The Biodiversity Act 2002 — the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 — is the statute through which India implements its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. It creates a unique three-tier institutional structure: the National Biodiversity Authority at the Centre, State Biodiversity Boards in every state, and Biodiversity Management Committees at the level of every local self-government. Together these bodies regulate access to India’s biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, and ensure that benefits flow back to the communities that have conserved them.
The Biodiversity Act 2002 sits alongside the Environment Protection Act 1986, the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act 1980, but its focus is narrower and sharper — it deals with the use, ownership and equitable sharing of biodiversity as an economic and scientific resource. The 2023 amendment to the Biodiversity Act 2002 introduced significant changes to ease research and to decriminalise routine violations.
Background: From CBD to the Indian Statute
India signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and ratified it in 1994. The CBD has three objectives: conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. To give domestic effect to these obligations, Parliament enacted the Biodiversity Act 2002.
Why a Separate Law
Existing environmental statutes did not address the commercial use of biological resources or the role of traditional knowledge. The Biodiversity Act 2002 fills that gap by regulating access to biological material and traditional knowledge by foreign and Indian users, while strengthening community rights.
The Nagoya Protocol Link
India ratified the Nagoya Protocol in 2014. The protocol operationalises the third objective of the CBD — equitable benefit sharing. The Biodiversity Act 2002 and its 2014 Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations form India’s compliance framework.
Three-Tier Institutional Structure
The Biodiversity Act 2002 creates a hierarchical structure that gives every level — national, state and local — a defined role.
National Biodiversity Authority
The NBA, headquartered in Chennai, is a statutory autonomous body constituted under Section 8 of the Biodiversity Act 2002. It regulates access to biological resources and associated knowledge by foreign individuals, companies and non-resident Indians. It also advises the Centre on biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing matters and grants approvals for intellectual property rights claims based on Indian biological resources.
State Biodiversity Boards
Each state has a Board constituted under Section 22 of the Biodiversity Act 2002. SBBs regulate access by Indian citizens and Indian companies to biological resources for commercial use within the state, and advise state governments on conservation. The Board is chaired by an eminent person nominated by the state, with members from line departments and experts.
Biodiversity Management Committees
BMCs sit at the lowest tier. Under Section 41 of the Biodiversity Act 2002, every local body — gram panchayat, municipality, municipal corporation — must constitute a BMC. The committee’s job is to promote 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.
People’s Biodiversity Registers
The most distinctive instrument under the Biodiversity Act 2002 is the People’s Biodiversity Register, prepared by every BMC in consultation with the local community.
Purpose and Contents
A PBR documents the local biological resources, traditional knowledge, agricultural varieties, ethno-medicine, livestock breeds and ecological practices of the area. It is the legal record from which any future commercial user must seek prior consent and share benefits.
Progress and Challenges
As of 2024, over 2.6 lakh PBRs had been prepared across India, though the quality varies. The National Biodiversity Authority has prepared a uniform template and the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being supports state-level training. The Biodiversity Act 2002 makes the PBR a community asset, not a government record.
Access and Benefit Sharing
The core regulatory function of the Biodiversity Act 2002 is to control access to biological resources and ensure equitable benefit sharing.
Who Needs Prior Approval
Section 3 requires foreign citizens, foreign-incorporated companies and non-resident Indians to obtain NBA approval before accessing any biological resource in India for research, commercial utilisation, bio-survey or bio-utilisation. Section 4 requires NBA approval before transferring research results based on Indian biological resources to foreigners. Section 6 requires NBA approval before applying for any intellectual property right on inventions derived from Indian biological resources.
Indian citizens and Indian companies must give prior intimation to the relevant State Biodiversity Board before commercial use under Section 7.
Benefit-Sharing Mechanisms
Benefits can flow in several forms under the Biodiversity Act 2002: monetary benefits paid to the BMC and the holders of traditional knowledge, joint ownership of intellectual property, transfer of technology, location of production units in areas where the resource originates, association of Indian scientists in research, and payment to a National Biodiversity Fund.
Major ABS Cases
The Biodiversity Act 2002 has been invoked in landmark cases — Divya Pharmacy in Uttarakhand (2018) was ordered by the High Court to share benefits even as an Indian company; the Kani tribe in Kerala received royalties from the marketing of Jeevani, a herbal preparation; and Pepsico India faced action for use of FL-2027 potato varieties without due process.
