Shanag village is located 3 km from Manali town in Manali taluka of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh. Buses are available from Manali to reach the village.

The landscape, with an altitude of 2000 m, is typical of the Middle Himalayas. Temperatures drop to sub-zero levels during winter, accompanied by heavy snowfall.

The ecosystem can be described as a steeply sloping conifer forest with species like deodar, khanor, akhrot, bhojpatra or birch, rakhal, rai or spruce and tosh. The region is rich in fauna like the brown bear, Himalayan black bear, leopard, barking deer, musk deer, Himalayan monal, Koklass pheasant, kalij pheasant and the Western tragopan. The Manali Sanctuary lies within 10 km of the community-conserved area.

The legal status of the land is demarcated protected forest.

The total population of the village is 600, with two main communities; rajputs and dagis (scheduled caste). The primary occupations are horticulture and tourism-related. Some villagers also derive income from jobs. The total livestock population is 680. The forest is mainly used for grazing by 200 cattle (for 6 months), 400 sheep/goats (for 6 months) and 150 migratory buffaloes (for 4 months). All the requirements of fuelwood, timber, biomass and 30 per cent of the requirement of leaf fodder for the 121 households is also met from the forest. The villagers have legal rights (codified during forest settlement) to biomass, fodder, fuelwood and timber in the forest.

The gaon (village) committee took charge of 200 ha of forest for protection and formulated the following rules and regulations:

The villagers have benefited from the conservation because of the increased access to resources and the sense of empowerment that they feel from successfully managing the forest. Since the protection started, there has also been a marked increase in wildlife populations in the forest. The villagers feel that the forest department should support the initiative by recognizing its decisions.