Inception workshop and launch of Access and Benefit Sharing Partnership Project in Tamil Nadu

27 Feb, 2018

The Access and Benefit Sharing Partnership Project was officially launched in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 27 February 2018. The workshop was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister for Forests, and Chairperson of Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board, Thiru. Dindigul C. Sreenivasan. The Hon’ble Minister extended support and co-operation from the government and congratulated the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board (TNBB) and GIZ for this initiative to strengthen the implementation of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the ABS provisions in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The Hon’ble Minister for Forests released a book titled Compendium of Biological Diversity Act 2002, Biological Diversity Rules, 2004, Tamil Nadu Biological Diversity Rules 2017 and other notifications. The book is a compilation of the Biodiversity Act and related notifications including recent Gazette notifications on Tamil Nadu Biological Diversity Rules, 2017

A case study on the implementation of Biological Diversity in Uttar Pradesh was presented by Thiru. Pawan Kumar, Member Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Biodiversity Board. He talked specifically about lessons learnt from awareness and capacity development initiatives undertaken by the Board.

Dr. Geetha Nayak, Team Leader, ABS Project in Tamil Nadu informed the participants about key components of the project that are designed to support the TNBB in implementing the ABS.

The event was attended by officers from various government departments such as forests, industries and commerce, agriculture, horticulture. Representatives from environmental organisations involved in biodiversity conservation as well as Institutional representatives from School of Excellence in Law – Tamil Nadu, Bay of Bengal Programme and Indo-German Centre for Sustainability at Indian Institute of Technology –Madras were also present.