Indo-German Access and Benefit Sharing Partnership Project

16 Nov, 2016

The ABS Partnership Project aims at strengthening the capacities of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs), as well as commercial user groups of biological resources for the effective implementation of ABS mechanisms in India.

Highlights of the events held under the project are as follows:

Operational Planning Workshop held on 16-18th November 2016

An Operation Planning workshop was held from 16-18th November 2016 at National Biodiversity Authority to chalk out activities under the project. Dr. Meenakumari, Chairperson and Mr. Rabikumar, Secretary of National Biodiversity Authority along with Chairpersons and Member Secretaries of three project states viz: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand and Dr. Konrad Uebelhör, Director, Indo-German Biodiversity Programme of GIZ and ABS project personnel jointly prepared the Opertional Plan of activities for 2017. Dr. Hartmut Meyer, Global ABS Capacity Development Initiative, GIZ was the resource person and moderated the workshop.

Special session on Scope and Challenges in Implementing ABS in India held on 5th April 2017, (XIX Commonwealth Forestry Conference)

The ABS Partnership Project convened a parallel session on “Scope and Challenges in Implementing ABS in India” at the XIX Commonwealth Forestry Conference on 5th April, 2017 at FRI Dehradun. Dr. R.S Rana, non-officio member NBA, delivered keynote lecture which highlighted system of governance and existing national legal framework for implementing Access & Benefit Sharing in India. Mr. Suhel al-Janabi, ABS Initiative Germany provided global perspective on ABS and shared experience of ABS Capacity Development Inititative in supporting various countries in ABS implementation.

Dr. B. Meenakumari Chairperson NBA chaired a panel discussion with representatives from State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs), Companies, Civil Society Organizations deliberated on the following aspects:

• International dialogues and exchange on ABS implementation.
• Overview on the experiences and outcomes of ABS projects in other countries
• Obligations of users /industrial partners/researchers under the Biodiversity Act vis-à-vis ABS

Over 100 national and international delgates attended the event.

L-R: Dr. Konrad Uebelhör, GIZ, Dr. Meenakumari, NBA, Dr. Rakesh Shah, UKSBB

Capacity Building Workshop on Communication Strategies for ABS held on 6th April 2017

A capacity building workshop was held at Uttarakhand State Biodiversity Board, Dehra Dun on 6th April 2017. Dr. Rakesh Shah, Chairperson Uttarakhand State Biodiversity Board Chaired the sessions at the workshop. Chairpersons, Member Secretaries from the project SBBs: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand participated in the workshop. Mr. Suhel al-Janabi, ABS Capacity Development Initiative, Germany was the resource person and he also facilitated brainstorming session on SBB’s challenges and aspects that ABS project could address during the course of implementation. The workshop focused on following themes:

• Communication Strategies for ABS.
• Valorisation/ Biodiversity based value chains – where the Nagoya Protocol kicks in?
• The Provider – user interplay under the Nagoya Protocol. Which “compliance” do checkpoints address?

Events organized to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity 2017 in the project states

The ABS Project organized various events in the project states on 22nd May 2017 to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity. Events included exhibition on Traditional Knowledge Systems and workshop on role of BMCs in conservation. Details are given in following weblinks:

• Maharashtra Biodiversity Board
  http://www.indo-germanbiodiversity.com/project-details-64.html
• Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board
  http://www.indo-germanbiodiversity.com/project-details-66.html
• Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board
  http://www.indo-germanbiodiversity.com/project-details-51.html