BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ Issue #
Biodiversity
Newsletter/
Volume-5, Issue: 1
January-March
2014
www.newsonair.nic.i
n
KARNATAKA BIODIVERSITY BOARD. BENGALURU
Editorial
The
aim
of
Karnataka
Biodiversity Board (KBB) is to
create
awareness
and
disseminate information of
Biodiversity. Keeping this in
view, KBB is bringing out this
quarterly Newsletter that will
help you in gaining insights
about the ongoing activities of
KBB and highlights of issues
related to Biodiversity.
A warm wel come to all the readers of
IN THIS ISSUE
1.
Work shop on “Biological Diversity
Act-2002 and challenges before
biodiversity of the state”
{1-2}
A column break is inserted before and after each column
that acts as a sidebar. To insert a column break, press
Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Or, on the Page Layout tab, in the
Page Setup group, click Breaks, and then click Column.
2.
Myristica swamps: a rare and
endangered ecosystem of the
western Ghats
{3-5}
3.
Boquila trifoliolata {6-7}
4.
Microbes and it’s impact on the
environment
{ 8-10}
5.
Implementing the Peoples
Biodiversity Registers programme
in Karnataka and evolution of
concept of “Peoples Biodiversity
Network” {11-15}
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Work shop on “Biological Diversity Act-2002 and
challenges before biodiversity of the state”
- Vighnesh Hegde and Vinayak Kulkarni
Karnataka Biodiversity Board had organized two days workshop on “Biological Diversity Act-2002 and
Challenges before Biodiversity of the State” on 03/03/2014 & 04/03/2014 at Alumini Association Auditorium of
Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bangalore for Coordinators, Co-coordinators of PBR teams and Deputy Conservator
of Forests, Social Forestry Division of 17 districts of Karnataka.
Workshop started at 10.30 Am on 03.03.2014 with Invocation by Ms. Ishwarya. Later, Sri.Raj.K.Singh,Member
Secretary, Karnataka Biodiversity Board has welcomed guests and participants and given the introduction to the
workshop.
Workshop was inaugurated by the Sri.Sahai,Chairman, Karnataka Biodiversity Board with the lightening of lamp.
After the tea break, Technical Session of the 1st day took place from 11.15AM – 5.30 PM. During this session
following resource persons have given talk on below topics:
1. Biological Diversity act- 2002; an overview by Sri. K. S. Sugara
2. “Access and Benefit Sharing” by Ishwar Pujar
3. Coastal biodiversity and its conservation challenges by Prof. V. N. Nayak
4. Bio-resource, access and benefit sharing (ABS) and NTC by Sri, D. P. Tiwari
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests
Inaugurating the workshop.
Introductory speech by the
Member Secretary.
1
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Technical Session of the 2nd day took place from 11.15AM – 4 PM. During this session following resource persons
have given talk on talk on below topics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
DID YOU KNOW IT??
Forestry biodiversity, its conservation challenges a procedures on booking cases under BD
Act- 2002 by Sri. B. Huchaiah
Acts and conventions in Indian biodiversity by Dr. Ramakrishna
Agricultural biodiversity and its conservation challenges by Dr. K. N. Ganeshaiah
Animal genetic resources and its conservation challenges by Dr. K. P. Ramesha
Intellectual property rights (IPR) Bio resources- Issues and Challenges by Smt. Bindu Sharma
Sri. K.M. Chandrashekar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Karnataka Biodiversity Board handed over the
Certificates to all participants.
1.
2.
Photographs showing the experts delivering the lectures. 1. Dr. V. N. Naik, Professor in
Marine biology, Karnataka University. Dharwad. 2. Shri. Ishwar Pujar, National Biodiversity
Authority, Chennai.
1.
2
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
MYRISTICA SWAMPS: A RARE AND ENDANGRED
ECOSYSTEM OF THE WESTERN GHATS
by Vighneshwar Hegde
Myristica swamps are one of the unique and ancient ecosystems of the Western Ghats. These are the marshy
places dominated by the tree species of the family Myristicaceae and many other rare plant and animal species.
Usually, Myristica swamps are found in the valleys between hill ranges of the Western Ghats. Fresh water
littoral evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, that once formed an extensive network along the streams of
Western Ghats, now reduced to highly fragmented pockets. They are one of the rare ecosystems of the Western
Ghats and are present in weakly drained depressions. Freshwater swamps are found in the many part of the
world, especially in the valleys of Missisippi, Sweeden, Odzala National Park, Congo Malaysia, Papua New
Guinea, Amazon forests. Myristica Swamps exhibits rich biodiversity. They have many rare, threatened and
endemic plant species, rare frogs, butterflies and many other biota. In 2000, scientists have discovered a new,
critically endangered and evergreen tree species i.e., Semecarpus kathalekanensis from Myristica Swamp of
Kathalekan in the Central Western Ghats.
