State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs): Key Functions and Responsibilities

India’s biodiversity is among the richest in the world – the country holds nearly 7-8% of all recorded species on the planet despite covering just 2.4% of the global land area. Protecting this wealth of biological resources requires a strong institutional framework. That’s exactly where State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) come in. Established under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, SBBs are the critical middle tier of India’s three-level biodiversity governance system – working between the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the top and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the grassroots level. In this post, we’ll break down how SBBs are formed, what they do, and why they matter for India’s biodiversity conservation efforts.

What are State Biodiversity Boards? 🔗

State Biodiversity Boards are statutory, autonomous bodies established by individual state governments under Section 22 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Their primary purpose is to handle all matters related to the access and use of biological resources by Indian citizens and entities at the state level. While the NBA deals with foreign access to India’s biological resources and international concerns, SBBs focus specifically on regulating how Indian individuals and organisations use the biodiversity within their respective states.

This division of responsibilities is key. The Haryana State Biodiversity Board explains that there is no overlap in the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) functions of the NBA and SBBs – their domains are distinct. The NBA handles requests from foreign individuals and companies, while SBBs manage all matters relating to access by Indians for commercial purposes.

Composition and formation of SBBs 🔗

Each State Biodiversity Board is set up through an official notification in the State Gazette. The board is named after its respective state – for example, the Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Board or the Rajasthan State Biodiversity Board. Notably, Union Territories do not have SBBs; for UTs, the National Biodiversity Authority directly exercises the powers and functions of an SBB.

Membership structure 🔗

The composition of an SBB, as outlined in the Act, includes the following members:

Chairperson: Appointed by the State Government, the Chairperson leads the Board and oversees its operations and decision-making processes.

Ex officio members: Up to five ex officio members represent relevant departments of the State Government. These members bring administrative expertise and ensure coordination between the Board and existing state machinery such as forest departments, agriculture, and environment departments.

Expert members: Up to five experts are appointed from fields related to the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of biological resources, and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of those resources. Their inclusion ensures that scientific and technical knowledge informs the Board’s decisions.

All members of the SBB are appointed by the respective State Government. This structure ensures that SBBs have a balanced mix of bureaucratic authority and domain expertise to effectively carry out their mandate.

Role in conservation and resource management 🔗

SBBs play a central role in implementing biodiversity conservation measures at the state level. Their functions go well beyond paperwork – they actively shape how biological resources are managed, documented, and protected within their jurisdictions.

Coordinating Biodiversity Management Committees 🔗

One of the most important responsibilities of SBBs is to coordinate the activities of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) established at the level of local bodies such as Gram Panchayats and Municipalities. Under Section 41 of the Act, every local body must constitute a BMC within its jurisdiction. SBBs provide direction to these BMCs – both in writing and through oral communication – to ensure effective implementation of the Act and facilitate meaningful participation of local communities in conservation efforts.

People’s Biodiversity Registers 🔗

SBBs oversee the preparation and maintenance of People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) – comprehensive documents that record local biological resources, their uses, and associated traditional knowledge. These registers are prepared by BMCs in consultation with local communities, but SBBs provide the technical guidance and support needed for the process. The Board also countersigns completed PBRs through its authorised officers.

PBRs are not just species lists. They are detailed databases that capture people’s traditional knowledge about the status, uses, history, and ongoing changes in the biological diversity of their localities. This documentation creates a baseline for future management strategies and helps protect indigenous knowledge from misappropriation or biopiracy.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites 🔗

Under Section 37 of the Act, the State Government – on the recommendation of the SBB – can notify areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS). These are ecologically fragile areas with rich biodiversity, including unique terrestrial, coastal, and aquatic ecosystems. For instance, the Assam State Biodiversity Board has facilitated the notification of heritage sites like the Majuli BHS and Borjuli Wild Rice BHS in the state.

Awareness and capacity building 🔗

SBBs are also responsible for generating public awareness about biodiversity. This includes conducting workshops and training programmes targeting diverse groups – from school and college students to researchers, farmers, policy makers, and industry representatives. The Rajasthan State Biodiversity Board, for example, lists conducting biodiversity-related workshops and studies as core functions.

Granting approvals and monitoring utilization 🔗

Perhaps the most significant regulatory power of SBBs is their authority to grant or deny approvals for the commercial utilization, bio-survey, and bio-utilization of biological resources by Indian nationals and entities. This function is outlined under Section 23 of the Biological Diversity Act.

Prior intimation requirement 🔗

Under Section 7 of the Act, any Indian citizen or body corporate registered in India must give prior intimation to the concerned SBB before obtaining biological resources for commercial utilization or bio-survey purposes. This is distinct from the “prior approval” required from the NBA by foreign entities – the requirement for Indians is one of intimation, not approval. However, this distinction does not make the SBB’s role any less significant.

Upon receiving such intimation, the SBB consults with local bodies and may conduct enquiries it considers necessary. If the Board determines that the proposed activity would be detrimental to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, or contrary to the equitable sharing of benefits, it has the power to prohibit or restrict that activity through a formal order. Importantly, the affected person must be given an opportunity to be heard before such an order is passed.

