Gupteswar Forest, adjacent to Gupteswar Shiva temple in Odisha’s Koraput district has been declared as the fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) of the state.
The site is spread over 350 hectares of demarcated area.
Along with its sacred grooves traditionally worshipped by the local community, the site is bestowed with a wide range of flora and fauna.
With this declaration, the state now has four Biodiversity Heritage Sites.
The other three are Mandasaru in Kandhamal district, Mahendragiri in Gajapati district, and Gandhamardan Hill in Bargarh and Balangir districts.
The state government has asked the Odisha Biodiversity Board to prepare a long-term plan for intensive conservation and development of these sites through direct participation of the local communities.
As per Section 37(1) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 the state governments may, from time to time in consultation with the local bodies, notify in the Official Gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites.
Biological Diversity Act, 2002
• The 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro led to the preparation of the international legal instrument, the ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ during the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for the conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable sharing of benefits of biological diversity.
• Consequently, the Indian Parliament passed the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which came into force in 2003. India also notified the Biological Diversity Rules in 2004.
• The Act provides a legal framework for conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and generation and dissemination of knowledge.
• A three-tier institutional structure was formed for implementation of the BD Act 2002, whereby the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established in 2003 under Section 8 of the Act.
• The NBA is a statutory body that performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the government. The NBA, with its headquarters in Chennai, implements the BD Act at the national level as the first tier.
• The second and the third tier constitute the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) operating at the local level.
Biodiversity Heritage Sites
Biodiversity Heritage Site is a unique conservation approach recognised under the Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Biodiversity Heritage Sites are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems. They are spread over terrestrial, coastal, inland and marine waters having rich biodiversity as well as:
i) Domesticated species
ii) High endemism
iii) Rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domesticated/cultivated species
iv) Fossil beds
v) Cultural, ethical or aesthetic values for maintaining cultural diversity, with or without long human association with them.
As many as 45 Biodiversity Heritage Sites have been notified by 16 states.
They are:
1) Majuli River Island - Assam
2) Borjuli Wild Rice Site - Assam
3) Hajong Tortoise Lake - Assam
4) Purvatali Rai - Goa
5) Sacred Grove at Sural Bhatori Monastery - Himachal Pradesh
6) High Altitude Meadow, Hudan Bhatori - Himachal Pradesh
7) Birch-Pine Forest Patch, Nain Gahar - Himachal Pradesh
8) Nallur Tamarind Grove, Bengaluru - Karnataka
9) Hogrekan, Chikkamagaluru - Karnataka
10) University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru - Karnataka
11) Ambaraguda, Shimoga - Karnataka
12) Asramam, Kollam - Kerala
13) Naro Hills, Satna - Madhya Pradesh
14) Patalkot, Chhindwara - Madhya Pradesh
15) Amarkantak - Madhya Pradesh
16) Glory of Allapallii, Gadchiroli - Maharashtra
17) Bambarde Myristica Swamps, Dodamarg - Maharashtra
18) Ganeshkhind Garden, Pune - Maharashtra
19) Landorkhori, Jalgaon - Maharashtra
20) Schistura Hiranyakeshi, Sindhudurg - Maharashtra
21) Dialong Village, Tamenglong - Manipur
22) Khlaw Kur Syiem Kmielng, Ri-Bhoi - Meghalaya
23) Mandasaru, Kandhamal - Odisha
24) Mahendragiri Hill, Gajapati - Odisha
25) Gandhamardan Hill, Bolangir and Bargarh - Odisha
26) Gupteswar Forest, Koraput - Odisha
27) Tungkyong Dho - Sikkim
28) Arittapatti, Madurai - Tamil Nadu
29) Ameenpur Lake, Sangareddy - Telangana
30) Gharial Rehabilitation Centre, Lucknow - Uttar Pradesh
31) Baramura Waterfall, Khowai - Tripura
32) Silachari Caves, Gomati - Tripura
33) Chabimura (Debbari), Gomati - Tripura
34) Betlingshib & its surroundings - Tripura
35) Unakoti - Tripura
36) Tonglu, Darjeeling - West Bengal
37) Dhotrey, Darjeeling - West Bengal
38) Chilkigarh Kanak Durga, Jhargram - West Bengal
39) State Horticulture Research and Development Station, Nadia - West Bengal
40) Char Balidanga, Nadia - West Bengal
41) Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park, Birbhum - West Bengal
42) Baneswar Shiva Dighi, Coochbehar - West Bengal
43) Namthing Pokhari, Darjeeling - West Bengal
44) Birampur-Baguran Jalpai, Purba Medinipur - West Bengal
45) Haldir Char Island, Purba Medinipur - West Bengal.
