Abstract:

The Biological Diversity Act (2002) and Rules (2004) heralded a significant era in the way India wished to conserve, manage and share the benefits of biological resources and associated knowledge in a fair and equitable manner besides using the legal provisions to fulfill its obligations as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Act and the Rules were progressive and innovative to effect the implementation in decentralized and responsibilities spread across different institutions. The NBA, the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) form the operational arms for the Act and Rules at National, State and Local levels respectively. This three-tier system of implementation not only provides opportunities to effectively implement the Act and Rules in objective manner but also opens means of challenges if these structures are unclear about their respective roles and responsibilities. With the BMCs rightly identified as the key players in decision making, the NBA embarked on a comprehensive programme to increase the awareness about the rights and obligations of BMCs to conserve, manage and benefit from biological resources and also worked on developing a set of guiding principles and operational guidelines for the BMCs to fulfill their mandates.