India's laws and policies for protecting biodiversity

Introduction
Biodiversity distribution patterns
Controlling how biological diversity is used
Governance Mechanisms
Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC)
Regulation of Access to Resources and Knowledge
Offenses and disputes
Progress of law

Introduction

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms and the ecosystems they inhabit. Different kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms depend on one another and display a variety of interrelationships. Biodiversity is described as "the variability of living organisms, regardless of the source, and including land, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, the ecological complexes they below to, as well as the diversity within each species, and among species and ecosystems" by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The diversity can be of several types:

Genetic diversity: The variety that exists within a species is known as genetic diversity. For instance, diversity can be found in different plant species, animal breeds, etc. It exists naturally, but via the processes of domestication, humans have manipulated it to choose and produce forms that are useful, such as crops, animals, etc
Species diversity: The range of species and their populations that are reproductively isolated from one another is known as species diversity. Examples are the lion, tiger, and leopard, which are all separate species in the cat family.
Ecosystem diversity: Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of ecosystems, which are made up of populations of plants, animals, and microorganisms that coexist with the soil, water, and air that support them. Grasslands, woodlands, marshes, and other areas with a variety of plant and animal species are examples of diverse ecosystems.

The diversity of a place depends on its climate, topography, and soil, and it has grown through the process of evolution. Over centuries, people have changed the diversity of most places on earth in big ways.

Biodiversity distribution patterns

Three and a half billion years of evolution have led to the variety of life we see today. Biodiversity is not spread out in the same way all over the world. Two-thirds of the earth's surface is water, and there are probably a lot more species in the sea than on land. Most of the world's species live in tropical areas near the equator. The southern and northern poles, on the other hand, have a small number of species.

A lot of species can live in a tropical environment that is humid and where the temperature changes only slightly. But there aren't many species in temperate areas that are either very cold or very dry, like deserts. Extreme climates, like hot and cold deserts, hot springs, and alpine areas, are home to very few species that can survive the harsh conditions. Both tropical coral reefs and tropical rainforests have a lot of different kinds of life.

Tropical places like South America, Asia, Africa, and so on have a lot more species than temperate places like North America, England, Germany, France, and so on. Island ecosystems are unique and have a lot of different kinds of plants and animals. India is a megadiverse country, which means that there are a lot of species there. There are about 16 main types of forests, including tropical forests in the south and east, cold and hot deserts in the north, and five types of grasslands. There is a lot of variety along the country's coasts as well. The islands of Andaman and Lakshadweep also add to the variety of life in India. India has only 2.4% of the world's land area, but it is home to 8.1% of all species. This includes 11% of the world's plants, 7% of the world's animals, and 6.7% of all crops. An endemic species is one that can only live in a certain part of the world because of natural factors. India has a lot of plants, animals, and other things that are only found there. About 33% of the flowering plants in the country don't grow anywhere else in the world.

India has so many different kinds of things that it has been named one of the twelve "megabiodiversity" countries in the world. Hotspots of biodiversity are places where there are a lot of endemic species that are also threatened by people. The Eastern Himalayas, the Western Ghats, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are all places with a lot of different kinds of plants and animals. It is also clear that India's biodiversity is not spread out in the same way everywhere. There is more biodiversity in the hot spots than in other parts of India. Biodiversity and its parts are important for the environment, society, culture, and the economy. Without biodiversity, people would not be able to live. In India, millions of people get their income from natural resources, and biodiversity is the most important one. Farmers, fishermen, herders, and a lot of other people depend on it for their very survival. Biodiversity is important to a wide range of industries and businesses, such as pharmaceuticals, nutrition, horticulture, cosmetics, etc. In many cases, these use different kinds of traditional knowledge about plants and animals that were made by local communities.

Controlling how biological diversity is used

India was one of the many countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992. CBD is an international treaty that covers many different ways to protect and use biodiversity. It has three main goals, which are:

Protecting different kinds of life
Use of biological resources in a sustainable way
A fair and equal way to share the benefits of using these genetic resources.

One of the things the treaty said was that the countries that signed it had to pass laws to make sure the CBD goals were met. India passed the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, because of this.

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

In the beginning of the Act, it says that it is "an act to provide for the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of biological resources, knowledge, and other related or incidental matters." The Act was put into effect by the Biodiversity Rules of 2004, which was a Central Government order.

Governance Mechanisms

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was set up in 2003 to make sure that the Biological Diversity Act of India was followed (2002). The NBA is a Statutory Autonomous Body that helps the Government of India with conservation, sustainable use of biological resources, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits that come from using biological resources. The NBA has its main office in Chennai, which is in the state of Tamil Nadu. It works with State Biodiversity Boards, Biodiversity Management Committees, and Expert Committees to get things done. (Venkataraman, 2009).

State Biodiversity Boards

The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) advise the State Governments on issues related to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and equitable sharing of the benefits resulting from the utilisation of biological resources. The SBBs also regulate, by granting approvals or in any other way, requests for commercial utilisation or bio-survey and bio-utilization of any biological resource

Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC)

This part of the law is significant and, in many ways, special due to the scope of its authority. The local bodies form the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level (Panchayats and Municipalities). They can be established in tribal regions by Gram Sabhas (village councils) or any other local body given authority by state laws.

The promotion of biological diversity conservation, sustainable use, and documentation falls under the purview of BMCs. This responsibility also extends to the preservation of habitats, land resources, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals, and microorganisms, as well as the documentation of knowledge pertaining to biological diversity.

The Panchayat Biodiversity Register (PBR), which contains information on regional biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, is the principal responsibility of the BMC. Thus,

Its job is also to protect, use in a sustainable way, document, and share fairly the benefits that come from using biodiversity.
The BMC is in charge of controlling how businesses and researchers can use bio-resources.
It has to set up a fund for local biodiversity and come up with plans to protect local biodiversity.
It is also in charge of making proposals for sites to be named biodiversity heritage sites and of keeping a germplasm bank and seed centres to promote traditional plant and animal breeds.

The National Biodiversity Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards must talk to the Biodiversity Management Committees before making any decisions about how to use biological resources and the knowledge about them that is in the Biodiversity Management Committee's area of responsibility. The Biodiversity Management Committees can charge fees to anyone who wants to access or collect a biological resource for commercial purposes in an area that falls under its jurisdiction.

The BMC is made up of people who are nominated, and each state has made its own rules about how that works. Sikkim's rules say that at least 50 percent of the BMC should be made up of women.

The Key provisions of the Act are discussed below.

Peoples' Biodiversity Register

The Act says that one of the main jobs of the BMC is to work with the local people to make the People's Biodiversity Register. The Register will have a lot of information about what biological resources are available and what people know about them, how they can be used for medicine or other things, and any other traditional knowledge that goes along with them. This is a new, decentralised way to learn about, use, and protect India's traditional knowledge and biodiversity. People's Biodiversity Registers (PBR) are records of what people know about the status, uses, history, ongoing changes, and forces driving changes in biodiversity resources, as well as who benefits and who loses from these changes and how people think these resources should be managed.

Since 1995, PBRs have been made in different Indian states. NGOs and researchers who worked with local communities and village councils did most of the work to make these things happen. They did this because they wanted to encourage decentralised systems for managing natural resources and set up a way for everyone to get a fair share of the benefits of using traditional knowledge of how to use biodiversity in business. The documents put together important information about biodiversity resources in a certain area and the ecological processes that affect them. They help find local practises that are good for conservation, like protecting sacred groves, sacred species, and so on. They help get people in the area to work together to make sure that local biodiversity resources are managed in a way that promotes social justice. But it's important to remember that not all folk knowledge is correct, and not all folk practises are smart. For a careful evaluation of the information gathered, there must be systems and processes in place. In the coming decades, PBRs will play a big role in promoting conservation, sustainable use of resources, and fair sharing of the benefits of biodiversity resources. The PBR is a legal document that can be very helpful when making decisions about intellectual property rights (IPR) and figuring out how development projects will affect the environment.

Local Biodiversity Fund

The Act says that there should be a fund for protecting biodiversity at the national, state, and local levels. The National Biodiversity Fund will be kept going by all fees and royalties that the National Biodiversity Authority gets from the Central Government and from this Act. The State Biodiversity Fund will be kept going by the state government and the National Biodiversity Authority collecting fees and royalties. With the help of grants, loans from the state government, and fees paid to the BMC, a local biodiversity fund will be set up and kept up. It will be used to protect and promote biodiversity in the areas under the control of the local body in question, as well as for the benefit of the community, as long as that is in line with the goals. This rule can be used to promote local activities that help protect the environment.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites

In accordance with local bodies, the state government may designate areas of biological importance as biodiversity heritage sites (BHS) under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. "Biodiversity Heritage Sites" (BHS) are clearly defined areas that are ecologically delicate ecosystems - terrestrial, coastal, inland, and marine areas rich in biodiversity with any one or more of the following characteristics: richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra-specific categories, high endemism, presence of rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domestic/cultivated species, etc. (Quoting the Biodiversity Act of 2002)

Since this concept is new, only a few Biodiversity Heritage Sites have been declared till recently. These are

