Kick-off meeting for initiating the People's Biodiversity Register in Chorao, Goa2

15 Mar, 2017

Aaron Lobo, GIZ, Technical Advisor of the CMPA Project, organized a kick-off meeting for initiating the preparation of a People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) for the village of Chorao. The meeting was held at the Chorao village panchayat. It was attended by Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB), Goa Forest Department, members of the Chorao Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC), elected village panchayat members, and staff of TERI-Goa. The latter has been appointed as the Technical Support Group by the GSBB to facilitate the creation of PBRs in selected coastal BMC’s in the state of Goa.

Dr. Aaron S. Lobo, Technical Advisor, GIZ (CMPA Project) addressing the audience

The meeting focused on creating awareness among the Biodiversity Management Committee and panchayat members about the PBR and on establishing the necessary procedures for its implementation at the local level.

The meeting highlighted the necessity of the involvement of the local people in the development of the PBR and enhancing their knowledge and appreciation of the importance of PBR. Information on the scope and timeline of the work was delivered, and the possibility discussed to use the resulting biodiversity inventory for determining the feasibility of designing sites on Chorao Island as Biodiversity Heritage Sites. The meeting also provided an opportunity to look into other biodiversity-related issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the village BMC.

Two members of the village BMC were selected as the points of contact. They will serve as coordinators, along with the appointed coordinator of TERI, to facilitate the arrangement of technical meetings. It was agreed that as a next step a resource map of each of the wards of Chorao would be prepared. The first meeting for this purpose is to be held on 21st March 2017.

Considering the mandate of the Goa State Biodiversity Board and the BMC in biodiversity documentation and monitoring involving local communities, the CMPA project has always ensured in the past that GSBB as well as members from the Chorao BMC participated in the project’s operational planning. It has supported the GSBB through various capacity building programmes, including one targeting all the coastal BMC’s of Goa. The project also facilitated the participation of members of the Chorao BMC in the 2nd National Biodiversity Congress held in Kerala in 2015.