Exemptions, Local Cultivation and Bona Fide Use
The Biodiversity Act 2002 does not interfere with the day-to-day use of biodiversity by Indian communities.
Section 7 Exemptions
Local people and communities of the area, including growers and cultivators of biodiversity, and vaids and hakims practising indigenous medicine, are exempt from the Section 7 requirement of prior intimation. The Act also exempts the use of “normally traded as commodities” biological resources from access regulation — though defining that category has been administratively complex.
Notified Traded Commodities
A list of more than 380 items notified by the NBA as normally traded commodities is exempt from ABS requirements when traded as such. The list includes most spices, common medicinal plants, and agricultural produce.
2023 Amendment
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023, passed by Parliament in August 2023 and notified later that year, made several structural changes to the Biodiversity Act 2002.
Key Changes
- Easier research: Indian researchers and Indian-incorporated companies (even with foreign equity below a threshold) need only intimate, not seek prior approval, for research and bio-survey.
- AYUSH and codified knowledge: Users of codified traditional knowledge such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy are exempt from benefit-sharing obligations, provided they do not deal in the resource for trade.
- Decriminalisation: Criminal penalties for routine violations were replaced with civil monetary penalties, in line with the Jan Vishwas reform across environmental laws.
- IPR clarification: The requirement of NBA approval before filing for IPR was retained, but applies before grant rather than before application.
Critique
Conservationists argued that easing ABS for AYUSH industries and decriminalising violations could weaken community rights and the spirit of the CBD. The Centre defended the changes as necessary to support research, ease of doing business and the AYUSH sector. The amendment also strengthened the NBA’s regulatory role over IPR claims based on Indian biological resources.
Significance for UPSC Mains GS-III
The Biodiversity Act 2002 is regularly tested in UPSC mains. Important angles:
- The three-tier NBA-SBB-BMC structure and the role of PBRs.
- The Access and Benefit Sharing regime under the CBD and Nagoya Protocol.
- The 2023 amendment and the AYUSH exemption debate.
- Interaction with the Environment Protection Act 1986, the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act 1980.
- Application of the Act in habitats like biodiversity hotspots in India and Ramsar sites in India.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Biodiversity Act 2002?
The Biodiversity Act 2002, formally the Biological Diversity Act, is India’s statute implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. It regulates access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge and ensures fair sharing of benefits with conserving communities.
What is the three-tier structure under the Biodiversity Act 2002?
The Act creates the National Biodiversity Authority at the Centre, State Biodiversity Boards in each state and Biodiversity Management Committees at every local self-government — gram panchayats, municipalities and corporations.
What is a People’s Biodiversity Register?
A People’s Biodiversity Register is a documentation of local biological resources, traditional knowledge, agricultural varieties and ecological practices prepared by each BMC. Over 2.6 lakh PBRs had been prepared across India by 2024.
Who needs NBA approval under the Biodiversity Act 2002?
Foreign citizens, foreign-incorporated companies and non-resident Indians need prior approval from the NBA for any access to biological resources, transfer of research results or filing of IPR on Indian biological resources.
What is Access and Benefit Sharing under the Biodiversity Act 2002?
ABS is the mechanism through which monetary or non-monetary benefits — royalties, joint IPR, technology transfer or contributions to the National Biodiversity Fund — flow from commercial users to communities and BMCs that have conserved the resource.
What changes did the 2023 amendment bring?
The 2023 amendment eased the access regime for Indian researchers and Indian companies, exempted users of codified AYUSH traditional knowledge from benefit sharing, decriminalised most routine violations and shifted enforcement to civil penalties.
Is the Biodiversity Act 2002 different from the Wildlife Protection Act 1972?
Yes. The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 regulates hunting, trade and protected areas for wild fauna and flora. The Biodiversity Act 2002 governs access to and commercial use of biological resources and associated knowledge, applying broadly to both wild and cultivated biodiversity.
What was the Divya Pharmacy case about?
Divya Pharmacy, an Indian Ayurvedic company, was held by the Uttarakhand High Court in 2018 to be subject to benefit-sharing obligations under the Biodiversity Act 2002 even though it was Indian-owned, because it used biological resources for commercial purposes.
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