National Biodiversity Authority

• The central government designated two institutions as repositories for different categories of biological resources.

• The two institutions are Referral Centre Bhavasagara at Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, and MACS Collection of Microorganisms and National Fungal Culture Collection at Agharkar Research Institute, Pune.

• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), in consultation with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, enabled the notification of the two institutions as designated repositories under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

National network of repositories

• So far, 18 institutions have been designated as national repositories under Section 39 of the Act. 

• With the addition of these two institutions, the national network of repositories has increased to 20, enhancing the conservation and systematic documentation of biological resources.

• These repositories will support the safe custody of biological materials, including voucher specimens, and strengthen the documentation of newly discovered species, as well as biological resources used for research and commercial purposes. 

• The repositories are entrusted with maintaining biological materials in safe custody, and any person discovering a new taxon is required to notify the designated repository and deposit the corresponding voucher specimens. 

• To facilitate this process, the NBA has issued guidelines outlining the criteria for institutions seeking designation as repositories. 

• Proposals received from institutions are considered by the NBA and recommended to the ministry for notification.

National Biodiversity Authority

• The National Biodiversity Authority is a body established in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, at Chennai with effect from October 1, 2003 under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. 

• The Biological Diversity Act is being implemented through a three-tiered institutional structure — NBA at national level, State Biodiversity Boards at state level and Biodiversity Management Committees at local level.

• The NBA is an autonomous, statutory and regulatory organisation.

• It performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

• The NBA with its headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, delivers its mandate through a structure that comprises the Authority, Secretariat, SBBs, BMCs and expert committees.

• Since its establishment, NBA has supported the creation of SBBs in 29 states/UTs and facilitated the establishment of BMCs at the local level.

The main objectives of NBA are:

i) To regulate access to biological resources of the country to conserve and sustainable use of biological diversity.

ii) To secure sharing of benefits with the local people as conservers of biological resources and holders of knowledge and information relating to the use of biological resources.

iii) Conservation and development of areas of importance from the view point of biological diversity by declaring them as biological diversity heritage sites.

iv) Protection and rehabilitation of threatened species. 

v) Involving with institutions of state government in the broad scheme of implementation of the BD Act through constitution of committees.