Under Section 41 of the Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Rule 22 of Biodiversity Rules, 2004, Every local body (District/Block/Village/ULB) is required to constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) within its area of jurisdiction for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.
The Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) as constituted shall consist of a Chairperson and not more than six persons nominated by the local body, of whom not less than one third should be women and Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes.
The Chairperson of the BMC shall be elected from amongst the members of the committee in a meeting to be chaired by the Chairperson of the local body. The Chairperson of the local body shall have the casting votes in case of a tie.
These members should be drawn from amongst the herbalists, agriculturists, Non-Timber Forest Produce collectors/ traders, fisher-folk, representatives of user associations, community workers, and academicians and any person/ representative of organization, on whom the local body trusts that they can significantly contribute to the mandate of the BMC. All the above should be residents within the said local body limits and be in the voters list.
- Every local Body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC)consisting of persons residing within its area of jurisdiction for a tenure coterminus with the tenure of the local Body.
- The Biodiversity Management Committee as constituted under sub-rule (1) shall consist of a Chairperson and not more than six persons nominated by the local body, of whom not less than two should be women and at least one should belong to the scheduled castes/scheduled tribes.
- The chairperson of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall be elected from amongst the members of the committee in a meeting to be chaired by the chairperson of the local body. The chairperson of the local body shall have right to casting vote in case of equal votes.
- Tenure of the Chairperson of the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) shall be co-terminus with the tenure of the committee.
- The following officers of the local bodies shall be the Member- Secretaries of respective Biodiversity Management Committee:-
Gram Panchayat – Panchayat Secretary
Panchayath Samiti – Block Development Officer
Zila Parshad – Chief Executive Officer of Zila Parshad
Municipal Body – Chief Executive officer of the concerned Municipal Body - The Main function of Biodiversity Management Committee is to prepare People’s Biodiversity Register in consultation with the local people. The Register shall contain comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them.
- The other functions of the BMC are to advise on any matter referred to it by the State Biodiversity Board for granting approval, to maintain data about the local Vaidyas and practitioners using the biological resources.
- The Board shall provide guidance and technical supports to the Biodiversity
Management Committees for preparing People’s Biodiversity Registers and take steps to specify the form of the People’s Biodiversity Registers, and the particulars in which the format for electronic database shall be encluded. - The People’s Biodiversity Registers shall be maintained and verified by the Biodiversity Management Committees.
- The Committee shall maintain the detail statement of access given to biological resources and traditional knowledge in a Register in which, details of the collection imposed fee and detail statement of the benefits derived and the method of their sharing will be included.
The BMC shall be co-terminus with the tenure of the local body or five years, whichever is less.
The Chairperson of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall have tenure of five years.
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- To ensure conservation, sustainable utilization and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of biological resources.
- The main function of the BMC is to prepare People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) in consultation with local people. The Register shall contain comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them.
- The National Biodiversity Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards shall consult the Biodiversity Management Committees while taking any decision relating to the use of biological resources and knowledge associated with such resources occurring within the territorial jurisdiction of the BMC.
- The Biodiversity Management Committees may levy charges by way of collection fees from any person/entity for accessing or collecting any biological resource for commercial purposes from areas falling within its territorial jurisdiction.
- The Biodiversity Management Committees may levy charges by way of collection fees from any person/entity for accessing or collecting any biological resource for commercial purposes from areas falling within its territorial jurisdiction.
- The BMC shall perform any other function as assigned by Central/State Govt. or NBA/SBB.