National Green Tribunal decision on Biodiversity Management Committees in india
The constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees and preparation of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) is a specific environmental necessity in india under the Biological Diversity Act , 2003. But due to covid 19 pandemic The National Green Tribunal recently extended the time limit for the constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and preparation of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) . The order was passed after some states sought extension of time on account of the pandemic and also waiver of the requirement to pay compensation for the delay.
Accordingly, the time for remaining compliances is extended up to June 30, 2021, and compensation amounts will stand waived if compliances are ensured by that date. The NGT was earlier informed by a monitoring committee formed by it that as against 2,52,709 panchayats where biodiversity management committees were to be constituted, a total of 1,44,371 BMCs have been formed, which shows a gap of more than one lakh. With respect to people’s biodiversity registers, 6,834 have been documented so far and another 1,814 are in progress, it had noted.
The biological diversity act has made it mandatory for every local self-governing institution in rural and urban areas to constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) within their area of jurisdiction. Once constituted, the BMC must prepare a Peoples’ Biodiversity Register (PBR) in consultation with local people. A PBR comprehensively documents traditional knowledge of local biological resources. The BMC is the custodian of these resources, and any industry that extracts biological resources from these areas has to share part of its revenue with the local community.
Preparation of PBR is mandated under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and is the responsibility of BMCs. It is a register that contains comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resource (flora and fauna), their medicinal or any other use and any other TK associated with them.
The current PBR preparation methodology being considered for widespread official use, has been developed by the NBA. This elaborates and presets a set of formats with tables and kind of information required that needs to be filled by BMCs with the help of students, researchers and knowledgeable individuals and be validated by BMC with the help of TSG/SBB as needed. This information will be kept in the safe custody of BMC. PBR is a legal document for purposes of determining Access and Benefit Sharing provisions under the Act.
The Biological Diversity Act , 2003 :
The Biological Diversity Act (2002) mandates implementation of the provisions of the Act through decentralized system with the National Biodiversity Authority focusing on advising the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources; and advising the State Governments in the selection of areas of biodiversity importance to be notified under Sub-Section (1) of Section 37 as heritage sites and measures for the management of such heritage sites.
The NBA considers requests by granting approval or otherwise for undertaking any activity referred to in Sections 3,4 and 6 of the Act.
The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) focus on advising the State Governments, subject to any guidelines issued by the Central Government, on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources;
The SBBs also regulate, by granting of approvals or otherwise upon requests for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization of any biological resource by the Indians.
The local level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are responsible for promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.
The NBA with its headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India delivers its mandate through a structure that comprises of the Authority, Secretariat, SBBs, BMCs and Expert Committees.
Since its establishment, NBA has supported creation of SBBs in 28 States, UT's and facilitated establishment of around 2,66,499 BMCs.
About National Biodiversity Authority :
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established by the Central Government in 2003 to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002). The NBA is a Statutory Body and it performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the Government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.
