Kerala fisherfolk's marine biodiversity register, and the Biodiversity Management Committee every local body must constitute

Background

Fishing communities in Kerala have put together their own biodiversity register of sea life and traditional knowledge, after that knowledge was left out of a State register, and have taken it to the biodiversity Conference of the Parties. India's biodiversity law puts the job of such documentation on a committee in every local body. Section 41 of the Biological Diversity Act says every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee in its area. The committee's job is to promote conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity. That takes in habitats, land races, folk varieties and cultivars, and with them domesticated stocks and animal breeds, besides keeping a written record of the knowledge tied to biological diversity. The National Biodiversity Authority and the State Biodiversity Boards must consult the committee before settling any use of biological resources in its area, and the committee can charge a collection fee from anyone taking a biological resource from there for commercial purposes.