an abstract on biodiversity act
A CRITIQUE OF THE ‘BIODIVERSITY ACT’
NAME: SUBHALAGNA CHOUDHURY
EDUCATION: DEPARTMENT OF LAW, CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY
CONTACT NUMBER: 9874916277
“BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT,2002” was passed by the Lok Sabha on 2nd December, 2002 and by the Rajya Sabha on 11th December,2002. It primarily focuses on regulating the access to biological resources of the country, the sustainable conservation of biodiversity, to create national, state and local biodiversity fund to conserve. One of its primary aim to include the local communities and local bodies in policy making was to respect and protect their traditional knowledge. The act also declared certain vulnerable areas to be ‘Biological Diversity Heritage Sites’. The process of formulating Biodiversity Act started only after India becoming a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity in 1992. Even then, it took ten years to be notified. However, according to many experts, the loopholes in the act indicate that the real push was an international treaty obligation. On the notification of the Biodiversity Act, there were mixed responses. While many environmentalists were happy that the government had taken the first legal step to protect biodiversity, there was a growing discontent over some of the provisions of the act. The priviledge granted to the Indian companies was in question. Because of the mixed structure of the Indian economy, the powers bestowed upon the private entrepreneurs was a matter of concern for the critics. There was also concerns that the act had sanctioned intellectual property rights on biodiversity by outlining a process for accepting applications, screening them and thereafter approving such claims. There is a strong opinion from experts that the space provided for local representation in the Biodiversity Act has
NAME: SUBHALAGNA CHOUDHURY
EDUCATION: DEPARTMENT OF LAW, CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY
CONTACT NUMBER: 9874916277
“BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT,2002” was passed by the Lok Sabha on 2nd December, 2002 and by the Rajya Sabha on 11th December,2002. It primarily focuses on regulating the access to biological resources of the country, the sustainable conservation of biodiversity, to create national, state and local biodiversity fund to conserve. One of its primary aim to include the local communities and local bodies in policy making was to respect and protect their traditional knowledge. The act also declared certain vulnerable areas to be ‘Biological Diversity Heritage Sites’. The process of formulating Biodiversity Act started only after India becoming a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity in 1992. Even then, it took ten years to be notified. However, according to many experts, the loopholes in the act indicate that the real push was an international treaty obligation. On the notification of the Biodiversity Act, there were mixed responses. While many environmentalists were happy that the government had taken the first legal step to protect biodiversity, there was a growing discontent over some of the provisions of the act. The priviledge granted to the Indian companies was in question. Because of the mixed structure of the Indian economy, the powers bestowed upon the private entrepreneurs was a matter of concern for the critics. There was also concerns that the act had sanctioned intellectual property rights on biodiversity by outlining a process for accepting applications, screening them and thereafter approving such claims. There is a strong opinion from experts that the space provided for local representation in the Biodiversity Act has