Railway · Defence
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) of India was established in:
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Answer: Option B — 2003
Detailed Solution
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is a statutory body set up by the Central Government in 2003 under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Its headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 was passed by India to meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which India ratified in 1994. The CBD has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
India's biodiversity law works through a three-tier structure:
- National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the national level.
- State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level.
Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the level of local bodies (panchayats and municipalities). BMCs prepare People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), which record local biological resources and traditional knowledge.
Functions of the NBA:
- It regulates access to India's biological resources and the traditional knowledge linked with them, especially by foreign individuals and companies.
- It advises the government on the conservation of biodiversity and the sharing of benefits.
- It can oppose the grant of intellectual property rights (such as patents) abroad on Indian biological resources or traditional knowledge, for example in cases like neem and turmeric.
- It helps notify Biodiversity Heritage Sites.
- The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 eased rules for research, the AYUSH sector and cultivated medicinal plants, and decriminalised some offences.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1992 is the year the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted at Rio.
- ✗2002 is the year the Biological Diversity Act was passed, but the NBA was set up in 2003.
- ✗2010 is the year the National Green Tribunal was set up and the Nagoya Protocol was adopted.
Quick tip
Remember: NBA = 2003, Chennai, under the Biological Diversity Act 2002 (from the CBD, Rio 1992); three tiers: NBA, State Biodiversity Boards and BMCs.
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