Saving India’s natural wealth
The House panel must now properly evaluate objections to the biodiversity bill
The Union government on Monday referred the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to a 21-member joint committee of Parliament, which will further examine it and submit its report in next year’s budget session. India’s Biological Diversity Act is anchored in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international treaty that calls on its signatories to conserve their biodiversity and sustainably use their biological resources fairly and equitably. India ratified the treaty in 1994, and passed the Biological Diversity Act in 2002.
The amended bill seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging their cultivation; exempts Ayush practitioners from intimating biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources or knowledge; facilitates fast-tracking of research; simplifies the patent application process; decriminalises certain offences; and aims to attract more foreign investments in biological resources, research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising national interest. The amendments, however, have been criticised by several legal and environmental experts on many grounds. One, the amendment bill was introduced without seeking public comments. Two, the changes, many allege, have been done with the sole intention of providing benefit to the country’s growing Ayush industry and may pave the way for bio piracy. Three, the main focus of the bill is to facilitate trade in biodiversity as opposed to conservation, protection of biodiversity and knowledge of local communities. And four, there is no provision in the proposed amendment to protect, conserve or increase the stake of local communities, the rightful owners of bioresources, in the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.
The world, and India, are in the midst of a huge biodiversity crisis. Earlier this year, the Kunming Declaration called on governments to recognise the importance of conservation in protecting human health. In its report on Sars-CoV-2’s origins, the World Health Organization pointed to the potential disease risks of contact between wildlife and people, showing the life-threatening risk of ecosystem destruction, breaking down the buffer zone that protects us from wildlife-borne viruses. The Centre has done well to refer the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to a joint committee; the panel must now evaluate all objections and develop a version that ensures more robust safeguards for India’s rich biological diversity.