PROJECT PBR

Project PBR (People's Biodiversity Register): An awareness drive of the college for local communities to conserve the biodiversity

People’s Biodiversity Register is a tool for collecting and documenting biodiversity data. Local communities need to be encouraged and trained to be the principal participants in this process. When communities maintain their own registers, it will foster greater conservation of this natural resource base. Despite the provisions within the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which grants due rights to communities, it has not been fully translated into practice.

PBR is the first step towards bridging the gap between intellectual property rights of local people and benefits derived from genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge and enabling them to share those benefits. This helps empower the local communities, making them aware of their rights, as well as conserving biodiversity

The college had been instrumental in the formation of 8 BMCs in surrounding gram panchayats in the year 2016 while most of the sarpanchs of peripheral gram panchayats attended the workshop organized by our college.The training for biodiversity identification/protection was provided to almost 100 of panchayat members while motivating them for the formation of BMCs. This program was highly successful as, the then, Forest Minister and the Chairman, RSBB were themselves present to motivate participants.In the series of events, with an aim of conserving the biodiversity of this ancient wetland, the college has taken the responsibility of creating PBRs in 23 gram panchayats in collaboration with Rajasthan State Biodiversity Board within a time span of one year and is supported financially with the funding of 11 lac Rupees for the purpose. Eleven PBRs are already made by our parataxonomists and rest of them are in the process of formation.