1
2
1.Marshy area with pneumatophores
2. Vegetation of Myristica Swamp
3
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
In Myristica swamps, plant species (especially Myristicaeae members) have special physiological adaptations for
their habitat. They will develop special type of roots for their anaerobic respiration. They are called as “aerial
roots”, with many pneumatophores. Since, swamp soil shows deficiency of oxygen, Myristica Swamps are
dominated by the plant species like Gymnocranthera canarica, Myristica fatua, Mastixia arborea, Lopopetalum
whitianum and many other important medicinal and NTFP species like Garcinia gummigutta, Calamus sp and
Cinnamomum sp, Dipterocarpus indicus, Ochlandra rheedii and Caryota urens, Arenga whitii and Pinanga
dicksonii. In these plant species some species such as Gymnocranthera canarica and Myristica fatua are of
threatened categories.
1
2
1. Pneumatophores of Gymnocranthera canarica
2. Fruits of Myristica dactyloides
Importance of the Myristica Swamps:
Myristica Swamps are the rich sources of drinking water. They perform numerous valuable ecological
functions. They recycle the nutrients, purify the water, recharge ground water, augment and maintain stream
flow, provides habitat for wide variety of flora and fauna. Moreover, they provide food, fodder, fuel, fiber and
large numbers of medicinal plants. They regulate water and carbon cycle. They will check the flooding by
providing natural barriers against erosion and prevents water pollution. Moreover, they provide valuable area
for the education and researchers. Myristicaeae members are rich in essential oils and chemical compounds like
flavinoides, lignins, quinines, phenols etc. They have anti diabetic and anti cancer compounds.
4
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Threats and Conservation of Myristica Swamps:
Unfortunately, the unique and rare ecosystem is highly threatened due to various reasons like a rapid
population increase accompanied by unplanned developmental works, pollution of surfaces water due to
residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial wastes, plantations of commercial crops, mini hydra
projects, shifting cultivation. Increased demands for drainage of wetlands have been accompanied by
channelization, resulting in further loss of stream habitat, which led to fragmentation of swamps. So, today
not only few species of the Myristica swamp, but the whole ecosystem is under great threat. So that
ecosystem itself is becoming endangered. So, there is urgent need to locate and conserve this threatened
ecosystem. Otherwise we will lose many important plant and animal species and we will face crucial water
problem and finally we will lose whole the ecosystem. These swamps can be conserved by declaring as an
in-situ conservation spot. However, there is urgent need to effectively check all human interference and
invading of weeds. Further, recovery of the plant species of the swamps can be done through the
reintroduction of plant propgules in to swamp areas for the creation of new, self sustaining populations
within the historic range and characteristics habitat.
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ISLAND
BIODIVERSITY: 22 MAY 2014
The theme Island Biodiversity was
chosen to coincide with the
designation by the United Nations
General Assembly of 2014 as the
International Year of Small Island
Developing States
Coral reefs provide an estimated US$
375 billion per year in goods and
services to the world. This includes
support for marine fisheries, which
provide the principal protein source
for many island populations,
especially amongst SIDS
5
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Boquila trifoliolata
Life can be rough when you’re a plant - all of those cruel herbivores going
By Sandeep Otari
about their daily business, munching on your leaves that you’ve spent
Scientific classification
so long growing. Of course, some plants possess defense mechanisms to
avoid such situations, like toxins or sharp spines. So how do plants that
don’t possess such features avoid becoming victims of chomping jaws?
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
Order:
Ranunculales
Family:
Lardizabalaceae
Genus:
Boquila
Species:
B. trifoliolata
The animal kingdom is full of examples of how to do this - mimicry.
Mimicry is where an organism has adapted over time to appear similar to
another object or organism. They might be to appear dangerous in order
to send out “don’t eat me” signals, or alternatively camouflage
themselves in order to blend in with their surroundings. There are
a few known examples of mimicry within plants. For example, Australian mistletoes mimic the leaves of
their host tree. Now there’s a new plant-like chameleon on the loose: the woody vine Boquila trifoliolata.
