CONSERVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

17:39 IST RAJYA SABHA The steps that have been taken to prepare community knowledge registers under the National Programme for promoting conservation of medicinal plants and traditional knowledge are as follows: (i) A standard format for Community Knowledge Register has been prepared. (ii) The facilitating agencies have been oriented towards the role of the Community Knowledge Register in protecting community knowledge of medicinal plants as per the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. (iii) The Community Knowledge Register is prepared through the involvement and participation of the local healers and with their prior informed consent. (iv) The Community Knowledge Register thus prepared is maintained by the local community, and is not given to the facilitating agency. Under the National Programme for promoting conservation of medicinal plants and traditional knowledge, the facilitating agencies at the local level involved in preparation and updating such a register include: (i) Swami Ramananda Tirtha Regional Institute, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (ii) Rural Communes, Mumbai, Maharashtra (iii) SAMBANDH, Bhubaneswar, Orissa (iv) Jagran Jan Vikas Samithi, Udaipur, Rajasthan (v) Tagore Society for Rural Development, Kolkata, West Bengal Preparation of registers on traditional knowledge of local people is a measure towards protection of their knowledge from its unauthorized use without sharing of benefits arising from such use. The Biological Diversity Act provides for sharing of benefits arising out of the use of such knowledge with the holders of the knowledge. This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Shri Namo Narayan Meena in a written reply to question in the Rajya Sabha today. http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=33463