Aimed at bolstering the activities of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC), the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) has decided to introduce district-level advisory panels across the State.
The District Biodiversity Coordination Committees (DBCC) have been mandated with monitoring, coordinating and evaluating the activities of BMCs, many of which have been dysfunctional.
According to KSBB chairman S.C. Joshi, the DBCCs will function as a subcommittee of the District Planning Committees (DPCs) and serve to plan the activities of the BMCs and act as environmental watch groups. The proposal to constitute the panels in each district has been granted approval by the Local Self-Government Department.
The DBCCs will be chaired by the DPC chairperson and have the District Collector or a government nominee as its vice chairperson. The Deputy Director of Panchayat will become the panel’s convener and the district coordinator of the KSBB its joint convener. The proposed panels include five experts who have been nominated by the DPC, district-level heads of the Agriculture, Forest, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Departments, municipal chairperson and representatives of the grama panchayat and block panchayat associations.
Dr. Joshi said the preparation of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) across the State was in its final phase with a coverage of 93% being attained thus far.
The board has also adopted steps to ensure a greater representation of technical experts in BMCs. These panels, which have been formed under all local self-government institutions in the State, will have officials of the Departments of Forest, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Health, Fisheries and Education as special invitees.
Yet another significant decision taken by the KSBB is to revitalise the functioning of biodiversity clubs that have been established in schools across the State by the formation of a Teen Biodiversity Corps.
As many as 14,000 corps have been identified from 272 school-level biodiversity clubs that functioned under 139 BMCs. “While the activities of biodiversity clubs used to be generally coordinated by teachers, the formation of a dedicated force will boost our conservation activities,” Dr. Joshi said.
The biodiversity corps was initiated into their mission by planting 5,000 seedlings across the State on the occasion of World Environment Day on Wednesday.