State Board for Wildlife submission: the state recommendation a wildlife proposal must earn first.
A project needing wildlife clearance is placed first before the State Board for Wildlife, whose recommendation is the gate to the National Board.
What it is
The State Board for Wildlife is constituted under section 6 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and is chaired by the Chief Minister, with the State's wildlife administration and the Chief Wildlife Warden carrying its technical work. Proposals involving the use of land in a national park or sanctuary, or activity within a notified eco-sensitive zone or the default 10 km buffer, are routed to the Board through the Chief Wildlife Warden and the State Government. Its recommendation, with or without conditions, is what the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife subsequently considers.
KIPL prepares the proposal and its annexures on PARIVESH, arranges the site inspection by the Divisional Forest Officer or Wildlife Warden, and supplies the information the Board actually asks for: which species and habitat are affected, whether an alternative alignment or site was examined and why it was not adopted, and what mitigation the proponent will fund. Proposals come back from this stage for want of a conservation plan, a defensible distance map or a clear statement of the area involved. Those are preparation failures, not merits failures, and each one costs a meeting cycle.
What you get
The deliverables, in hand.
- Authority
- Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (s.6) · Chief Wildlife Warden · PARIVESH
- Typical timeline
- Set by the State Board's meeting calendar
- Wildlife proposal prepared and filed on PARIVESH
- Distance and boundary maps against the protected area and its eco-sensitive zone
- Faunal and habitat information for the affected stretch or footprint
- Site-inspection coordination with the DFO or Wildlife Warden
- Site-specific wildlife conservation plan and its costing, where required
- The State Board's recommendation for onward reference to the National Board
Straight answers
State Board for Wildlife: common questions.
01What is the State Board for Wildlife?
It is the statutory State-level body constituted under section 6 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, chaired by the Chief Minister, that advises the State Government on wildlife protection and on the use of land in and around protected areas. Project proposals requiring wildlife clearance are considered by it before they go to the National Board.
02When does a project need to go to the State Board for Wildlife?
Where it involves the use of land inside a national park or wildlife sanctuary, or activity within a notified eco-sensitive zone, or within 10 km of a protected area where no zone has been notified. The applicable trigger is established by an eco-sensitive zone assessment before the proposal is drafted.
03Is the State Board's recommendation the final clearance?
No. It is a recommendation. Proposals requiring wildlife clearance are decided by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife, which considers the State Board's view along with the proposal. A favourable State recommendation is necessary but not sufficient.
04Can the State Board reject or defer a proposal?
Yes. It may recommend, recommend with conditions, defer for further information or site inspection, or decline to recommend. Deferral for additional information is the most common outcome for a thinly prepared proposal, and it costs whatever the gap is until the Board next meets.
05What does the Board actually weigh?
The ecological significance of the affected area, the extent and permanence of the intrusion, whether alternatives outside the protected area or zone were genuinely examined, the effect on species and movement corridors, and the adequacy and funding of the mitigation offered. Vague answers on alternatives and mitigation are what most often lead to deferral.
06Who submits the proposal?
The user agency is the proponent and the proposal moves through the Chief Wildlife Warden and the State Government on PARIVESH. A consultant prepares the technical file, the maps and the conservation plan; the responsibility for the content remains with the proponent.
07How is this different from forest clearance?
They are separate approvals. Forest clearance under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam 1980 deals with diversion of forest land; wildlife clearance under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 deals with protected areas and their buffers. A single project can need both, plus Environment Clearance, and each runs its own file.
08How long does the State Board stage take?
It is governed by when the Board meets, which varies between States and is not a fixed cycle, and by how quickly the site inspection and any queries are completed. The honest planning assumption is that this stage is measured in meeting cycles, which is why a complete first submission is worth the preparation time it costs.
Within Wildlife Clearance
Part of the whole route, the other components.
Primary sources
Check it at source.
This page describes Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (s.6) · Chief Wildlife Warden · PARIVESH. The regulation and the filing portal are public, these are the official endpoints, not our summary of them.
Relevant proof
Where this stage has already been delivered.
MCGM · Eastern Suburbs, Mumbai
MCGM GARDEN DEVELOPMENT- MIYAWAKI PLANTATION
Miyawaki dense forestation across 27 locations in 7 wards using native species, delivered under the municipal greening programme.
Where we do this
Wildlife Clearance on the ground.
The authority, the timeline and the local ground differ by city. These pages set out how wildlife clearance actually runs in each.
Featured projects
Work that carries its own evidence.
Our expertise
One team across the whole environmental brief.
State Board for Wildlife is one stage of one practice. Most projects need several, and the commitments made at clearance are the ones we build and maintain.
Who we do this for
Wildlife Clearance reads differently by industry.
- 01
Data Centres & IT ParksCore
Power and fibre pull these sites to creek edges, so SBWL and NBWL clearance is triggered inside a notified ESZ or within 10 km of a protected area.
Wildlife Clearance for Data Centres & IT Parks - 02
Mining & Minerals
Leases inside an eco-sensitive zone or within 10 km of a protected area need SBWL and NBWL clearance and a wildlife conservation plan.
Wildlife Clearance for Mining & Minerals - 03
Logistics & Ports
Thane Creek and other coastal sanctuaries put port and logistics sites inside eco-sensitive zones needing SBWL and NBWL clearance.
Wildlife Clearance for Logistics & Ports
Trusted by
The organisations this work is done for.
In the press