BMC. Under Rule 22 (6) of the Biological Diversity Rules of 2004 the main function of
the BMC is to prepare a Peoples Biodiversity Register in consultation with the local
people which shall contain comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of
local biological resources and their associated TK. The Biological Diversity Act under
Sec 21 envisages that the NBA will base its approval regarding any application for access
to biological resources or associated TK on the whether a mutually agreed terms and fair
and equitable benefit sharing has been negotiated with the local community that provides
such resource or associated TK (benefit claimers according to Sec 2 (a) of the Biological
Diversity Act). The local community or benefit claimers in question will be identified
according to the Peoples Biodiversity Register under the territorial jurisdiction of the
local BMC.
The Biological Diversity Act and Rules therefore provides us certain rights: These
include:
• The right to consultation and public participation prior to any project that may
affect our livelihoods, biodiversity and associated TK;
• The right to conservation and sustainable use of our biodiversity;
• The right to give prior informed consent and negotiate mutually agreed terms
when any biodiversity or associated TK is accessed and share fairly and equitable
in any benefits arising from the utilization of our biodiversity and associated TK;
• The right to a Peoples Biodiversity Register that will document our biological
diversity and associated TK;
• The right to a BMC to advise the NBA on how our biological resources and
associated TK can be conserved and sustainably used; and
• The right to carry on our traditional lifestyles which involves continued access to
the forest in order to conserve the biological diversity and associated TK.
The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006
The preamble of the Forest Rights Act in accordance with Art 8j of the Convention on
Biological Diversity recognizes that the forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other
traditional forest dwellers are integral to the survival of the forest ecosystem. The Forest
Act seeks to address the long term insecurity of land tenure and of these communities and
therefore recognizes the rights of forest dwelling tribes and other traditional forest
dwellers, which include nomadic or settled pastoralists, on all forest lands.
The Forest Rights Act therefore provides certain rights to the Raika community: They
include:
• The right of ownership, access to collect, use, and dispose of minor forest produce
which has been traditionally collected within or outside village boundaries
(Section 3c);
• The right to protect regenerate or conserve or manage any forestry resource which
we have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use (Section
3i);