Workshop on Training of Trainers on Access and Benefit Sharing

30 May, 2018

Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB) in cooperation with ABS Partnership Project organized two events on ‘Training of Trainers on Access and Benefit-sharing’ on 29th and 30th May 2018 at Nagpur and Pune respectively.

These trainings were stepping stone in providing key insight towards establishment of collaboration between Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB) and other relevant line departments of Maharashtra for implementation of Access & Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism which leads to conservation and sustainable utilization of biological resources from the state of Maharashtra.

Participants engaged in discussion during the workshop at Nagpur

Representatives from relevant line departments, as identified by the MSBB, underwent training on ABS with the objective of further disseminating their learnings and acquired knowledge to their respective department, relevant stakeholders and local communities, with whom they are involved in their regular course of work. Specific govt. departments participated in these trainings were Forest, Fisheries, Agriculture and Panchayat Raj & Rural Development.

In these two trainings representatives from around 24 districts of Maharashtra participated. These events were chaired by Mr A. Ashraf, Member Secretary, MSBB and Dr Vilas Bardekar, Chairman, MSBB at Nagpur and Pune respectively. Training was provided by project consultant, Mrs Lavannya Vishnu Sagar, and moderated by team of ABS Partnership Project. It involved discussions on range of topics relevant to Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Maharashtra Biological Diversity Rules, 2008 and Access & Benefit Sharing mechanism in particular. It also emphasised on how departments can play a vital role in supporting MSBB to ensure monitoring and better compliance with provisions of BD Act.

Participants engaged in group work during the workshop at Pune

The highlights of these trainings were the discussion on simulative ABS case studies in the context of Maharashtra, pertaining to a specific department, providing clarity on important terminologies of BD Act & Rules. Mr A. Ashraf, Member Secretary, MSBB expressed his willingness to seek cooperation from other govt. line departments with a hope of creating synergies within state for effective implementation of BD Act & ABS in Maharashtra. He also anticipated that the acquired knowledge from these trainings will be further disseminated by master trainers in creating more trainers and spreading awareness about BD Act & ABS.