act.
Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri': the people of five villages in Alwar district, Rajasthan, declared 1,200 hectares of forest as their own sanctuary, with their own rules that do not allow hunting, and protect the wildlife from outside encroachment. In many areas villagers protect habitats themselves and explicitly reject government involvement.
Chipko movement (Himalayas): it successfully resisted deforestation in several areas and showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
Beej Bachao Andolan (Tehri) and Navdanya: farmers' and citizens' groups showed that adequate, diversified crop production without synthetic chemicals is possible and economically viable, reviving traditional and ecological farming.

Joint Forest Management (JFM).

A good example of involving local communities in managing and restoring degraded forests.
In formal existence since 1988, when Odisha passed the first JFM resolution.
It depends on local (village) institutions that undertake protection, mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
In return, members get intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce and a share in the timber harvested through 'successful protection'.

Sacred groves and nature worship. Nature worship is an age-old tribal belief that all creations of nature must be protected. Such beliefs have preserved virgin forests called sacred groves (forests of gods and goddesses), left untouched, with any interference banned.

The Mundas and Santhals of the Chota Nagpur region worship mahua and kadamba trees; tribals of Odisha and Bihar worship tamarind and mango trees during weddings; many consider peepal and banyan sacred.
Springs, mountain peaks, plants and animals are often treated as sacred; troops of macaques and langurs are fed daily around many temples.
Around Bishnoi villages in Rajasthan, herds of blackbuck (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks live as part of the community and nobody harms them.

The lesson. NCERT concludes that local communities everywhere must be involved in natural resource management, but there is still a long way to go before they are at the centre of decision-making. We should accept only economic or developmental activities that are people-centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding. The chapter closes with Gautama Buddha's words that the tree, in its unlimited kindness, gives shade even to the axemen who destroy it.

Community and Conservation: key facts

Sariska: Villagers fought mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act; Rajasthan.
Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri: Five villages, Alwar district; 1,200 hectares; own rules, no hunting, guard against outsiders; Villagers reject government involvement.
Chipko movement: Himalayas; resisted deforestation; community afforestation with indigenous species
Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya: Tehri; diversified crops without synthetic chemicals, economically viable; Ecological farming.
Joint Forest Management: Odisha 1988; village institutions protect degraded forest land; get non-timber forest produce + share of timber; Benefit-sharing model.
Sacred groves: What untouched forests of gods and goddesses
Mundas and Santhals mahua, kadamba
Odisha and Bihar tribals tamarind, mango
Bishnois protect blackbuck, nilgai, peacocks; Faith-based conservation.

What	untouched forests of gods and goddesses
Mundas and Santhals	mahua, kadamba
Odisha and Bihar tribals	tamarind, mango
Bishnois	protect blackbuck, nilgai, peacocks

How to answer Community and Conservation questions

This topic gives some of the most direct 5-mark questions in the chapter ('describe how communities have conserved forests') and MCQs about which strategy involves communities. Each point should name a place or group and what it did.

1Start with why communities conserve: their long-term livelihood depends on forests.
2Give at least four named examples: Sariska, Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri, Chipko, Beej Bachao Andolan, JFM, sacred groves.
3For JFM, give the year and state, how it works and what members get.
4For sacred groves, give the belief and one community-tree pair.
5Close with NCERT's lesson: development must be people-centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding.

Community and Conservation in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Joint forest management and benefit sharing

Suppose a village committee agrees with the forest department to guard a bare, degraded hillside from grazing and cutting. In return, families may collect fallen leaves, fruits and grass, and the village will get a share of the timber when the trees mature.

Identify the conservation model in this imagined case and explain why it gives the villagers a reason to protect the forest.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Identify the model: joint forest management.
Recall how it works: village institutions protect degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
Recall the return: non-timber forest produce and a share of timber after successful protection.
Explain the incentive: benefits depend on protection succeeding.

Answer: This is joint forest management, which began formally in Odisha in 1988. Village institutions protect degraded forest land managed by the forest department, and in return members get non-timber forest produce and a share of the timber harvested after successful protection. Because their benefits grow only if the forest recovers, villagers have a direct reason to guard it.

Memory hook: Protect together, share together.

Tricks to remember Community and Conservation

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

S-B-C-B-J-S
Sariska, Bhairodev, Chipko, Beej Bachao, JFM, Sacred groves: 'Six Brave Communities Bravely Join to Save'.
Use it when: 5-mark list of examples.
Odisha 88
JFM's first resolution: Odisha, 1988 ('O' looks like the 8s).
Use it when: Date MCQs.
Five villages, 1,200 hectares
Alwar's five villages guard twelve hundred hectares.
Use it when: Sonchuri facts.

