The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Local biodiversity panels to be set up

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Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Local biodiversity panels to be set up

T. Nandakumar

Model committees set up in five panchayats

Local bodies to have key role in conservation
Each committee will have experts and representatives

Thiruvananthapuram: Local self-government institutions in the State will soon have a key role in the conservation and management of biological resources and traditional knowledge systems. The State Biodiversity Board has initiated steps to set up biodiversity management committees (BMCs) for grama panchayats, municipalities and city corporations.

In the first phase, model committees have been set up in five panchayats, namely Vithura in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kumarakam in Kottayam, Malampuzha in Palakkad, Chirakkal in Kannur and Neeleswaram in Kasaragod. Headed by the panchayat president, each committee has experts in select fields, such as Ayurveda, agriculture, fisheries and tribal development, and representatives of the Forest Department, local and tribal communities, women, non-governmental organisations and research institutions.

The Central Biological Diversity Act, 2002 mandates the establishment of a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards and Biodiversity Management Committees at the local level. Kerala is one of the first States to constitute a Board.

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The setting up of the committees is aimed at enabling local and tribal communities to have a say in managing biological resources. The primary role of the committee is to prepare the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) — a document that lists plant and animal resources and the traditional knowledge systems associated with them. The register will also contain data on local and tribal healers.

The committees are authorised to regulate harvests of biodiversity resources within their jurisdiction and to charge collection fees for this purpose. They will have at their disposal “local biodiversity funds” into which such income as well as other grants will be deposited.

The State Biodiversity Board is working on a plan to train volunteers in compiling data for the people’s register. V.S. Vijayan, Chairman of the Board, told The Hindu that the format for compilation of data for the biodiversity register was awaiting clearance from the National Biodiversity Authority. The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has completed a pilot project for secondary data generation on biodiversity. The project implemented in Thrissur district, involved the preparation of a database on plant, animal and forest wealth as well as indigenous and traditional knowledge systems based on them.

P. Pushpangadan, one of the expert members on the panel, said the people’s register was an attempt to ensure public participation in management of ecosystems and traditional knowledge.

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