Campaign on community control over biodiversity
Team: Kanchi Kohli, Ashish Kothari, Mashqura Fareedi, Shantha Bhushan and Tejaswini Apte
Contact: kanchikohli@gmail.com
(In collaboration with GRAIN www.grain.org)
On the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, over 200 village panchayats, along with people’s movements and NGOs from across India, urged the Central Government to fully recognise the role of communities in the management and conservation of biodiversity. This citizen’s campaign demands that Government facilitate greater powers for community control over biodiversity, by making appropriate changes in the Biological Diversity Act and Rules. It also reiterates the commitment of these panchayats and organisations in doing all they can, to conserve biodiversity and protect traditional knowledge relating to biodiversity
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On the eve of Republic Day 2008, farmers’ groups, activists, peoples’ movements and non governmental organizations from over fifteen States of the country sent a letter to the Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). The letter signed by a hundred and fifty individuals and organizations is addressed to Prof. S. Kannaiyan, denouncing his pro- GM comments at the National Seminar on Biodiversity, Bioresources and Biotechnology for Sustainable Livelihood of the Rural Community held at Chennai last week and asking him to step down from his post if he did not concede to their demands.
Press release
Letter to CPI m leader Sitaram Yechuri
Responding to the recommendations suggested by the Standing Committee on Agriculture on Seed Bill 2004, a letter has been sent to CPI M leader Sitaram Yechury requesting him to take the concerns regarding the bill and the committee’s report forward. Similar letter will be sent to Sh. Ram Gopal Yadav, the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Agriculture. Read More...
Letter to Prime Minister regarding the Second Green Revolution in rice
Referring to the speech of the Prime Minister in the Second International Rice Congress, held in New Delhi, a letter was sent to him. It was concerning the second green revolution that he had advocated for rice by requesting the Indian agricultural scientists to develop new drought and salinity- resistant rice varieties using biotechnology. The point that this would further harm the traditional farming practices was raised in the letter. Read More...
BioDW@@tch
The BioDWatch is an electronic listserve that provides regular updates on matters related to biodiversity, especially with respect to following:
- The Biodiversity Act 2002 and Rules 2004
- The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001 and Rules 2003
- The Seeds Bill 2004 and Recommendations of the SCA 2006
- Other related policies concerning community control over biodiversity in India.
BioDWatch monitors the enforcement of the above, issuing timely alerts that are necessary for people’s action and necessary interventions.
To subscribe, please write to kvdelhi@vsnl.net or mashqura@gmail.com. We ensure that only the relevant information reaches mailboxes and that we don't choke them.
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FARMERS' ALERT
The FARMERS’ ALERT warns farmers and rural communities in general against the possible implications of registering their plant varieties with the Registrar of the Protection of Plant Varieties Authority that was established under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act in 2001. It also cries foul on the ''The Plant Genome Saviour Community Recognition' Award announced by the Authority for farmers and communities for the conservation and enhancement of genetic resources. The FARMERS’ ALERT is part of the Campaign for Community Control over Biodiversity. It is meant for wide circulation because this information actually belongs to those whose lives will be affected by policies like this and who ironically have no information regarding it. We welcome all comments and reactions to the Alert.
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Download the Farmers Alert in Hindi for further distribution
Workshop on Biodiversity Regulation, 17th - 18th May, 2007
The workshop on Biodiversity Regulation titled 'Legality and Reality'
was held at the Deer Park Institute at Bir, Himachal Pradesh on the 17th
and 18th of May 2007. The workshop is one the the first to be held in a
series that will in future cover most parts of the country. The main
objective of the workshop was to facilitate debate and discussion on
Biodiversity Regulation especially the Biological Diversity Act of 2002
and its Rules of 2004. The participants were representatives of NGOs and
movements from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi.
Download the report of the workshop here
Letter to the National Biodiversity Authority Chairman
As follow up of the National Consultation on Documenting Diversity, Documenting Diversely held at Pastapur Village in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh on 8-9th August 2007, farmers, scientists, community representatives, concerned individuals, academicians, civil society organizations from 10 states, two chairpersons and some members of two State Biodiversity Boards wrote a letter to the National Biodiversity Authority Chairman highlighting concerns and recommendations regarding People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) and documentation of people’s knowledge and resources.
A National Consultation on Community Control over Knowledge was held in Pastapur, Andhra Pradesh, on the 8th and 9th of August 2007. The workshop highlighted concerns with respect to documenting local community’s biological resources and related knowledge through Peoples’ Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) under the Biological Diversity Act 2002. Representatives of NGOs and peoples’ movements from ten states participated in the workshop along with few members of State Biodiversity Boards of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
Read the report here...
