Question 23 from UPSC CSE 2023 - Environme nt

Question

Consider the following statements:
1. In India, the Biodiversity Management Committees are key to the realization of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol.
2. The Biodiversity Management Committees have important functions in determining access and benefit sharing, including the power to levy collection fees on the access of biological resources within its jurisdiction.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

IASCODEX · Accepted Answer

Correct Option: C. Both 1 and 2

Strategy: The question focuses on Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and their legal mandate. For Statement 1, the presence of BMCs under statutory provisions and their linkage to the Nagoya Protocol in India is a clear indicator—since India's Biological Diversity Act was framed to meet obligations under CBD, including the Nagoya Protocol, BMCs naturally facilitate its realization at the grassroots. For Statement 2, the key phrase is 'levy collection fees and determine access/benefit sharing': knowledge that BMCs play a formal role in charging access fees for biological resources confirms its correctness. Both statements align with statutory and protocol mandates.

Key Info: Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are local-level statutory bodies established under Section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which was enacted to fulfill India's obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol (2010) is a supplementary agreement to the CBD that aims for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The implementation mechanism in India includes the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the central level, State Biodiversity Boards at the state level, and BMCs at the local body (panchayat and municipality) level.

Core functions of BMCs involve:
* Preparing and maintaining People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), documenting local biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.
* Advising local bodies on the sustainable use, conservation, and documentation of biological resources.
* Ensuring conservation of habitats and chronicling knowledge relevant to genetic resources.
* Playing a consultative role in the process of granting approval for access to biological resources and associated knowledge, and in the assessment and distribution of benefits from their utilization.
* Levying collection/processing fees for access to biological resources for commercial purposes within their jurisdiction, as empowered under the Biological Diversity Act and subsequent Rules.

The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism is fundamental to the Nagoya Protocol, and BMCs are directly involved in operationalizing ABS at the grassroots, allowing local communities to participate in and benefit from the commercialization or research use of local biodiversity. BMCs thus uphold both conservation and equitable economic involvement of local stakeholders as mandated by national and international legal frameworks.

IASCODEX · Answer

Option A: 1 only

IASCODEX · Answer

Option B: 2 only

IASCODEX · Answer

Option D: Neither 1 nor 2