Biodiversity Protection in India

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Biodiversity Protection in India
2. Key Legislation
3. Institutional Structure
4. Access and Benefit-Sharing
5. Case Studies and Illustrations
6. Practical Applications
7. Conclusion

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Introduction to Biodiversity Protection in India

India is one of the world's seventeen "mega-diverse" countries, hosting a large share of the planet's plant, animal and microbial species along with a vast body of traditional knowledge about their use. Protecting this diversity, and ensuring that benefits from its use are shared fairly, has become a central concern of Indian environmental law.

The modern framework grew directly out of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio Earth Summit) in 1992. The CBD rests on three objectives:

• Conservation of biological diversity;
• Sustainable use of its components; and
• Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources.

As a party to the CBD, India enacted the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 to give effect to these objectives in domestic law.

Key Legislation

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (the "BD Act") is the cornerstone of biodiversity governance in India. It regulates access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, and establishes a three-tier institutional structure to oversee conservation and benefit-sharing.

What counts as a "biological resource"?

Under the definitions in Section 2 of the Act, a biological resource is understood as living organisms and their parts — plants, animals and micro-organisms, together with their genetic material and by-products — that have actual or potential value. Notably, the definition covers living material and its components; value-added products (finished goods derived from biological resources) and human genetic material are treated separately and fall outside the core definition.

The Act also defines related terms such as biological diversity, sustainable use, and benefit claimers (the individuals or communities who conserve resources or hold associated knowledge).

Exam tip: A common trap is to describe a biological resource as "non-living material." This is incorrect — the Act is concerned with living organisms, their parts, genetic material and by-products. Value-added products and human genetic material are expressly excluded.

The Biological Diversity Rules, 2004

The Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 supplement the Act by setting out the procedures for its implementation — including how applications for access to biological resources are made, how benefit-sharing is determined, and how the National, State and local bodies function. Later amendments have refined these procedures, but the Rules remain the principal subordinate legislation under the Act.

Institutional Structure

A defining feature of the BD Act is its three-tier structure, distributing responsibility across national, state and local levels:

Tier	Body	Level	Broad role
National	National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)	Central	Regulates access by foreign/non-resident entities; advises the Central Government; oversees benefit-sharing
State	State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs)	State	Regulate access and use by Indian entities; advise State Governments
Local	Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs)	Local self-government (Panchayat/Municipality)	Promote conservation and sustainable use; prepare People's Biodiversity Registers

• The National Biodiversity Authority is a statutory body established by the Central Government under the Act (created under the provisions dealing with the NBA, in Section 8). It is headquartered in Chennai and functions as the apex regulator for access by foreign nationals, non-resident Indians, and bodies corporate not incorporated or registered in India.
• State Biodiversity Boards are constituted by State Governments and regulate access and commercial use of biological resources by Indian citizens and entities within the state.
• Biodiversity Management Committees operate at the level of local bodies and are responsible, among other things, for documenting local biodiversity through People's Biodiversity Registers.

Access and Benefit-Sharing

A central mechanism of the Act is Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS), which operationalises the CBD's third objective.

• Foreign persons and entities must obtain the prior approval of the NBA before obtaining any biological resource occurring in India, or associated knowledge, for research or commercial use.
• Indian citizens and entities are generally required to give prior intimation to the relevant State Biodiversity Board before obtaining biological resources for commercial use; local people and communities using resources for their own domestic needs are exempt.
• When access is granted, the NBA (or SBB) may impose benefit-sharing conditions so that a fair and equitable share of benefits flows back to the country, the state, and the benefit claimers — often the local communities and knowledge-holders who conserved the resource.

Benefit-sharing may take several forms, including monetary compensation, joint ownership of intellectual property, transfer of technology, and support for local conservation efforts. The Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 set out how these arrangements are determined.

Case Studies and Illustrations

Niyamgiri Hills (Orissa Mining Corporation v. Ministry of Environment & Forests, 2013)

The Niyamgiri Hills matter is a landmark on the intersection of environmental protection, indigenous rights and community consent.

Key points:

• The dispute concerned a proposed bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha, a region sacred to the Dongria Kondh, a protected tribal community.
• The Supreme Court held that the decision must respect the rights of forest-dwelling communities and directed that the affected Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) decide whether the project would affect their religious and cultural rights.
• The Gram Sabhas subsequently rejected the mining proposal.

Significance for biodiversity protection: the case reinforced the principle of free, prior and informed consent of local communities for projects affecting their environment and resources, and highlighted the legal weight given to community decision-making and traditional relationships with the land. (The judgment rests principally on the Forest Rights Act and constitutional protections; it is discussed here for its wider bearing on community rights over biodiversity.)

Practical Applications

Community-led Conservation Initiatives

Many effective biodiversity conservation efforts in India are led by local communities. These initiatives often involve:

• Establishing community-managed and community-conserved areas;
• Promoting sustainable livelihoods through eco-tourism and non-timber forest produce;
• Documenting and preserving traditional knowledge, including through People's Biodiversity Registers maintained by Biodiversity Management Committees.

Benefit-Sharing in Practice

The ABS framework aims to ensure that when biological resources or associated traditional knowledge are used commercially — for example, in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics or agriculture — a fair share of the resulting benefits returns to the communities and regions that conserved them. This links conservation with tangible local incentives, making protection economically as well as ecologically meaningful.

Conclusion

Biodiversity protection in India is a multifaceted field combining statutory regulation, a three-tier institutional structure, community participation and international commitments. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and its Rules provide the legal backbone, translating the Rio Convention's objectives of conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit-sharing into enforceable domestic mechanisms.

For students and practitioners, the essential themes to master are: the correct scope of a "biological resource" (living material, its parts and derivatives), the roles of the NBA, State Biodiversity Boards and Biodiversity Management Committees, and the operation of access and benefit-sharing. Staying current with amendments to the Act and Rules, and with evolving case law, is critical to applying this framework accurately.

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Additional Resources

• National Biodiversity Authority
• Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) — official CBD text and India's national reports
• Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 (as amended)