It is necessary to redesign interactions between those close to biodiversity, protecting and nurturing biodiversity and those benefiting from them
Capacity development of local self governments and resourcing is the key. Representative photo: iStock. From Kodo kutki hatao soyabean lagao (remove millets and plant soyabean) slogan to celebrating 2023 as the International Year of Millets, we have indeed come a long way.
Millets, especially minor millets like Kodo, once considered sub-standard food, are now the rich and urbane lifestyle choices. And it’s not just Kodo or Kutki; Amaranth, Brahmi and Tapioca are increasingly finding space in this new bio-diverse food plate. Biodiversity is being celebrated like never before!
However, a broader view shows that conversations on biodiversity and the issues are more obscure and localised.
Climate change has garnered mainstream attention and is no longer talked about only at the Conference of Parties (COP). Such is not the case with biodiversity conservation. Many people do not know that there also is a COP on biodiversity conservation, which is held every two years or that the last COP happened just a month after the COP on climate change in Egypt.
Also read: Are millets safe from biopiracy?
The most critical issue is the sheer lack of appreciation of the value associated with biodiversity and its conversation. But for the biocultural heritage — the traditional knowledge, conservation practices, indigenous medicines and the varieties of crops grown and conserved — the present-day notions of a healthy lifestyle would not have existed. People should appreciate the meaning and value of biodiversity and the imminent need for conservation actions.
Increasing the issue’s salience among all stakeholders is the first and most important ask. Education and awareness should ensure that the conversations are commonplace and akin to climate change. Biodiversity is the life of the environment. Acknowledging the same and amplifying conservation efforts would be possible with the Centre’s mission LiFE programme.
The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced Mission LiFE at COP26 in 2021, which aims to bring individual behaviours at the forefront of the global climate action narrative.
On mapping the areas with the richest biodiversity — whether wild or cultivated — we get the areas where the country’s poorest people live. The biodiversity richness has always been a liability for these poor rather than an asset.
The resettled villagers around the Kuna-Palpur, the new home of cheetahs, still lack basic amenities. Or, for that matter, while city folks are paying premiums for Kodo, the farmers at the bottom of the supply chain are still getting a raw deal from the sourcing agents.
Therefore, it is necessary to redesign interactions between those close to biodiversity, protecting and nurturing biodiversity and those benefiting from them.
Mechanisms like minimum support prices are necessary for protecting the poor against exploitative market forces. The Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers has already shown how partnerships help in conservation. Lessons are aplenty for replicating and scaling.
The most important question always is who will do all this? A three-tier country-wide institutional arrangement already exists for ensuring the conservation, sustained use and equity in sharing benefits arising out of biodiverse resources. There are National Biodiversity Authority, state biodiversity boards and local-level biodiversity management committees at the Gram Panchayat level and the Urban Local Bodies.
Also read: Access and benefit-sharing: Paper proposes 8 principles on use of indigenous medicine
The local bodies, however, are the key to decentralised biodiversity governance. Almost 0.28 million committees have been constituted across 28 states and seven Union territories. While the architecture has been created, there is a meagre investment to capacitate the structures to deliver the mandate.
Lack of knowledge, skills and funds handicap the effective discharge of the mandate. Capacity development of these units of local governance and resourcing is the key. For this to happen, it is first necessary to mainstream biodiversity in the state planning processes. Capacity development or resourcing can happen only after these commensurate resources are allocated.
In 2022, the World Economic Forum ranked climate change, extreme weather events and biodiversity as the top risks our society faces. Biodiversity per se has not received the same attention as climate change, either globally or nationally.
Biodiversity is key to addressing many climate-induced adversities, especially food and nutritional security. Building back better would entail national attention on par with the other two and no less. While the story is celebrated in parts, there is a need to educate and make people aware of the breadth of the story and its significance.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth
Dharmendra is the co-founder and chief knowledge officer of Sambodhi Research and Communications, a Social Impact Advisory.
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