Celebrating knowledge

Creating a People’s Biodiversity Register is more than a legal requirement. It is an exercise of empowering communities and spreading their knowledge of biodiversity

- ALPHONSA JOJAN

IT HAS been nearly 18 years since the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002, and Rules, 2004, were enacted. These legislations have some unique features which distinguish them from other environmental laws. The Act mandates the constitution of committees by local self-governments to manage local biodiversity. These committees are called Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC). BDA is, by far, one of the rare central environmental legislations which directly empower locally elected representatives in biodiversity governance.

Unlike other committees that have experts as members, BMC members are farmers, fisherfolk, academicians and other community members who are nominated by elected representatives. These features can be attributed to the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments which gave provisions for local self-governance. It is undisputable that the spirit of this Act aligns with the spirit of decentralisation.

But even after two decades of its existence, the progress achieved by this law in decentralising biodiversity governance has been far from satisfactory. In fact, there has been a lackadaisical effort in constituting BMCs. Consider Kerala. It is the first state to constitute BMCs in all local bodies in 2015. But field research shows lack of interest among local bodies in engaging with the mandates under BDA. The Biological Diversity Rules prescribe the preparation of a register called the People’s Biodiversity Register, or PBR, as the first priority of BMCs. Unfortunately, these registers have become a mere formality.