Endemic to Chile and Argentina, B. trifoliolata is the first documented example of a plant that exhibits
mimetic polymorphism, which is the ability to mimic multiple different host species. Researchers found that
when this vine was climbing a tree it was able to imitate the host leaves in terms of size, shape, colour,
orientation and even vein conspicuousness.
When the vine was not climbing a host, or was associated with a leafless trunk, the leaves of the vines were
found to be the same. Furthermore, when a single vine was associated with multiple tree species, it was able
to sequentially mimic these different hosts. Mimicry was also observed when the vine was not even in contact
with the host. To find out if this bestowed the vine with benefits in terms of herbivore avoidance, researchers
investigated whether herbivore differed when the plant was associated with different hosts. The main
herbivores that eat these vines are weevils and leaf beetles, both of which rely on vision and smell to forage.
6
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ Issue #
They found that herbivore occurred to a greater extent on vines that were not climbing a tree when compared
with vines that were associated with leafy trees. Vines that were climbing leafless trunks experienced the
highest rates of herbivore. To find out if this bestowed the vine with benefits in terms of herbivore avoidance,
researchers investigated whether herbivore differed when the plant was associated with different hosts. The
main herbivores that eat these vines are weevils and leaf beetles, both of which rely on vision and smell to
forage. They found that herbivore occurred to a greater extent on vines that were not climbing a tree when
compared with vines that were associated with leafy trees. Vines that were climbing leafless trunks
experienced the highest rates of herbivore.
Currently, the researchers do not know how this vine achieves this super-mimetic ability, especially since it
can occur without contact with the host. They postulate that it could be due to the release of volatile organic
compounds by the host species which could trigger changes in the vines, but more research needs to be
carried out to ascertain whether this is the case.
Source: Internet/Web
DID YOU KNOW IT!!!
Mercury has no atmosphere which means there is no wind or weather to speak of.
The mass of Jupiter is 318 greater than the mass of Earth.
70% of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the oceans.
Dolphins sleep by resting one side of the brain at a time.
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
MICROBES AND IT’S IMPACT ON THE
ENVIRONMENT
-By Vinanthi
A. C.
Microbes account for most of the diversity of life on our planet. There are more kinds of microbes than plants,
vertebrates, and insects combined. Microbes have been around for billions of years. They have adapted to nearly
every environment on earth. Microbiologists have only begun to isolate and study microbial life. They estimate
that less than one percent of all microbial species have been identified. Researchers believe the study of microbes
will reveal novel biochemical useful to humans as medicines, biofuels, and more.
Microbes were discovered in the mid 1600s just after the invention of the microscope. They were largely ignored
until the late 1800s, when people began to understood the significance of microbes, researchers began developing
techniques for isolating and growing microbes in the laboratory. They used microscopy to study their physical
forms (rod, sphere, helix), and culture techniques to categorize microbes based on the nutrients they required for
their optimum growth.
Microscopy and culture techniques provide a limited view of the microbial world. Due to their microscopic view
and adaptation it has been difficult to study the microbes. These limitations were overcome by graphical growth
in the Molecular field. DNA sequencing became available in the 1990s and it has revolutionized how we study
microbes. Ribosomal RNA studies have expanded our view of the microbial world and revealed evolutionary
relationships between species rRNA analysis also led to the discovery of a third domain of life, called archaea,
which is now distinguished from bacteria and eukarya.
The diverse environments on Earth today present energy, and carbon and other nutrients in varying forms. They
also vary with respect to temperature, acidity, and the availability of byproducts from other organisms. Microbes
thrive in a vast array of these environments.
Microbes and the Carbon Cycle
The cycling of carbon between carbon dioxide and organic compounds is of considerable ecological importance.
In addition to eukaryotes (such as plants and algae), autotrophic bacteria (such as cyanobacteria) play an
important role in the fixation of carbon dioxide into organic compounds. Consumers, in turn, use organic
compounds and release carbon dioxide.
8
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas and, according to international agreement, its emissions are controlled.
Although it is produced by burning fossil fuel, most enters the atmosphere because of microbial action. How can
the latter be limited? One strategy is to drain rice paddies more often, limiting the action of methane producers.
Another is to add a layer of soil to landfills to encourage methane-oxidizers. Such approaches to reducing this
harmful greenhouse gas are under being studied.
