July 20th, 2005: Meeting on the formation of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and providing training to BMC members

Place: BCRT campus, Anuganalu, Hassan Taluk

The Biodiversity act of the Indian Government: The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 aims to promote conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits of India’s biodiversity resources. Under the Biological Diversity Act, Karnataka Biodiversity Board was established at the state level as the administrative body for Karnataka and Biodiversity Management Committees were established at the level of Gram Panchayats.

About the formation of BMC at BCRT: In November 2004, Biodiversity Conservation and Research Trust (BCRT) submitted a report of its work on habitat conservation to Karnataka Biodiversity Board. The Board acknowledged this as the first documentation of its kind in Karnataka state and recognized BCRT as a grass-root level organization. The first Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) was formed in June 2005 at BCRT in Anuganalu.

About the BMCs training: The formation and training of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) is jointly organized by Biodiversity Conservation and Research Trust (BCRT), Karnataka Biodiversity Board (KBB), and Krushi Vigayana Kendra (KVK) at Anuganalu. In this meeting, the President and the Secretary of each BMCs of 40 Gram Panchyats of Hassan Taluk will participate. The opinion of BMC is to be communicated to State Biodiversity Board and then to National Biodiversity Authority. Experts from KBB will discuss  and suggest a course of action for the BMCs to protect their local biodiversity and preserve traditional knowledge.

Constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees (Section 41) (link)

(1)      Every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMCs) within its area of jurisdiction.

(2)      The Biodiversity Management Committee under sub-rule (1) shall consist of a Chairperson and not more than six persons nominated by the local body, of whom not less than one third should be women and not les than 18% should belong to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes.

(3)      The Chairman of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall be elected from amongst the members of the committee in a meeting to be chaired by the Chairman of the local body. The Chairman of the local body shall have the casting votes in case of a tie.

(4)      The Chairman of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall have tenure of three years.

(5)      The local MLA/MLC and MP would be special invitees to the meetings of the Committee.

(6)      The main function of the BMC is to prepare People’s Biodiversity Register in consultation with local people. The Register shall contain comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them.

(7)      The other functions of the BMC are to advise on any matter referred to it by the State Biodiversity Board or Authority for granting approval, to maintain data about the local vaidys and practitioners using the biological resources.

(8)      The Authority shall take steps to prescribe the form of the People’s Biodiversity Registers, and the particulars it shall contain and the format for electronic database.

(9)      The Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards shall provide guidance and technical support to the Biodiversity Management Committees for preparing People’s Biodiversity Registers.

(10)    The People’s Biodiversity Registers shall be maintained and validated by the Biodiversity Management Committees.

(11)    The Committee shall also maintain a Register giving information about the details of the access to biological resources and traditional knowledge granted, details of the collection fee imposed and details of the benefits derived and the mode of their sharing.

© 2001-2005 Biodiversity Conservation & Research Trust