Private firm to pay Chhattisgarh for sourcing biological raw material

A private firm, which deals in manufacturing of products using bio resources, has inked agreement with Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board (CGSBB)

A private firm, which deals in manufacturing of products using bio resources, has inked an agreement with Chhattisgarh State Biodiversity Board (CGSBB) for access benefit sharing on procurement of raw materials from the state, an official here said.

For the first time, the CSBB has signed such an access benefit sharing (ABS) agreement as mandated by the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), CGSBB Pankaj Rajput said.

Under the pact, Gram Mooligai Company Limited (GMCL) has agreed to pay 3 per cent of the purchase amount of the biological resources to the local Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) from where it will carry out procurement, he said.

The agreement was signed by Horilal Verma on behalf of GMCL and MT Nandy, member-secretary of CGSBB on behalf of the Board on October 9, Rajput, an India Forest Service (IFS) officer, told PTI.

Under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the rules and guidelines were framed in the state in 2015 with an objective to conserve, manage and share the benefits of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge in a fair and equitable manner, he said.

Under these rules, Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) have been constituted at village panchayat level, which is working for conservation and protection of the biological resources in their concerned areas, he said.

As per the Act, no person or trader shall obtain any biological resources including herbs, roots and seeds, for commercial utilisation without giving prior intimation to the concerned state biodiversity board and also, undertake to share the benefits arising out of the use of such biological resources with the local BMC, he said.

The amount which will be given to GMC will be utilised in the conservation and preservation of biodiversity and sustenance of local communities, he said.

"We are in discussion with around 200 other traders and manufacturers who are dealing in bio-resources in the state, to enter into ABS agreement with them," he said.