Morung Express News
Kohima | October 6
Seven years after the National Biological Diversity Act 2002 was enacted, Nagaland set certain conditions which needs to be recognized if the Act has to be put to practice in the State. The concept paper of the two-days ‘state level stakeholders consultative workshop on National Biological Diversity Act 2002’, slated for October 8-9 at ATI Hall, was distributed to the press today at the joint press conference of the NEPED team leader and Commissioner and Secretary, Power, Temjen Toy and Forest department Secretary, Abie-u Kire and other officials of the departments.
It was demanded that, as the communities had never asked for such legislation, nor they were consulted while formulating its rules and the bodies being set up, control of over all aspects of biodiversity and related knowledge must be with the local communities, with government departments helping them to tackle the threats that they face from destructive development and commercial forces; prevent reduction of traditional knowledge into tradable commodity which can be privatized; only voluntary documentation of resources and traditional know-how, and needs for legal protections of its misuse by outsiders; recognition of existing social formations and customary laws by institutions such as NBA, SBBs etc. and empowering villages to decide on whether or not to set up new Biodiversity Management Committees and local people’s access to biodiversity and its benefits.
The Biodiversity Act was aimed at conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources. However, Nagaland’s contention was that whether the said Act would help conserve the biodiversity, and help to enhance peoples’ livelihood and cultures based on biological resources or would it benefit the corporation and urban consumers and government departments as they set up the system for ‘bio-trade’, the concept paper said. However, the State is not opposed to the Act, but these conditions were set to make the Act contextually relevant to Nagaland.
Nagaland’s key concerns are that the Act’s provision has very limited role for local communities, and is limited mainly to prepare biodiversity registers; no provisions for protecting traditional knowledge, inadequate definition of local body. Further, it creates grounds for rejection of IPRs, does not include violation of traditional knowledge or community rights; consultation with communities are not defined and National authority has no representatives of the communities.
The concept paper states that the issues before Nagaland is maintaining transparency in evaluation of proposals for access in terms of conservation, sustainable use and communities consent, legal protection of bio-resources and associated traditional knowledge, regulating research by any party and applications only from Indian nationals for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization by Indians, the concept paper also said.
The two days consultations is likely to be brainstorming as the NEPED and Wild life departments has invited all the stakeholders which include NGOs, communities leaders and villagers to partake in the discussion. Minister for Planning and Coordination, Dr Shuhrozelie, will grace the inaugural function, while the valedictory function will be graced by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. Several experts in biodiversity, from the State and other parts of the country, will be the resources persons in the two days workshop.
The consultation is expected to give new direction as to how to take the Act forward, said Temjen Toy, while stating that the consultation will also arrive at decision so as to address the areas of concern.
Several issues like the controlling spread of agriculture into forests through VDBs and VCs, developing community based, ecologically sensitive tourism (eco-tourism), setting up of State Biodiversity Board, State Biodiversity Advisor and state Biodiversity Research Institute, besides involving socio-political and religious organizations in regulating uses of biological resources, and in stopping hunting etc will dominate the two days workshop.
