PEOPLE'S BIODIVERSITY REGISTER (PBR)

Latest Context

A key milestone in the recording and preservation of India's rich biological variety was reached with the start of the National Campaign for Updating and Verifying the People's Biodiversity Register (PBR) in Goa. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change organised it.

5. 2,67,608 PBRs have been created in the nation to far.

Facts about People's Biodiversity Register

• The People's Biodiversity Register is a comprehensive database that includes information on microorganisms, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals, folk variants, and cultivars, as well as environmental protection.
• The Biological Diversity Act of 2002 establishes Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) to advance the preservation, sustainable use, and documenting of biological variety.
• BMCs are local organisations found in the states and union territories that are tasked with creating People's Biodiversity Registers after consulting with nearby communities.

Importance:

• It aids in biodiversity preservation, which is essential for preserving the natural world's equilibrium. Additionally, it makes it possible for nearby people to benefit from genetic resources and accompanying traditional knowledge.
• The Biological Diversity Act of 2002, which attempts to control access to biological resources and achieve just and equitable benefit sharing, is supported in its implementation.
• It is a bottom-up process that also helps to understand how natural and cultural biodiversity intersect.
• It envisions a decentralised method using an inclusive approach.
• It supports the "Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE)" idea that the Indian Prime Minister first proposed during COP26 in Glasgow.
• This idea encourages people and organisations all around the world to use resources deliberately and mindfully in order to save the environment.

Status of Biodiversity Management in India

• India is home to 7-8% of all known species in the world despite occupying just 2.4% of the planet's geographical area.
• The Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the Indo-Burma region, and Sundaland are four of the 36 biodiversity hotspots on earth that are found in India.
• The Indo-Burma region and Sundaland are two of them that are dispersed over South Asia and not precisely confined within India's official borders.

Biodiversity Governance in India:

• The Biological Diversity Act (BDA) of India, passed in 2002, works closely with the Nagoya Protocol to put the CBD's (Convention on Biological Diversity) provisions into practise.
• The Nagoya Protocol aimed to ensure that the use of genetic resources for commercial and scientific purposes resulted in the sharing of the benefits with the state and the society that protected such resources.
• The BDA, which established a nation's sovereign claim over its natural resources, was lauded as a crucial step in protecting India's enormous biodiversity.
• The challenge of managing bio-resources is addressed in the most decentralised way feasible.
• Additionally, three-layered architectures are proposed:

1. At the national level, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).
2. State Biodiversity Boards (SSBs) and
3. Local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).

• The act also fortifies the nation's position against anybody asserting an intellectual property right over information pertaining to biodiversity.

Challenges related to Biodiversity Conservation

Introduction of Invasive Species:

• The term "invasive alien species" refers to non-native plants, animals, and diseases that inflict environmental damage or disturb the biological balance of an ecosystem.
• According to CBD report, over 40% of all animal extinctions are attributable to invading alien species.

Global Warming and Climate Change:

• As many creatures are sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, which might cause their extinction, it poses hazards to plant and animal species.
• Degradation of natural ecosystems is further facilitated by the use of pesticides, an increase in tropospheric ozone, and sulphur and nitrogen oxides from industrial sources.

Choking Marine Biodiversity:

• Microplastics are being poured into seas as a result of ineffective plastic waste management, suffocating and starving marine life, harming animals' livers, reproductive organs, and gastrointestinal systems, and negatively affecting marine biodiversity.

Genetic Modification Concern:

• Plants that have been genetically modified run a significant danger of destroying the environment and reducing biodiversity since one organism may be favoured due to the improved features created by modifying genes.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• On June 5, 1992, during the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, countries negotiated and signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• The agreement became operative on December 29, 1993. On February 18, 1994, India joined the convention as a party. There are 196 Parties to this Convention as of right now.
• A legally binding agreement, CBD has three main objectives:

1. Conservation of biodiversity.
2. Sustainable use of the components of biodiversity.
3. Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.

• The Secretariat of the CBD is in Montreal, Canada.

Way Forward

• Community-led Conservation: Local communities, particularly indigenous peoples, must be involved in conservation activities. By including them in decision-making processes, developing community-managed conservation areas, and honouring their traditional knowledge and practises relevant to biodiversity protection, you may encourage their active engagement.
• Technology and Data-driven Conservation: Emerging technologies like remote sensing, drones, and artificial intelligence must be used to track biodiversity changes, find places that need to be protected urgently, and evaluate the success of conservation efforts.
• Protecting Entire Biosphere: The goal of conservation should be the preservation of the entire ecosystem, including the local communities, rather than just the preservation of individual species. To save biodiversity and maintain the survival of the environment, India needs more biosphere reserves.

 

Prelims

Q1. Two important rivers – one with its source in Jharkhand (and known by a different name in Odisha), and another, with its source in Odisha – merge at a place only a short distance from the coast of Bay of Bengal before flowing into the sea. This is an important site of wildlife and biodiversity and a protected area. Which one of the following could be this? (2011)

(a) Bhitarkanika

(b) Chandipur-on-sea

(c) Gopalpur-on-sea

(d) Simlipal

Ans: (a)

Q2. With reference to India’s biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are (2020)

a) Birds

(b) Primates

(c) Reptiles

(d) Amphibians

Ans: (a)

Mains

Q. How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act,2002 helpful in the conservation of flora and fauna? (2018)

Must Check: Best UPSC Coaching In Delhi