Relevance: GS III (Environment & Ecology) | Source: The Hindu 

1. What is the News?

• India has successfully established over 2.76 lakh Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) across its villages and cities.
• This major milestone was highlighted in India’s official progress report on the Nagoya Protocol.

2. The Laws: Global & Indian

To understand this topic, you just need to know the basic legal framework that protects nature:

1. The Global Treaties: Under the main Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), there are two key sub-agreements:

• Nagoya Protocol (Benefit Sharing): If a company uses a local plant to make a profitable drug, they must share part of the profits with that local community.
• Cartagena Protocol (Biosafety): Deals strictly with the safe handling of Genetically Modified Organisms (like Bt Cotton) so they don’t harm nature.

2002. The Indian Law (The Missing Link): To implement these global rules at home, India passed the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002.

This Act legally mandates the creation of a 3-tier system:

1. Centre: National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).
2. State: State Biodiversity Boards (SBB).
3. Local: Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) formed at every Panchayat and Municipality.

3. What do the BMCs do?

• The PBR: Their main job as local “environment guards” is to create a People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR). This is a local record book of every plant, animal, and traditional remedy found in that village.
• Stopping Biopiracy: By documenting everything in the PBR, India has solid legal proof of its traditional knowledge. This stops foreign companies from secretly stealing and patenting our ancient knowledge (like they once tried to do with Neem and Haldi).

The “UPSC Trap”

• The “Law” Trap: A common trick statement is, “BMCs are statutory bodies created under the Environment Protection Act of 1986.” This is incorrect. As highlighted above, they are legally born out of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

UPSC Value Box

With reference to the conservation of biodiversity globally and in India, consider the following statements:

1. The Cartagena Protocol primarily deals with the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources.
2. In India, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) directly prepares the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) for all local bodies.
3. The Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are statutory bodies created under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: (b)