Microbes and the Cycling of Nitrogen
Nitrogen is an important part of proteins and nucleic acids. This vital nutrient is recycled from organic compounds
to ammonia, ammonium ions, nitrite, nitrate, and nitrogen gas by a variety of processes, many of which depend on
microbes. Different organisms prefer nitrogen in different forms. Note that nitrification (the conversion of
ammonium to nitrite and nitrate) in soil is carried out by only two genera of bacteria: Nitrosomonas and
Nitrobacter. Denitrification — the loss of nitrate from soil to form gaseous nitrogen compounds (N2O, NO, and
N2), — is dependent on other kinds of bacteria.
Some prokaryotes are essential to the nitrogen cycle because of their role in nitrogen fixation, the conversion of
nitrogen gas to ammonium ions. These ions can then be used to build amino acids. In aquatic environments,
cyanobacteria are the most significant nitrogen fixers. In soil, some nitrogen-fixing bacteria are free-living, such as
members of the genus Clostridium; others live in symbiotic relationship with leguminous plants (such as peas and
clover). Symbionts, such as Rhizobium, may contribute ten times more nitrogen to soils than free- living bacteria.
As we see, these symbionts develop intimate relationships with their host plants that require complex
communications.
9
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Bioremediation of Soil
Soil is a major reservoir of microorganisms with each gram containing about one billion microbes. Microbes are
used for bioremediation in situ of contaminated soil. Microorganisms that can remove contaminants from the
environment are called bioremediations. Contaminations are most often caused by a mixture of pollutants and the
best strategy for cleanup is to use a cocktail of different species since each one of them will be optimized for the
degradation of a specific toxic compound. The microbe activity is usually monitored on such sites to ensure
optimal conditions for bacterial growth and hence degradation. Decomposition of the toxic substances can be
performed both in the presence (aerobically) and absence (anaerobically) of oxygen. The limiting factor for
bioremediation in soils is the bioavailability of the contaminant agents.
Bioremediation of Water
The treatment of sewage water is a critical process to assure the purification of wastewater that will prevent
chemical and microbiological pollution of the environment, especially for the drinking water supplies. An
important part of this process is the biological step which involves the activity of living organisms to clean the
water from organic matter. This happens in the secondary step of sewage purification. Microorganisms
substantially lessen the concentration of nutrients which if released in the environment can lead to undesirable
overgrowth of microorganisms and algae.
They also have the potential to clean the water from toxic components. The degradation is performed in the
anaerobic, aerobic, and composting steps. Anaerobic digestion by bacteria is allowed to proceed for almost two
weeks to guarantee enough time to complete the process. During this time, the organic matter undergoes four
different enzymatic transformations: hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. The final
products are water, carbon dioxide, and methane. In the aerobic step, oxygen is added into the system and the
organic matter is converted to carbon dioxide. In the composting step, additional carbon sources are added to aid
the final steps of degradation.
Source: Internet/Web
10
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
Implementing the Peoples Biodiversity Registers
programme in Karnataka and evolution of concept
of “Peoples Biodiversity Network”
-By Vinayak Kulkarni
Introduction
Conservation of biodiversity and achieving sustainable exploitation of natural resources has been the prime
motive of all the environmentalists and respective governments are engaged in implementing programmes. In a
country like India, that largely encompasses the villages that are remotely linked to the headquarters from where
the decisions are made. Because of this, it is always a different scenario that ground workers face when they go to
the field. When they are asked to implement the decisions and policy guidelines, it is indeed not a minimum
support they get from the people and representatives of them attributable to various reasons that span from
political to geographic to demographic settings of the locality. In case of functioning of State Biodiversity Boards
(SBBs) it is largely felt while executing the formation of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) and
carrying out Peoples Biodiversity Registers (PBR) work, which is the back bone of our government’s biodiversity
conservation activity. This may look to be a trivial matter but, the experiences gained by the SBBs do indicate a
quite different perspective. Ultimately, if remain unresolved the problems can hamper our ability to function to
the optimum levels and eventually it may lead to Intellectual Property Rights (IP) violations. On the other hand,
some experts have also gone steps ahead to calculate the quantum of financial gains that may be available to the
government in terms of revenues because of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). To get hold of ABS, there is a
need of better performing BMCs and well written PBRs. So, it is very much important to gain a complete
understanding of what are the practical difficulties of constituting BMCs and writing PBRs through the insights
of men at the ground. It is essential to understand at the first place, what the essence of PBRs is and how it is
linked to the IP issues.
Where we stand in terms of preparing PBRs in our country? As per the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
data on their site, we have about 1901 PBRs written. Madhya Pradesh (>741) and Kerala (670) are at the top two
positions followed by Karnataka (>300). These numbers represent just a minute fraction of work that is
completed because the total number of Gram Panchayats (GPs) in India is about 265,000 .
11
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
So, major portion of it is still pending. At this juncture when we have adequate number of sample PBRs
(completed) in hand, it’s the most appropriate time to think of the approaches being used for writing, evolution
and implications of PBRs.
First and foremost, it is essential to identify what are the practical difficulties faced by ground workers while
implementing the PBR work in any GP. All the states of India though does not share any similarities in
general so as to use any one standard protocol, it is pertinent that grossly the scenario remains the same and
broad outlines can be drawn keeping this in mind. In this case, we take an example of experiences by
Karnataka state Biodiversity Board and this would probably give an overview for other states which are still
new to the formation of institutional set up for implementation of PBRs in their respective states as well while
providing insights into the tedious process of PBR writing.
A detailed account of this issue has been given by Venkataraman and Latha of NBA in their paper published
in 2008. The paper discusses greatly about the possible ways to deal with potential IP violations with the help
of BMCS and PBRs prepared under the supervision of BMCs. On the basis of experiences gained by KBB
while participating in the BMC constitution process in the Karnataka state and having completed the PBR
work for >300 GPs, it has been noticed that there are some fundamental issues that needs attention of all the
SBBs of the country in order to obtain PBRs written in a systematic fashion so as to support the needs of the
government while executing ABS across the country. The list presented here is fundamental rather a
comprehensive list with minute details. It is always useful to monitor the process carefully at all the strata of
the PBR execution process so as to obtain the PBRs written in appropriate fashion for any particular GP of the
state. Let us consider one by one, the issues and possible solutions as per our observations in the state of
Karnataka.
1. Communication between PBR workers and Associated Traditional Knowledge (ATK) holders
It has been observed that the BMC members often overlook the need of dedicating their time to create the
PBR successfully written. It’s not because of their reluctance to share and document the ATK but their
inability to achieve optimal communication with PBR workers. Normally, PBR workers are from the same
village or GP and they know each other but still they often fail to establish the adequate communication
levels because they lack the knowledge of dealing with the ATK holders. There is a strong need of
strengthening the communication system at this level and would be most useful in a long run.
12
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
2. Evaluation of ATK holders survey efficiency
PBR workers normally visit the ATK holders locations/places/homes with the help of information obtained
through talking to the local people. It has been observed that, at each village/GP the people with TK related to
medicine are famous and they are approachable. But, the survey does not end with meeting some “very famous
people”, and extends till the PBR team feels that almost every individual with valuable TK to be recorded has been
met. However, the scenario is not same with all PBR teams. Some teams are enthusiastic and others need to be
pushed to get the work done. The lack of any proper method to determine the “ATK holder’s survey efficiency”
for each PBR team hampers the institution in gaining the clarity about the document to variable magnitudes.
3.Developing basic scientific skills amongst PBR workers
PBR workers are the backbone of the work and their skills are tested to greater extent while they actually
document the biodiversity and TK in the field and record onto the completed PBRs. It is not always clear whether
the member of the PBR team is either trained formally or informally to document the biodiversity/TK in a quasiscientific way. In case if they are not trained, it is anticipated that the report presented them would need to be cross
checked for the confirmation of species of organisms they listed or procedures of TK they recorded.
4.Interface between PBR workers and BMCs
Many a times it is not possible to determine the how exactly the BMCs are in communication with PBR workers.
As we noticed, there is a strong need of creating an interface medium or person to facilitate the exchanges between
the BMCs and PBR workers. Monetary transactions related to PBR work, paper work related to official procedures
etc may be handed over to the BMCs through this medium.
5.Need of anthropologists to record demographic details of ATK holders
As per our experience throughout the state, it was not clear whether we were able to generate the ATK of certain
sections such as, those linked with people’s special attributes and capacities. It is not possible to understand these
anthropologic specialities adequately, in our opinion, unless the experts are either involved with the PBR work or
consulted as and when necessary. There is a need of involvement of anthropologists to solve this problem.