Community and Conservation: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Not community-based · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Which one of the following conservation strategies does NOT directly involve community participation?
(a) Joint forest management
(b) Beej Bachao Andolan
(c) Chipko movement
(d) Demarcation of wildlife sanctuaries

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Demarcating sanctuaries is a government action; the other three depend on people (1 mark).

Answer: (d) Demarcation of wildlife sanctuaries

Example 2: What is JFM? (2 marks) · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

What is joint forest management? What benefits do community members get under it? (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

JFM involves local communities, through village institutions, in protecting and restoring degraded forest land managed by the forest department; Odisha passed the first resolution in 1988 (1 mark).
Members get intermediary benefits such as non-timber forest produce and a share in timber harvested by successful protection (1 mark).

Answer: Joint forest management, begun formally in Odisha in 1988, involves village institutions in protecting degraded forest land managed by the forest department. In return, members get non-timber forest produce and a share of the timber harvested after successful protection.

Example 3: Assertion-reason: why villagers conserve · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): In some areas, local communities are struggling to conserve forest habitats along with government officials.
Reason (R): They recognise that only conservation will secure their own long-term livelihood.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

NCERT gives R as the reason for A (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: How communities conserve (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerBoard level

'Local communities everywhere have to be involved in natural resource management.' Justify the statement by analysing how communities have conserved and protected forests and wildlife in India. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

In Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, villagers fought mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act (1 mark).
Five villages of Alwar district declared 1,200 hectares as the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri with their own rules banning hunting (1 mark).
The Chipko movement resisted deforestation and showed community afforestation with indigenous species can succeed (1 mark).
Beej Bachao Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya showed diversified, chemical-free farming is viable; sacred groves and Bishnoi villages protect forests and animals through belief (1 mark).
Analysis: under JFM (Odisha, 1988) villages protect degraded forests for a share of produce and timber; people whose livelihood depends on the forest have the strongest reason and local knowledge to guard it, so they must be involved (1 mark).

Answer: Communities have repeatedly protected forests where official efforts fell short. Sariska villagers fought mining by citing the Wildlife Protection Act, and five Alwar villages declared 1,200 hectares the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri, with their own rules against hunting. The Chipko movement resisted deforestation and proved that community afforestation with indigenous species works, while Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya showed chemical-free, diversified farming is viable. Sacred groves and Bishnoi villages protect forests and animals through belief. Under joint forest management, begun in Odisha in 1988, villages guard degraded forests in return for produce and timber. Since their livelihood depends on forests, local people have the strongest stake and knowledge, so conservation succeeds only when they are involved.

Example 5: Case: trees in rituals · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency

Read the case and answer the questions.

In the Chota Nagpur region, Munda and Santhal communities worship the mahua and kadamba trees. Tribal communities of Odisha and Bihar worship tamarind and mango trees during weddings. Elsewhere, whole patches of forest are left untouched because people believe they belong to gods and goddesses, and nobody is allowed to interfere with them.

(i) What are forest patches left untouched for religious reasons called? (1)
(ii) Name the trees worshipped by the Mundas and Santhals. (1)
(iii) How do such beliefs help conserve biodiversity, and what does NCERT conclude about involving local communities? (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Sacred groves (1 mark).
(ii) Mahua and kadamba (1 mark).
(iii) Nature worship bans interference, so virgin forests with diverse and rare species survive in pristine form (1 mark).
(iii) NCERT concludes local communities everywhere must be involved in natural resource management, though they are not yet at the centre of decision-making (1 mark).

Answer: (i) Sacred groves. (ii) Mahua and kadamba. (iii) Because interference is banned, these forests survive in pristine form with diverse and rare species. NCERT concludes that local communities everywhere must be involved in natural resource management, although they are still far from being at the centre of decision-making.

Example 6: Evaluate community versus state (2 marks) · 2 marks · Very short answerHOTS / competency

Some villagers protect habitats themselves and reject government involvement. Give one strength and one limitation of such purely community-led conservation. (2 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Strength: people who depend on the forest have a direct stake and local knowledge, as the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri shows (1 mark).
Limitation: communities lack legal and financial power against outside threats such as mining, which is why the Sariska villagers relied on the Wildlife Protection Act (1 mark).

Answer: Strength: villagers depend on the forest and know it well, so they guard it closely, as in the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri. Limitation: against powerful outside threats like mining they may need the law, as Sariska villagers used the Wildlife Protection Act.

