Policy Framework for Geo-heritage Conservation in India and Rajasthan

6.1 National Legal Framework

Geo-heritage in India lacks a dedicated central legislation. Protection is pieced together from overlapping frameworks:

Law / Policy	Applicability to Geo-heritage	Limitation
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act)	Regulates mining near notified sites; GSI monuments cannot be mined	No positive conservation mandate; only mining prohibition
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (AMASR Act)	Covers archaeological sites; geological monuments not expressly included	Geology-specific features fall outside scope unless "ancient remains"
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972	Protects fauna and flora in sanctuaries; geological features within sanctuary boundaries indirectly protected	Does not apply to isolated geological outcrops outside PA boundaries
National Mineral Policy, 2019	Para 1.4 explicitly recognizes geo-heritage conservation as a mandate	Policy document only; no enforcement mechanism
Environment Protection Act, 1986	Environmental Impact Assessments for mining near geo-heritage sites	Site-by-site; not systematic protection

Source: Ministry of Mines, National Mineral Policy 2019; GSI National Geological Heritage Manual

The National Geological Monuments declared by GSI rest on an administrative circular (not a statute) — they have no legal force comparable to ASI-protected monuments under the AMASR Act. This is the fundamental legal gap that makes India's geo-heritage vulnerable.

6.2 International Comparison: How Other Countries Protect Geo-heritage

• China: Geological Park Regulations 2000 (国家地质公园管理办法) — a standalone ministerial regulation specifically for geological parks, enabling site management funding and legal enforcement. China has 47 UNESCO Geoparks as a direct result.
• United Kingdom: Geoconservation principles embedded in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) framework covers geological sites under Natural England.
• Germany: Nature Conservation Act includes geological heritage as a protected natural monument category; 5 UNESCO Geoparks as of 2024.
• India: No equivalent standalone legislation. Comparable gap as China had pre-2000.

6.3 Rajasthan State Initiatives

Rajasthan has no dedicated geo-heritage conservation policy as of 2024. However, several parallel state initiatives create partial frameworks:

• Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2020 — mentions "geological tourism" as a niche tourism product but without funding allocations or protected site mechanisms.
• Desert National Park Management Plan — the Park management plan (reviewed 2019) notes the palaeontological significance of fossil sites within and near the park boundary; however, fossil collection by visitors is not systematically prevented.
• Rajasthan State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (SBSAP) — includes some coverage of geological heritage as part of ecosystem assessment but lacks enforcement specifics.
• State Museum of Rajasthan (Jaipur) — holds fossil collections from Jaisalmer and Barmer, providing some scientific archiving function.

Rajasthan's Chief Wildlife Warden has jurisdiction over Desert National Park, which overlaps several key Jaisalmer fossil localities. Any Geopark authority for the Jaisalmer zone would need an MOU with the Forest Department to avoid jurisdictional conflict — a template from the Great Himalayan National Park (UNESCO WHS 2014, Himachal Pradesh) model could be adapted.

---