The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
Obensao Kikon (63) belongs to Wokha district in Nagaland. An :rdent jungle burner' at one time, his stint as the chairperson of the Market Federation of Nagaland changed his outlook. Thereafter, there has been no looking back. His 615-ha land in Wokha is full of teak and bamboo trees. He …
It is an oft-repeated story of dense forests being reduced to shrubs and coppice. In the case of Melaghar village in Sonmara subdivision, the 1971 Bangladesh war responsible for the wanton felling of the then abundant sal, teak and bamboo forests. A large number of refugees from across the border …
despite the government's claims of the country being a centre of megadiversity with immense traditional knowledge of its use, little has been done to nurture both. Yet another board has been set up, and major issues concerning biodiversity
"In my mountaineering wandering I have not seen a more beautiful valley than this... this valley of peace and perfect beauty where the human spirit may find repose," said Frank Smythe, who came across this valley of dreams during one of his mountaineering trips in 1931. Unfortunately, the Valley of …
While wildlife scientists believe forest officials have very little technical knowledge, the latter feels that scientists are "conducting research for their objectives of impressing funding sources" rather than on need-based criteria. It's a virtual war of words between the two groups. The obvious result: gross mismanagement of protected areas and …
On the beginning of conservation in India The idea of conservation was more of protection of wildlife. Protection is different from conservation, which includes management. Till the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were no real wildlife laws pertaining to the entire country. In 1971, the then prime minister Indira …
"this is more easily said than done," says Daniels of mssrf . Whether it is the Korkus in the Melghat Tiger Reserve, the Maldharis in Gir National Park or the Van Gujjars in the proposed Rajaji National Park, most of these communities are under tremendous pressure to give up their …
The Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan is known as much for controversies as for the famous Siberian Crane, which migrates to the park every winter. Succumbing to pressures from environmentalists and scientists of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), including the well-known ornithologist Salim Ali, the region was …
Clearly, human pressure over the centuries have influenced the way in which several present-day ecosystems have shaped up. Suddenly lifting this pressure can alter the dynamics of these ecosystems, which may actually go against the objectives of conservation. Therefore, to manage a np , it is very important to first …
While there are several reports every year of marauding elephants trampling numerous people to death and destroying crops, there are cases when science has come to the rescue. Wildlife scientist Sushant Choudhary and his team at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, found that 40 per cent of the human-elephant …
It is not the kind of death that makes a front-page story in a newspaper. Actually, it does not make news at all in most of India. Bhawani Ram is another name in the list of people who have been killed by wild animals. Had it been the killing of …
For British historians and administrators, Indian villages were self-sustaining units and they termed these units as village republics. Later, this terminology was done away with by historians and sociologists. Although utopian, villages situated along the Arvari river in Alwar district, Rajasthan, have retained the basic essence of a "self-sustaining republic,'
an ardent follower of Gandhian principles, Narayan Hazary's work reflects the magnanimity and vision of his mentor. Born in Kesharpur, a small village situated in the foothills of Binhagiri in Nayagarh district, Orissa, Hazary, 63, has been working since his late teens to restore prosperity in his village. Today, thanks …
traditional knowledge refers to the unique local knowledge existing within and developed around the specific conditions of people indigenous to a particular geographic area. All members of a community have traditional knowledge about the ecology: elders, women, men and children. However, the quantity and quality of traditional knowledge possessed by …
despite demands by 11 indigenous peoples' organisations to suspend the us $2.5 million us government-funded bioprospecting programme, the University of Georgia has refused to wind up its activities in Chiapas, Mexico. The objective of the five-year project is to study thousands of plants and microorganisms used for medicinal purposes by …
The Union government has introduced a clause in the amended Patents Bill that gives oral traditions the status of documented knowledge. The Bill does not allow any foreign company to seek a patent on India's traditional practices in the area of medicine or any knowledge-based activity. This move has been …
of the nearly 39,000 tanks that recharge the groundwater in Tamil Nadu, more than 20,000 of them are small minor irrigation tanks. The level of water in these tanks is dependent on the vagaries of the weather. Most of the farmers of the area are entirely dependent on this system …
consider this. A small sleepy town on the top of a hill in the north of Nagaland. The mention of the town's name is met by blank looks for it is isolated not only geographically, but also from civilisation. None of the modern means of communication exists and, to top …
PATENT rights from local communities, the Karnataka government has reportedly restrained some scientists from documenting biodiversity and indigenous assets of the people. The government is of the view that if the locals became aware of the commercial value of their produce they would go for patents and hence the restraint. …
