Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

BIODIVERSITY HERITAGE SITES: AN UNDER-UTILISED OPPORTUNITY FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Gouri Joshi, Erach Bharucha and Rahul Mungikar

Abstract

In Situ conservation of biodiversity is the essential requirement under Article 8 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 11, 12, and 13 of AICHI Targets, 2010 and Target 6 of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, with Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA). Under Section 37 of the BDA the Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS) can be declared. The Central Government of India through the National Biodiversity Authority has issued specific guidelines to identify, notify, manage, monitor and to fund the BHS. Analysis of the proposals considered by the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board (MSBB) show that the guidelines have not been followed in its letter and spirit. The trend of re-notifying already notified areas under this BDA is reducing the opportunity of bringing additional areas under formal protection mechanism, especially under limited funding assistance. At the same time, such overlapping is creating inconsistencies in the applicable jurisdiction for the protection of biodiversity.