People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR)

Recently, Thazhakara grama panchayat in Alappuzha (Kerala) released the second volume of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR).

As per Biological Diversity Act, 2002, one of the main functions of the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) is to prepare People’s Biodiversity Register in consultation with local communities.

The People’s Biodiversity Register serves as a comprehensive record of various aspects of biodiversity, including the conservation of habitats, preservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals, micro-organisms, and the accumulation of knowledge related to the area’s biological diversity.

A Farmer-bred crop varieties are better termed ‘folk varieties’.