6.Expert evaluation of PBRs should be ongoing process rather at the end
At present, the PBRs are being written by PBR workers for final consultation of technically qualified people so as
Expert
of PBRs
should befor
ongoing
process rather at
the end
to 1.make
theevaluation
document
verified
scientifically
incorrect
records/ species names etc. This procedure helps to a
At present, the PBRs are being written by PBR workers for final consultation of technically qualified people so as to make the document verified for
records/
species names etc.
procedure
to a greater extent,
however, preparation
of PBR under supervision
of experts
in the
greaterscientifically
extent, incorrect
however,
preparation
of This
PBR
underhelps
supervision
of experts
in the respective
disciplines
(Botany,
respective disciplines (Botany, Zoology, Microbiology, Fisheries etc.) would be of greater help, because with time-lag between field documentation and
Zoology,
Microbiology,
Fisheries
etc.) would
be may
ofbe left
greater
help,leading
because
with time-lag
preparing
final document may develop
some confusions
that eventually
as uncorrected
to loss of potentially
valuable data.between field
documentation
andworkers
preparing
final document may develop some confusions that eventually may be left as
2. Expertise of PBR
to be verified
Whenever PBR workers involved are students of various disciplines (mentioned above) either in graduate studies or graduates, their taxonomic skills needs to be
uncorrected
leading
to loss of potentially valuable data.
verified by
experts timely.
13
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
7.Expertise of PBR workers to be verified
Whenever PBR workers involved are students of various disciplines (mentioned above) either in graduate
studies or graduates, their taxonomic skills needs to be verified by experts timely.
8.Regional offices should be made functioning to facilitate the work
Owing to fact that Karnataka state has greater geographical span and villages/GPs are far away from the state
capital where Board is located. Many a times it is felt that regional office either separated as north/south or
separated in terms of ecological geography of the state would facilitate carrying out the work related to
BMCs/PBRs and monitoring the ongoing projects of the board.
9.Elaborately defined standard procedures to be determined to execute PBR work.
As of now, it is not defined clearly the standard procedures to be followed to being PBR work, what are the
prerequisites of the people involved, expertise needed for the work and execution chronology. Hence, there is
need of clearly defined standard procedures needed for regulatory functioning of the SBB.
10.Interactions between BMC members and SBBs should be regular and systematic
It has been observed that, the BMC members are either not very much active related to the PBR work and they
do not interact with PBR members and SBB in a systematic manner. Eventually, the PBR work suffers the
setback. Therefore, regular interactive sessions between BMCs and SBBs should be organised and BMCs should
be encouraged to provide their inputs about various other issues related to biodiversity, ABS and sustainability.
Trainings, motivational sessions and socio-environmental programmes may be organised by SBBs in support of
its programmes.
Considering the difficulties in documenting the biodiversity and ATK across the country, it would be
more appropriate to state that the lessons learnt during the process are quite promising and soon we will be in
position to have systematically designed administrative apparatus to execute the task. Linked to this, One may
ask how we may be able to have access to the PBRs as and when necessary. The answer is as simple as that of
creating a database of PBRs at each state level and links it to NBA. Once we have all the PBRs, it would be just
a technical job to create a database of all PBRs connected through a network.
Biodiversity documentation during the PBR is crucial process that could ultimately decide the fate of IP
application filed and may help protecting the rights of ATK holders. Hence, it has to be done with great care and
vision. Lack of vision may hamper us to obtain clarity while dealing with the complicated cases
14
BIODIVERSITY NEWSLETTER/ | Issue #
that may arise eventually. This explains the paradox between the documenting the biodiversity and potential
IPR violations. Intricate connections between the SBBs, BMCs, PBR workers and ATK holders needs to be
established in order to facilitate the process of solving IP related issues and to generate a valuable network that
help solving the biodiversity problems in a long run. At the moment we have approximately 1000 GPs that
already have the BMC set up in place. PBRs are written and the documents are already available with
respective SBBs. It may be stated that this is most appropriate time to conduct a pilot experiment to establish a
“Peoples Biodiversity Network” on a national level and try to bring all of the concerned people and their
valuable knowledge on a single platform. Owing to the difficulties lying in documenting the ATK this is of
paramount important and its more likely that people associate will wel come the move and will be benefited
ultimately.
Conclusions:
Finally, it can be stated that, the issue of biodiversity/ATK documentation and the protecting the state from
potential IP violations has allowed us to think about having the electronically connected “Peoples Biodiversity
Network (PBN)” at the state/ national level. Practically speaking it is not possible to connect to all the TK
holders personally with procedure we have at the moment. But, bringing PBN to the forefront, with the
available set of communication media, we may be able gather the ones who are interested to contribute
`
voluntarily to the available information on the platform.
Editor
BIODIVERSITY
NEWSLETTER
Member secretary,
Karnataka Biodiversity Board,
Bangalore
Ph: 080-23448783
Email:kbb.kar@gmail.com
Web site: kbb.kar.nic.in
15