Operationalising Biodiversity Management Committees: Trainings for BMC Secretaries across Tamil Nadu

08 Apr, 2019

The Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board completed the constitution of block-level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) across 385 blocks in the state in May 2018. This was as per Section 41(1) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. A BMC usually comprises of 7 members and a non-member secretary who is responsible for the functioning of these committees. In Tamil Nadu, Forest Range Officers (FRO) with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department were notified as the secretaries of these BMCs as per the requisite block jurisdiction. Their role includes co-ordinating and convening the meetings of the BMC, maintenance of the records of proceedings and other functional aspects (Tamil Nadu Biological Diversity Rules, 2017).

Recognising the pivotal role of BMC secretaries in the functioning and operationalisation of its mandates a series of trainings across 385 block-level BMCs in Tamil Nadu were organised and conducted by the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board (TNBB) and the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Partnership Project.

The trainings aimed at providing information on legal, administrative and financial aspects related to ABS, and other practical aspects under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. It also included practical sessions on hypothetical case studies and documentation of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs).

The first series of these trainings were conducted at Salem and Madurai in December 2018. Following this, a second series of trainings began in February 2019 to train secretaries of BMCs from all other districts of Tamil Nadu.

The workshops were attended by over 180 participants across Tamil Nadu. Feedback from the participants indicated that the workshops were well received. The results depicted on the graph are a collation of assessment and feedback forms that the participants had to fill before and after the workshops. They depict the positive impact that the series of training workshops had on the knowledge levels of the BMC secretaries.

Details of the workshops:

• 21 February 2019, Coimbatore: With participation of BMC secretaries from Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts
• 22 February 2019, Vellore: With participation of BMC secretaries from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts
• 26 February 2019, Trichy: With participation of BMC secretaries from Karur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Trichy districts
• 27 February 2019, Cuddalore: With participation of BMC secretaries from Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Perambalur and Villupuram districts
• 5 March 2019, Tuticorin: With participation from Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts
• 8 April 2019, Chennai: With participation from Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts.

Workshop participants included Mr. A. Udhayan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board, Mr. A. S. Marimuthu, IFS, Wildlife Warden Pollachi, Annamalai Tiger Reserve and Mr. D. Venkatesh, IFS, District Forest Officer (DFO) Coimbatore at Coimbatore; Mr. K. K. Kaushal, IFS, APCCF Northern Region Vellore and Mr. V. A. Saravanan, ACF Vellore at Vellore; Mr. K. V. Giridhar, IFS, Managing Director TAFCORN, Mr. T. V. Manjunatha, IFS, CCF Trichy, Mr. Anandkumar M., DFO Pudukkottai, Mrs. D. Sujatha, IFS, DFO Trichy and Mr. G. Naga Sathish, IFS, DFO Nagapattinam at Trichy; Mr. Rakesh Kumar Jagenia, IFS, Conservator of Forests, Villupuram circle, Mr. Abhishek Tomar, IFS, DFO Villupuram and Mr. E. Rajendran, IFS, DFO Cuddalore at Cuddalore. The workshop at Chennai was attended by Dr. Durairasu, IFS, PCCF & Chairman, Arasu Rubber Corporation and Mr. Yogesh Dwivedi, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board.