Dr. Atul Kumar Gupta, IFS, PCCF & CWLW, MS, TBB
Jan 29, 2017: Sustainable harvesting and propagation of broom grass (Thysanolaenalatifolia), which has a vast potential of making poorest of the poor economically rich and socially empowered, has so far been a distant goal to reach due to lack of enabling mechanisms. But now it’s going to be a thing of past, once, the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism under the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002 has been adopted in the commercial utilization of this ‘green gold’.Rightful adoption of ABS may surely lead to much more than existing economic benefit through commercial use of broom grass, besides empowering the owners/producers to deal in their own terms.
The ABS mechanism legally empowers owners to put their justified claims on equitable sharing of dual-benefits accruing through commercial utilization of given resources. While the monetary-mode of benefit sharing helps poor resource-owners to earn livelihoods, the non-monetary-mode of benefits bring in ecological buoyancy in the long-term through sustainable propagation and harvesting practices.
It is for the first time that the ABS mechanism has been introduced in the commercial utilization of broom grass in the state across many villages through implementation of the BDA in the state by the Tripura Biodiversity Board. The ABS concept is going to make the entire process of utilization of natural biological resources more systematic, legally tenable, economically richer, and ecologically sustainable in the long run. The implementation of the BDA stipulates constitution of the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMC) at local body level (village committees/gram panchayats) that are mandated to ensure (1) conservation of biodiversity;(2) sustainable use of its components; and (3) fair & equitable sharing of benefits arising out of commercial use of biodiversity.
It is this third objective of the BMCs that empowers owners of given natural resource(s) to decide by themselves, in due consultations with the producers/collector individuals/groups (JFMCs, SHGs, CIGs, etc.), the quantity to be disposed off, rates to be offered for monetary benefit sharing, and type of non-monetary benefits to be levied for long-term sustainability in cultivation and harvesting of given resources. Among non-monetary benefits, the BMC may choose one or more than one provisions, such as, capacity building of resource owners/collectors on cultivation and sustainable harvesting practices; facilitate in financing captive cultivation of select natural resources on the patta land for commercial uses; facilitate construction of primary value-addition centers; facilitating storage facilities; facilitating backward and forward linkages for reaching better sale prices of the given resources; etc.
A total of about 105 BMCs are going to sign Agreements on above lines involving broom grass with the commercial users in days to come. Similarly, the TBB is also going to facilitate this process in about 165 more villages till completion of BMC constitution process therein. This is aiming to narrow-down existing huge gaps between the value received by the collectors/owners of raw broom grass in the villages (BMCs) and the value received by the commercial producers following sale in the high-end markets – that’s how actually reaching to ‘fair and equitable sharing of economic benefits…’
It may be mentioned here that already about 41 BMCs have signed Agreement with the commercial users on many more natural resources, such as, gandhaki, tukma, bamboo, areca nut, wild elaichi, etc. and both monetary and non-monetary benefits have been envisaged for the poor collectors/producers. The TBB has already assisted in BMC constitution in 325 villages, 41 BMCs at the block level, and 4 BMCs at the Nagar Panchayat/Municipal Council levels. Also, in 294 BMCs, the mandatory Local Biodiversity Fund has also been initiated as part of financial empowerment of the local people. This Fund is going to make owners, producers and collectors of the natural biological resources self-dependent in a given BMC jurisdiction to raise quality and quantity of resources and their value additions at primary/advanced levels to make such resources economically more valuable and ecologically viable in the long-run. Most members of the BMCs have also been skilled in management, accounts keeping and other aspects.
The ABS mechanism is all poised to make available true values of the natural resources to the real owners (through prior informed consent) and more so, on their own terms of sustainability (Mutually Agreed Terms). These legal provisions are all there for them (poor resource owners), which we need to dutifully assist and facilitate for rightful and just implementation. It will surely lead to broom(ing) off grass (root) poverty…
(views expressed are personal of the author).
