National Biodiversity Authority

Overview

Headquartered in Chennai, India, it acts as a facilitating, regulating and advisory body to the Government of India "on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources." Additionally, it advises State Governments in identifying the areas of biodiversity importance (biodiversity hotspots) as heritage sites.

In 2012, NBA organized the first ever National Biodiversity Congress (NBC), held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. On this occasion, National Biodiversity Students' Congress was also held

Since its establishment, NBA has supported creation of SBBs in 29 States and facilitated establishment of around 1,39,831 BMCs.

The National Biodiversity Authority is mandated to regulate access to biological resources and / or associated knowledge for research, bio-survey and bio-utilization, commercial utilization, obtaining Intellectual Property Rights, transfer of results of research and transfer of accessed biological resources.

The details of application forms for Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of specific activities are given in the website of National Biodiversity Authority.

The Moot Court Association of Symbiosis Law School, Nagpur in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board organized the National Moot Court Competition from December 3–5, 2021. J. Justin Mohan, Secretary, National Biodiversity Authority