Institutional Framework for Creating Biodiversity Commons through Biodiversity Management Committees in India

Abstract

"Biodiversity includes a diversity of life on planet earth. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was evolved for protection and sustainable use of bio-resources and ensures equitable sharing of biological resources. As a signatory to the Convention, India enacted the Biological Diversity Act and subsequently, the Biological Diversity rules came to being. The Act envisages a three tier system for executing the same with National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the top and each state with its State Biodiversity Board (SBB) under which Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) can work. These three tiers together form the institutional framework for biodiversity legal regime in India vis-à-vis International compliance. These institutions work in co-ordination with each other under the BD Act to perform their roles & functions. India's national legislation combines the role of regulator (enforcing authorized access to bio-resources) with that of the promoter (promoting conservation and sustainable use of bio-resources, benefit sharing provisions and also creating public awareness), and the advisor (advising the Central and State governments on some key issues and national concerns). The paper discusses the salient features of BD Act 2002 and BD Rules 2004 and function and role of NBA, SBBs and BMCs. The institutional framework that provides to create biodiversity commons by constituting Biodiversity Management Committees to achieve the objectives of CBD in India by describing the constitution, function, responsibilities and mandate of BMCs. The main function of BMCs is to prepare People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) and describe its preparation process. India's experiences in implementing its national legislation may be of immense regional and international interests."