Where students lose marks in Community and Conservation

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Placing Beej Bachao Andolan in Rajasthan
Confusion with Sariska and Alwar.
Wrong working
Beej Bachao Andolan began in Alwar.
Right working
Beej Bachao Andolan is in Tehri.
Do this: Tehri for seeds, Alwar for Sonchuri.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Wrong JFM year or state
Several dates in the chapter.
Wrong working
JFM began in Rajasthan in 1972.
Right working
Odisha passed the first JFM resolution in 1988.
Do this: Odisha 88.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Listing examples without saying what was done
Students write names only.
Wrong working
Examples: Chipko, Sariska, JFM.
Right working
Chipko resisted deforestation and promoted afforestation; Sariska villagers fought mining.
Do this: Name plus action.
Usually costs: 2-3 marks in a 5-mark answer.
Mistake: Calling sacred groves government reserves
Both protect forests.
Wrong working
Sacred groves are reserved forests declared by the government.
Right working
They are protected by community belief and nature worship.
Do this: Faith, not law.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Keep five community examples ready, each with a place and an action: that is a full 5-mark answer.
JFM is a likely 2-mark question: give year, state, how it works and benefits.
In case questions on beliefs, use the term 'sacred groves' and one community-tree pair.
End long answers with NCERT's test for development: people-centric, environment-friendly, economically rewarding.

Practice questions on Community and Conservation

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
The Bhairodev Dakav 'Sonchuri' was declared by the inhabitants of five villages in which district?
(a) Tehri
(b) Alwar
(c) Jaisalmer
(d) Bastar
Hint
Rajasthan.
Answer
(b) Alwar
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
What did the Chipko movement demonstrate apart from resisting deforestation? (2 marks)
Hint
Afforestation with what kind of species?
Answer
Besides successfully resisting deforestation in several Himalayan areas, it showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Beej Bachao Andolan promotes farming that depends on synthetic chemicals.
Reason (R): Beej Bachao Andolan and Navdanya showed that diversified crop production is possible and economically viable.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.
Hint
With or without chemicals?
Answer
(d) A is false, but R is true. They showed diversified crop production is possible without synthetic chemicals.
Q4 · 2 marks · Very short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose a company proposes a large quarry next to a sacred grove. Using NCERT's criteria for acceptable development, how should the village respond? (2 marks)
Hint
People-centric, environment-friendly, economically rewarding.
Answer
NCERT says accept only activities that are people-centric, environment-friendly and economically rewarding. A quarry destroying a protected grove fails the environment test, so villagers could oppose it, as Sariska villagers resisted mining using the Wildlife Protection Act.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Write a note on good practices towards conserving forests and wildlife, using examples of both government and community efforts. (5 marks)
Hint
Act and Project Tiger; then community examples.
Answer
Government efforts include the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, which banned hunting, protected habitats and restricted trade, and Project Tiger (1973), which protects tigers and their ecosystems in reserves such as Corbett and Periyar. Conservation now covers whole biodiversity, including insects and plants. Communities add their own practices: Sariska villagers fought mining; five Alwar villages created the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri; Chipko resisted felling and promoted afforestation with indigenous species; Beej Bachao Andolan revived chemical-free farming. Joint forest management shares produce with villages that protect degraded forests, and sacred groves and Bishnoi traditions protect forests and animals through belief.
Q6 · 2 marks · Very short answerHOTS / competency
Analyse why NCERT says there is 'still a long way to go' before local communities are at the centre of conservation decisions. (2 marks)
Hint
Who owns most forests, and who decides?
Answer
Most forests are owned or managed by the government through the Forest Department, so communities usually act as partners or protesters, not decision-makers. Even in JFM, they protect land the department manages and receive only a share of benefits.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.How much forest did the Alwar villages declare as the Sonchuri?Show answer
1,200 hectares.
2.Which Act did Sariska villagers cite against mining?Show answer
The Wildlife Protection Act.
3.Which state passed the first JFM resolution?Show answer
Odisha, in 1988.
4.Which trees do tribals of Odisha and Bihar worship during weddings?Show answer
Tamarind and mango.
5.Which animals live protected around Bishnoi villages?Show answer
Blackbuck (chinkara), nilgai and peacocks.

Community and Conservation: frequently asked questions

How do communities help in forest conservation?

Through movements like Chipko, community sanctuaries like the Bhairodev Dakav Sonchuri, resisting mining as in Sariska, chemical-free farming (Beej Bachao Andolan), joint forest management and sacred groves.

What is joint forest management in Class 10?

A programme, formal since 1988 in Odisha, in which village institutions protect degraded forest land managed by the forest department and receive non-timber produce and a share of timber.

What are sacred groves?

Patches of virgin forest left untouched by local people because they are believed to belong to gods and goddesses; any interference is banned.

What was the Chipko movement's contribution?

It resisted deforestation in the Himalayas and showed that community afforestation with indigenous species can be very successful.