Nallur Tamarind Grove: A tamarind grove in the village of Nallur in the Bangalore Rural district is the first biodiversity heritage site in India. There are more than 300 tamarind trees in the grove, which is about 53 acres big. It is thought that this site dates back to the late Chola period (about 12-13th century BCE). The oldest trees are now known to be more than 410 years old, while the rest have been here for 200 years. Near the grove is a Chennakeshava temple that was built during the Chola era. (Karnataka Biodiversity Board)
The state government and the West Bengal Bio-diversity Board made the Tonglu and Dhotrey forests in Darjeeling Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS). Tonglu and Dhotrey are right next to each other and border Nepal.
"Glory of Allapalli," a dense forest patch in Gadchiroli district that has a lot of Naxals, was named Maharashtra's first biodiversity heritage site in 2013. In the area, there are several huge trees that are 5.61 metres across at chest height. Some trees have grown to be 38 metres tall.

Regulation of Access to Resources and Knowledge

One of the most important parts of the act is that it sets rules for extracting bioresources for research, commercial use, or intellectual property rights. Before the Act, there was no specific law that could deal with issues of biopiracy. Many times, industry and the scientific community used Indian resources and knowledge for their own benefit without even acknowledging the source. When people tried to patent Basmati rice, Neem, and turmeric, for example, India had to go to court to protect its rights. This rule is meant to stop this kind of biopiracy. One or more of the following can be part of biopiracy:

Using biological resources or traditional knowledge for commercial gain without the community's permission or without giving any of the profits to the people who own the resources or knowledge.
Getting Intellectual Property Rights to gain monopoly control over biological resources, traditional knowledge related to these resources, or commercial products based on these resources or knowledge, without the original owners' permission or any benefits going to them.

Under the Biodiversity Act, there are different types of access to biological resources and traditional knowledge for research and business use. Local communities can use the biological resources in their area without asking for permission. Indians who aren't locals, like Indian businesses and corporations, only need to tell the State Biodiversity Board that they want to access the area to survey, use, or do other things. Foreign nationals, Indians who don't live in India, corporations or organisations registered outside India, or organisations run by foreigners need permission from the National Biodiversity Authority to access resources or information. They have to show that the project won't hurt biodiversity and that any benefits will be shared fairly. The BMC doesn't have much power because it only has to be consulted. NBA and SBB decide who can get in, not the communities. In the case of Indian agencies, the community might not even know that the State Biodiversity Board has given permission. This is a big problem because it means that traditional knowledge can be used without the permission of the people who know it.

Offenses and disputes

The Act says that people who break the law will have to pay large fines or go to jail. Crimes are taken seriously and can't be let out on bail. A regular person cannot go to court to get justice. But the central government, its agents, or people who want to get benefits can go to court. This makes it impossible for local communities or citizens to go to court directly, which is their right under other environmental laws.

Examples of use of the law

In 2008, two Czech entomologists were caught in a national park in West Bengal, India, collecting beetles. They didn't have the right permissions, so they were charged under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and the Biodiversity Act. One of them got three years in prison, and the other got a fine. But he skipped bail. Both of the scientists will not be able to do research in India in the future. In 2005, the state biodiversity boards of Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand told several companies that used biological resources from their states to make pesticides, medicines, and other products that they had to give the boards a share of their profits as a levy. In 2014, a chief judicial magistrate sent notices to Hershey India Private Ltd for breaking the Biological Diversity Act 2002. This was the first time that a foreign company had been charged for breaking the law. National Biodiversity Authority Chennai had not given the company permission to make different food products before. These are just a few of the very few times when the law has been used to punish people. But most of the time, no complaints are made.

Progress of law

So far, the law has not been used in the way it was meant to be used. Progress has been very slow and has been different in different states. The law is more likely to be carried out by community groups than by government agencies. In some states, like Kerala, BMCs and PBRs have been set up, but nothing else has been done. Since 2002, there has been a lot of talk about different parts of the law. It's important to remember that the law is a big step toward protecting biodiversity and using natural resources in a sustainable way. No part of the Indian Forest Act or Wildlife Protection Act is changed by this law. It helps protect the environment even in places that aren't forests or parks.

Other countries have made a lot of progress in terms of biodiversity laws, but not India. National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO; English: National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) is a permanent inter-ministerial commission of the Federal Mexican government that was set up in 1992. Its goal is to plan, support, and carry out activities and projects that will help people in Mexico and the surrounding area learn more about biodiversity. As a government agency, CONABIO collects and analyses data about biodiversity in all of Mexico's ecosystems. It also manages or directs a number of biological conservation and sustainability projects that are meant to help the Mexican people as a whole. Brazil, Costa Rica, and Japan are just a few of the countries that have set up funds to help reach conservation goals. One hopes that the Biodiversity Act of 2002 will be used well in India in the future to help reach its goals.