The National Campaign for Updation and Verification of People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) was launched in Goa on May 23.
- It marks a significant step towards the documentation and preservation of India’s rich biological diversity.
- So far 2,67,608 People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) have been prepared in the country, by Biodiversity Management Committees entrusted with the crucial task of documenting natural resources and traditional knowledge associated with them.
- 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.
- As per the Biological Diversity Act 2002, Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) are created for “promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity” by local bodies across the country.
- BMCs have been constituted by the local bodies in the States and Union Territories and are entrusted with preparation of the People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), in consultation with local communities.
