People’s Biodiversity Register:
The National Campaign for Updation and Verification of People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) was launched in Goa, by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- It is aimed to document and preserve India’s rich biological diversity.
- The People’s Biodiversity Register serves as a comprehensive record of locally available Bio-resources including the landscape and demography of a particular area or village.
- It is prepared by Biodiversity Management Committees (under Biodiversity Act 2002) in consultation with local communities.
- Biodiversity Management Committees are local bodies created under the Biological Diversity Act 2002, with the mandate to ensure the conservation, sustainable utilization and equitable sharing of benefits from biodiversity.
- The act has made it mandatory for every local self-governing institution in rural and urban areas to constitute Biodiversity Management Committees within their area of jurisdiction.
- BMC must prepare a PBR in consultation with local people.
- Kolkata was the first major metropolitan city in India to make a detailed People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR).
