The 16th National Meet of State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs) began in Chandigarh on Sunday, bringing together senior officials, experts, scientists and representatives of biodiversity bodies from across the country to deliberate on strengthening biodiversity governance at the state and local levels.
Organised by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), the two-day meet will focus on implementation of the biodiversity governance framework, functioning of biodiversity management committees (BMCs), people’s biodiversity registers (PBRs), access and benefit sharing (ABS), capacity-building and conservation of ecosystems and traditional knowledge. The inaugural session was attended by Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Union environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav and Haryana Environment, Forest and Wildlife minister Rao Narbir Singh, besides senior officials of the Chandigarh administration, state biodiversity boards and UT biodiversity councils. Rao Narbir Singh highlighted Haryana’s efforts in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration. He stressed the role of BMCs in protecting local biodiversity and called for greater training and capacity-building of BMCs and communities.
