The Biological Diversity Act 2002 was enacted in 2002 and notified Biological Diversity Rules in 2004, to give effect to the provisions of this Convention (http://www.moef.nic.in/division/ biodiversity). Successful implementation of the biodiversity act would help in realizing the objectives enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992, through the sovereign rights to use their own Biological Resources by the federal states. The Act aims at the conservation of biological resources and associated knowledge as well as facilitating access to them in a sustainable manner and through a just process.  In response to the Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Biodiversity rules, 2004, many State Biodiversity Boards were constituted which in turn is involved in formation of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) for “promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.” The BMCs should prepare People's Biodiversity Register (PBR) containing local knowledge on biological resources and their usages.  Nationwide preparation of PBRs, is expected to be a mammoth exercise for India, a megadiversity country. A decade is past since the Biodiversity Act, but only tardy progress made in relation to PBRs. Major hurdles hampering the process appeared to be concepts and formats  unfriendly for grassroots level people,  paucity of taxonomic expertise, low funding and lack of motivation and guidance. Model PBRs developed were not replicable and required enormous expenditure, also failed in capturing local biological resources.  

The deployment of student community from high schools and colleges to document biodiversity under the banner ‘My Village Biodiversity’ with simplified user friendly documentation would help in  copiling the information most effectively.   Simplified formats, as understood easily by high school students and village communities, were prepared in consultation with experts (through series of brain storming session involving small group of local experts). The teachers and select students were given orientation through series of workshops highlighting the importance of biodiversity, Biodiversity Act, and the details to be compiled.  Competitions for students and nominal rewards for the best reports and good presentations in the presence of experts would help in validation of the data. The objectives included:

Results and discussion

About 580 students from 116 high schools and 6 colleges representing the 11 taluks of Uttara Kannada took part in the two year exercise (2010-12).  Biodiversity documentation covered about 190 villages of the total of about 1200 villages in the district. This exercise was attempted during 2013-14 in select villages of Shimoga and Dakshina Kannada districts. Considering the sluggish scenario of PBR progress, with only 212 panchayats of Karnataka covered by 2008, comments on their merits pending, the cost was high for the Biodiversity Board in its infancy to bear, but at the same time funding considered small by the agencies catalyzing the PBRs at panchayat levels. The information compiled by Karnataka Biodiversity Board through select university faculty contained only secondary information without much details from the field. The poor quality performance is mainly on account of  (i) lack of interest among university faculty, and (ii) bureaucratic style of functioning of the board (interested in reaching the targets than the quality and reliability of information).

The education departments should make suitable changes in the syllabi to incorporate biodiversity documentation, with due credits to the performers, the outcome would be more fascinating.  The students in general found greater acceptability in the villages, got first hand learning opportunities and often turned out to be good communicators of local knowledge. 

To highlight some results, notably, of 232 villages where rice cultivation was reveiwed, 181 varieties were recorded; out of them 101 were native varieties. Sample survey with regression analysis gives expectation of finding around 492 native varieties in the district. Countrywide adoption of the method will benefit rapid documentation of traditional varieties, feared to have dwindled from around one lakh down to 8-10 thousand, mainly due to unregulated introduction of new varieties. Documentation also covered local varieties of banana, pepper, mango, jack, sugarcane, arecanut, coconut   etc.

The villages have rich wealth of traditional knowledgeable knowledge holders like herbal healers  specialized in treating ailments like rheumatism, paralysis, migraine, kidney stones, bone fractures, eye and  skin problems, jaundice, herpes, paralysis, infertility, epilepsy etc. and cattle diseases. Medicinal plants were exhibited during workshops and their uses documented. Information on persons with knowhow on biopesticides, earthworm manure, water divining, organic farming etc. also is available.

Villagers gave good account of local wildlife, on occasional visiting animals like tiger, leopard, bear etc. Local names of fishes available in the fresh water bodies were recorded. The students provided indications on the presence of hundreds of sacred groves in the villages. They would be interesting places from biodiversity and cultural angles.  On the whole pastoralism is on the decline due to fodder scarcity and cattle manure, inevitable for high rainfall agricultural soils, is getting scarce. This can undermine the very farming system of the district.
This experiment highlights the need for optimal harnessing of student and teachers power for documentation of the immense biodiversity of the country. Biodiversity awareness creation among the younger generation is a paramount necessity for the successful documentation and conservation of the immense biodiversity of India, a megadiversity country with two biodiversity hotspots. The educational system has to be restructured to institutionalize biodiversity documentation, especially using student power from high school and undergraduate levels with due academic credits given to the participants.

This report provides the biodiversity documentation formats along with details for capturing aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity.

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