UPSC Prelims 2023 Q79: Biodiversity Management Committees — Explained

Consider the following statements:

1. In India, the Biodiversity Management Committees are key to the realization of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol.

2. The Biodiversity Management Committees have important functions in determining access and benefit sharing, including the power to levy collection fees on the access of biological resources within its jurisdiction.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2

Statement-wise explanation

1: correct — India meets its duties under the Nagoya Protocol through the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The Act sets up three tiers: the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and, at the local level, Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs). The Protocol requires the prior informed consent of local communities and a fair share of benefits for them, and the BMC is the body that represents those communities. Under Section 41(2), the NBA and SBBs must consult BMCs before they decide on the use of biological resources from a BMC's area. BMCs also record local resources and traditional knowledge in People's Biodiversity Registers. That makes them central to delivering the Protocol's goals on the ground.
2: correct — Under Section 41(3) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, a BMC may levy charges by way of collection fees on anyone who accesses or collects a biological resource for commercial purposes in its area. These fees go into the Local Biodiversity Fund. BMCs are also consulted when the NBA and SBBs decide access and benefit-sharing terms. Benefit-sharing money the NBA collects is passed through the SBBs down to the BMCs.
I: correct — Not applicable.

How to eliminate

No elimination trick works well here. Neither statement uses an absolute word like 'only', 'always' or 'all'. Statement 1 says BMCs are 'key to' the Nagoya Protocol's objectives, which is soft wording and hard to call false. If you know the Protocol is about access and benefit sharing (ABS) with local communities, and that BMCs are India's local-community body under the Biological Diversity Act, Statement 1 looks safe. Statement 2 needs one specific fact: Section 41(3) of the Biological Diversity Act lets BMCs levy collection fees on commercial access to biological resources in their area. Remember that provision. A useful rule of thumb: a statement that gives a local body a specific power such as levying fees is often a close paraphrase of the law, not an invention.

Know more

Biodiversity Management Committees and the ABS chain

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has three goals: conservation, sustainable use, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. The Nagoya Protocol (adopted 29 October 2010, in force 12 October 2014) turns the third goal into binding rules. Users need prior informed consent (PIC) and mutually agreed terms (MAT), including the consent of indigenous and local communities when their traditional knowledge is used. India ratified the Protocol in October 2012 and implements it through the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Tier	Level	Main ABS role
National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Chennai	Centre	Approves access by foreign entities, for IPRs and for transfer of results; sets benefit-sharing terms; issues compliance certificates (IRCCs)
State Biodiversity Board (SBB)	State	Regulates commercial use by Indian entities; passes benefit-sharing money down to local level
Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC)	Panchayat / municipality	Prepares the People's Biodiversity Register (PBR); is consulted on access decisions; levies collection fees (Section 41(3)); receives benefit-sharing funds

Key points

Every local body must set up a BMC under Section 41(1).
The People's Biodiversity Register records local species, landraces and traditional knowledge. It is the evidence base for benefit sharing.
Collection fees and benefit-sharing funds go into the Local Biodiversity Fund.
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 eased rules for AYUSH practitioners and cultivated medicinal plants. It kept the three-tier structure and the BMC's local role.

The benefits travel from user → NBA/SBB → BMC → community. That chain is how India puts the Nagoya Protocol into practice.

In the news

In 2022 and early 2023, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was before a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Bill reworked access and benefit-sharing rules and the roles of NBA, SBBs and BMCs, which kept the three-tier structure in the news before the 2023 Prelims.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

Biodiversity Management Committees: Both statements are about what BMCs do, so you need to know their structure and legal powers.
Nagoya Protocol: Statement 1 links BMCs to this protocol, so you need to know its aims and who it protects.
Access and benefit sharing: Statement 2 is about the ABS mechanism and where fees and benefit-sharing sit within it.
Biological Diversity Act 2002: This is the Indian law that sets up BMCs and defines their powers, including any fee provisions.
Convention on Biological Diversity: The Nagoya Protocol sits under this convention, whose third goal is fair benefit sharing.