Why in News?
On April 26, 2026, the Indian government launched a USD 4.88 million five-year project (2025–2030) in Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya. It aims to "green" village development plans and empower local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).
Legal & Institutional Framework
- Biological Diversity Act, 2002: The primary law implementing the CBD. It was significantly amended in 2023 to encourage investment and simplify research while protecting traditional knowledge.
- Three-Tier Structure:
- National Level: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) (Chennai) – Regulates access to biological resources.
- State Level: State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) – Manage conservation at the state level.
- Local Level: Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) – Maintain the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) and manage local resources.
- National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP): India updated this plan in 2025 to align with the global 30x30 target (protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030).
Key Mechanisms
- Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS): Ensures that when companies use biological resources, the benefits (money or technology) are shared with the local communities who protected them.
- People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR): A formal document prepared by local bodies. Over 2.7 lakh PBRs have been prepared in India to document flora, fauna, and traditional knowledge.
- Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS): Areas of unique ecological importance declared by state governments (Elathur Lake in Tamil Nadu, declared in late 2025).
Global Governance Context
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF): Adopted in 2022, it sets 23 global targets for 2030, including restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems.
- Nagoya Protocol: An international agreement that India ratified to ensure the fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources.
- Cali Fund: A new global fund (celebrating its 1st anniversary in February 2026) focused on sharing benefits from the commercial use of genetic data.
Challenges to Governance
- Implementation Gaps: While thousands of BMCs exist, many lack the funding or training to effectively manage local resources.
- Biopiracy: The illegal use of traditional knowledge or resources without proper credit or payment remains a concern for indigenous communities.
- Conflicting Priorities: Balancing large infrastructure projects (like dams or mining) with the need to protect "Ecologically Sensitive Areas."
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