Local people, communities in the area, growers, cultivators, and traditional medicine practitioners like vaids and hakims are exempted from this prior intimation requirement – ensuring that their customary access to biological resources is not disrupted.

Monitoring bioprospecting and commercial activities 🔗

SBBs actively monitor how biological resources are being used within their states. They regulate commercial activities related to bio-resources and can take action against entities that violate the provisions of the Act. For example, the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board has issued notices to companies found in violation of the Act’s provisions. However, as legal analyses have noted, enforcement can be challenging – particularly when companies with significant foreign shareholding do not fall squarely under SBB jurisdiction, since SBBs can only regulate Indian entities.

Access and benefit sharing 🔗

A core regulatory function of SBBs involves the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism. When biological resources are commercially utilized, a portion of the benefits must flow back to the local communities who are the custodians of those resources. SBBs help operationalize this by ensuring that benefit-sharing agreements are in place and that funds collected are channelled through the State Biodiversity Fund established under Section 32 of the Act. This fund receives grants, loans from the NBA, and amounts collected by the SBB from various sources as determined by the State Government.

Advisory functions 🔗

Beyond regulation and monitoring, SBBs serve a crucial advisory role to their respective state governments on all matters related to biodiversity. Section 23(a) of the Act specifically mandates SBBs to advise the State Government – subject to guidelines issued by the Central Government – on the following areas:

Conservation of biodiversity: SBBs advise on strategies, programmes, and policies to protect the state’s biological diversity. This can include recommending the declaration of protected areas, heritage sites, or species-specific conservation programmes.

Sustainable use of biological resources: SBBs guide state governments on how to balance the economic use of bio-resources with long-term ecological sustainability. This is especially important in states where industries like pharmaceuticals, agriculture, or forestry depend heavily on biological inputs.

Equitable benefit sharing: SBBs advise on frameworks to ensure that benefits arising from the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge are fairly distributed among the communities that have conserved those resources over generations.

Alignment with the NBA 🔗

The advisory functions of SBBs operate within the broader policy framework set by the National Biodiversity Authority and the Central Government. While the NBA issues overarching guidelines – including benefit-sharing guidelines – SBBs tailor their advice to the specific biodiversity context, ecological conditions, and socio-economic realities of their respective states. This ensures that national objectives are achieved without losing sight of local needs and priorities.

Conducting research and studies 🔗

SBBs also conduct or commission biodiversity-related studies within their states. These studies help build the evidence base for sound policy advice. The information gathered through PBRs, bio-surveys, and inventorization efforts feeds directly into the advisory process, allowing SBBs to provide data-driven recommendations to state governments.

Challenges facing SBBs 🔗

Despite their wide-ranging mandate, SBBs face several practical challenges. Many boards operate with limited staff and funding, which affects their ability to carry out enforcement and monitoring activities effectively. The verification of thousands of People’s Biodiversity Registers remains a massive task – as experts have pointed out, many SBBs lack the technical expertise and digital infrastructure to cross-verify the documented PBRs submitted by BMCs across the state.

Another significant limitation is jurisdictional. Since SBBs can only regulate Indian citizens and entities registered in India, companies with substantial foreign shareholding sometimes fall outside their regulatory reach. This loophole can be exploited, allowing commercial exploitation of state bio-resources to continue even when boards are aware of potential violations.

Nevertheless, with SBBs taking increasingly proactive stances – including initiating judicial proceedings against violators – there are signs of progress. The evolving role of SBBs reflects a growing recognition that effective biodiversity governance requires coordinated action across all three tiers of the institutional framework.

Why SBBs matter for India’s biodiversity future 🔗

State Biodiversity Boards are the bridge between national biodiversity policy and ground-level implementation. They translate the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Biological Diversity Act into tangible state-level actions. From regulating who can access biological resources to ensuring local communities benefit from commercial use, from documenting traditional knowledge in PBRs to advising state governments on conservation priorities – SBBs do the heavy lifting of biodiversity governance in India.

As pressures on India’s biological resources continue to grow from urbanization, industrial activity, and climate change, the role of SBBs will only become more critical. Strengthening these boards with adequate funding, trained personnel, and modern technology is essential to fulfilling India’s commitments to biodiversity conservation.

What do you think? Should SBBs be given greater enforcement powers to deal with commercial entities that exploit biological resources? And how can local communities be more effectively involved in the biodiversity governance process through BMCs and PBRs?

References

1. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/21545/1/the_biological_diversity_act,_2002.pdf
2. https://sbb.haryanaforest.gov.in/faqs/
3. https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper3/biological-diversity-act-2002
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Diversity_Act,_2002
5. https://sbb.haryanaforest.gov.in/project/peoples-biodiversity-register-pbr/
6. https://www.asbb.gov.in/
7. https://environment.rajasthan.gov.in/content/environment/en/rajasthan-state-biodiversity-board/about-us/functions-of-the-board.html
8. https://blog.ipleaders.in/state-biodiversity-boards-analysis-functions-powers/
9. http://nbaindia.org/text/13/StateBiodiversityBoards.html
10. https://www.cbd.int/convention/