The concept of "Biodiversity & Conservation" in India is primarily governed by the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which is a comprehensive legal framework and concept. The Act was created to implement India's obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which India signed in 1992. The problem it solved was the need to assert India's sovereign rights over its biological resources, prevent biopiracy, and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use.
The Act works through a three-tier decentralized mechanism: the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the national level, the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level, and the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level. The NBA, established in 2003 and headquartered in Chennai, regulates access to biological resources and associated knowledge, especially for foreign entities, and advises the Central Government on conservation. A key provision is Section 21, which mandates equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological resources with the local communities that conserve them. BMCs, constituted by every local body under Section 41, are responsible for documenting local biodiversity and traditional knowledge in People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs).
This framework connects to the international Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and other domestic laws like the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which protects wild animals and establishes protected areas. The Act has recently changed with the enactment of the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023, which received Presidential assent on August 3, 2023. The amendment aims to facilitate the ease of doing business, particularly for the AYUSH sector, and has replaced criminal penalties with civil penalties for certain offenses. It also introduced a new Section 6(1A), requiring Indian entities to register with the NBA for intellectual property rights related to Indian biological resources, instead of seeking prior approval, while the core objectives of conservation and benefit-sharing remain the same.