Chennai to be the brain of National Biodiversity Authority

Chennai;

The National Biodiversity Authority and the Division of Nature Management, Norway has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the first ever Center for Biodiversity Policy and Law (CEBPOL) in Chennai.

Addressing reporters after signing the memorandum here on Tuesday, National Biodiversity Authority chairman Dr Balakrishna Pisupati and head of Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management Gunn Paulsen said that the center will provide professional support, advice and expertise to the Governments of India and Norway on a sustained basis on matters relating to biodiversity policies and laws at the national level, as well as in international negotiations relating to biodiversity in multilateral forums.

Pisupati said the center will soon become a hub of activity on matters relating to policies and law relating to biodiversity. It will act like a think-tank on issues concerning biodiversity. Besides focusing on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) protocol, both the countries will also be sharing expertise on framing the Revised National Biodiversity Action Plan which is likely to be completed by mid next year. The center will function with a initial budget of rs 17.5 crore for the next three years.

Interestingly, the focus of the center will be more on regulating invasive species, which is one of the 10 themes that would be the prime focus of the center. Pisupati said that invasive species damage the lands and water that native plants and animals need to survive. They hurt economies and threaten human well-being. The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more than $3 trillion.

Dr C Thomson Jacob, consultant of the Access and Benefit Sharing project and C Achalender Reddy, secretary of National Biodiversity Authority said that currently India is only focusing on quaratine measures when the alien species are imported to India. “We don’t know whether these species are required at all in India as we don’t have any mechanisms,” said Reddy.

He said that Norway has evolved a regulatory mechanism and India could borrow the best practices. He also said that the center would work towards bringing out a uniform policy for various departments in center and state so that a regulatory policy is evolved.

The 10 themes that will be the focus area of the center include Access benefit sharing, invasive alien species, national biodiversity strategy and action plan, synergy of biodiversity related convention, nature index, biosafety, amendment to biological diversity act, mainstreaming of biodiversity, Conference of Parties and Beyond and The Economies of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB).