Training for Secretaries of Biodiversity Management Committees at Salem and Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in December 2018

18 Dec, 2018

The Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Partnership Project, along with the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board (TNBB), conducted trainings for secretaries of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in two districts, Salem (14 December 2018) and Madurai (18 December 2018).


Training for BMC secretaries at  Salem on 14 Dec 2018


Participants at the training at Salem on 14 Dec 2018


Participants at the training at  Madurai on 18 Dec 2018


Training for BMC secretaries at  Madurai on 18 Dec 2018

The aim of the training was to provide information on legal, administrative and financial aspects related to ABS, and other practical aspects needed to carry out functions mandated under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, to the secretaries of BMCs in Tamil Nadu. It included practical sessions on hypothetical case studies and documentation of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs).

The participants at Salem included secretaries of BMCs from the districts of Erode, Namakkal, Salem and Tiruppur. Mr. A. Udhayan IFS, Secretary, TNBB, Mr. A. Periasamy IFS, District Forest Officer, and Mr. M. Mahendharan IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Social Forestry Division addressed the participants.

At Madurai, the participants included secretaries of BMCs from districts of Dindigul, Madurai, Theni and Virudhunagar. Mr. Debasis Jena IFS, APCCF & CCF-Madurai Circle, Dr. R. Kannan, APCCF-Southern Region, Mr. A. Udhayan IFS, Secretary, TNBB and, Mr. Gowtham IFS, District Forest Officer addressed the participants.

The training began with an overview of biodiversity, its threats, and conservation. This was followed by an interactive session on the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and related notifications on Access and Benefit Sharing, Normally Traded Commodities, and threatened species of plants and animals from Tamil Nadu as notified under Section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Sessions on Biodiversity Management Committees and their role in local area conservation were followed by a group discussion on hypothetical case studies. These were conducted and moderated by Dr. Geetha Nayak, GIZ and Dr. Suhas Nimbalkar, Eitimo Ventures (Biodiversity Law, IP & Regulatory Affairs). Further sessions were conducted on the administration and financial aspects of operationalising BMCs and documentation of PBRs.

A self-assessment questionnaire was circulated to obtain information on the expertise and familiarity of secretaries regarding the tasks required for BMC functioning and on the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and BMCs.

 
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