Orientation workshop for trainers and Range Forest Officers for Operationalising Biodiversity Management Committees in Tamil Nadu

27 Jun, 2019

The ABS Partnership Project conducted an orientation workshop in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board (TNBB) and State Institute for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (SIRD). The workshop was organised for trainers empanelled by the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), SIRD and Forest Range Officers from 31 districts who were selected for the Training of Trainers (ToT) programme on operationalisation of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC). TNBB has facilitated the constitution of BMCs in 385 blocks in Tamil Nadu, as per Section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

The ToT programme will train a pool of experts on various aspects of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and BMC functioning. These trainers will then train BMCs and support in documenting the People’s Biodiversity Registers, which is an important function of the BMC as mandated under the Act (apart from advising on any biodiversity related matters referred to it by the State Biodiversity Boards or National Biodiversity Authority).

In order to design the curriculum for the ToT, a detailed training-needs analysis was carried out during the orientation workshop to assess participant’s knowledge of biodiversity, biodiversity-based products and perception of various biodiversity issues. Participants were also provided with an overview of the 5-day ToT, their roles and preparatory work needed before the training.

The ABS Project in partnership with SIRD in Tamil Nadu will be conducting 5-day ToT programmes. Forty-nine trainers empanelled by SIRD, NIRD and 31 FROs attended the orientation workshop and will undergo the ToT programme in the coming months.

The ToT programme, organised on 27th June 2019, was inaugurated by Ms Meenakshi Rajagopal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary & Director-General (Training), Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Tamil Nadu. She highlighted the importance of conservation of biodiversity and encouraged the participants to include the theme of biodiversity and its significance in the training programmes. Various initiatives strengthening BMCs by the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board were also discussed by Mr Yogesh Dwivedi, IFS, APCCF and Secretary, Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board.