Section 23 in Chhattisgarh Biological Diversity Rules, 2015
23. Constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC).
(1)Every local body shall constitute a Biodiversity Management Committee within its area of jurisdiction. Accordingly, Biodiversity Management Committees are to be constituted at Zila Panchayat, Janpad Panchayat and Gram Panchayat level as well as at Nagar Panchayat, Municipality and Municipal Corporation level;(2)The Biodiversity Management Committees constituted under sub-rule (1) shall have seven local knowledgeable persons nominated by the local body, of which not less than one third shall be women. The persons so nominated should be drawn from amongst the herbalists, agriculturist, Non-Timber Forest Produce collectors/traders, fisher-folk, representative of user associations, community workers, academicians and any person/ representative of organization on whom the local body trusts that he can significantly contribute to the mandated of the Biodiversity Management Committee. The proportion of members belonging to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe should not be less than the percentage of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe population of the district. All the persons so nominated should be residents within the said local body limits and be in the voter lists;(3)The local body shall nominate six special invitees from forest, agriculture, animal husbandry, health, fisheries and education department;(4)The Chairperson of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall be elected from amongst the members of the Committee in a meeting to be presided over by the chairperson of the local body. The chairperson of the local body shall have the casting vote in case of a tie;(5)The Chairperson of the Biodiversity Management Committee shall have tenure of three years and may be re-elected;(6)The local Member of the Legislative Assembly and Member of Parliament would be special invitees to the meetings of the Biodiversity Management Committees at different levels;(7)A technical support group comprising of experts in the field of biodiversity drawn from Government agencies, Non-Government Organizations, academic field, community and individuals shall be established by Zila Panchayat/district administration. The expert group shall lend support to Biodiversity Management Committees;(8)The key mandate of the Biodiversity Management Committees shall have to ensure conservation, sustainable utilization and equitable sharing of benefits from the biodiversity. The Biodiversity Management Committees shall facilitate preparation of People's Biodiversity Registers. The Registers shall contain comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medical or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them. The Zila Panchayat Biodiversity Management Committee shall be responsible for developing a district wide network of people's Biodiversity Registers database. The People's Biodiversity Registers shall be prepared at the Gram Panchayat/Nagar Panchayat/Municipality/Municipal Corporation level by using the process and the format set by the Board. The Biodiversity Management Committees and local bodies shall be responsible for ensuring the protection of the knowledge recorded in the People's Biodiversity Registers, specially to regulate its access to outside agencies and individuals;(9)The other functions of the Biodiversity Management Committee are to advice on any matter referred to it by the State Biodiversity Board or Authority for granting approval or to maintain data about the local vaids and practitioners using the biological resources;(10)The Zila and Janpad Biodiversity Management Committees shall strive to incorporate biodiversity conservation concerns in the developmental planning at the local level;(11)The Biodiversity Management Board shall provide guidance and technical support to the Biodiversity Management Committees for preparing People's Biodiversity Registers and shall ensure that all information recorded in such Registers receives legal protection against misuse and appropriation by outside agencies and individuals;(12)The Biodiversity Management Committee shall also maintain a Register giving information about the details of the access to biological resources and traditional knowledge granted, details of the collection fee imposed and details of the benefits derived and the mode of their sharing;(13)The Biodiversity Management Committee at Gram Panchayat/Nagar Panchayat/ Municipality/Municipal Corporation level may decide the terms on which it would permit access to biodiversity resources and associated knowledge to different parties for various purposes within their jurisdiction and levy charges by way of collection of fees from any person for accessing or collecting any biological resources for commercial purpose from the area falling within its jurisdiction. The major share of levy charged for the material collected/cultivated from private land should be given to the owner/ cultivator of the land/knowledge holders and the balance should be deposited in local Biodiversity Fund of Biodiversity Management Committee. The levy charged for the material collected/cultivated from Government land should be totally deposited in local Biodiversity Fund Biodiversity Management Committee;(14)The Board shall frame guidelines for access and fee collection by the Biodiversity Management Committees after consulting them;(15)The Gram Panchayat/Nagar Panchayat/Municipality/Municipal Corporation level Biodiversity Management Committees shall prepare a Biodiversity Management Plan using output from people's Biodiversity Register and shall be responsible for or participate in its implementation;(16)The local bodies shall ensure that the Biodiversity Management Committee are integrated with the functioning of existing local institutions by cross-membership, regular coordination meetings and other such measures, as determined by the local bodies or as specified by the Board.
