Govt plans legal steps to protect biodiversity

NEW DELHI: The government will soon have a legal framework to regulate or monitor the commercial use of India’s biodiversity by both local and foreign firms. Monday’s approval by Lok Sabha to the finalised Biological Diversity Bill 2002 will see the creation of a three-tiered structure to facilitate the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits accruing out of all biological resources and knowledge.
Biological diversity encompasses plants, fungi, micro-organisms, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and so on. India account for 8% of the world’s known biodiversity with 46,000 species of plants and 81,000 species of animals. It harbours 320 wild varieties of crop relatives besides 114 breeds of domestic animals.
To keep a close eye on this wealth, a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at Chennai, State Bio-diversity Boards (SBB) and Bio-diversity Management Committees (BMCs) will now be created.
While the bill provides for recognition and protection of traditional knowledge, grey areas do exist because the modalities for protecting informal knowledge.