Delhi, 25 October (H.S.): The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) on Saturday disbursed ₹18.3 lakh to local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim, a move that reinforces the principle of sharing benefits derived from the commercial use of natural resources.The funds, distributed under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, were transferred directly to the committees.

The recipients were the Narrau village Biodiversity Management Committee in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and the Biodiversity Management Committee for the Lampokhari Lake area in Aritar, Sikkim.This financial sharing arises from specific commercial activities. In the case of Narrau village, a company utilized local crop materials to produce fermentable compounds from lignocellulosic biomass.

In Sikkim, another firm accessed microorganisms from soil and water samples in the Lampokhari Lake area for research. The payments represent a share of the benefits from this commercial access, funneled back to the local communities who are the custodians of these resources.

By channeling these funds, the NBA is empowering these local bodies to play a more active role in biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of their unique ecosystems.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar