The North Eastern (NE) region of India that contributes one-fourth of the total forest cover and more than fifty percent of the flowering plants of the country has been witnessing a gradual decline in forest cover since 2011. The Constitution of India has accorded special constitutional status to all the NE states. The management of forest thus is with the local customary authorities. The state owns only a marginal area of forestland and the rest are either private or community owned. The state therefore has no direct control over the forestland. The local customary authorities have been tirelessly engaged in the conservation of forests; however, there has been gradual decline in forest cover. The paper therefore examines into the constitutional provisions and other statutory enactments for governance and administration of forest and its resources. The paper also examines the judicial intervention and its limitations in protection and conservation of forests in the region. The paper further investigates into the local customary authorities and its role in conservation of forests as against the statutory authorities. The paper concludes with some suggestions to maintain equilibrium between the forest ecology and the wants of the population.