KARNATAKA BIODIVERSITY BOARD
ABOUT THE BOARD
Karnataka Biodiversity Board (KBB) is a statutory Board established by the Government of Karnataka under the provisions of the Biodiversity Act, 2002. Biodiversity Board has been entrusted with several responsibilities in the nature of granting prior approval, to advise the State Government, subject to guidelines issued by the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources. Regulate by granting approvals or otherwise requests for commercial utilization or bio survey and bio utilization of any biological resources by Indians. Perform such other functions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the Biodiversity Act and in some cases as may be prescribed by the State Government.
ABOUT THE CONSULTANCY
CEERA has been advising the Board for several years on various issues pertaining to implementation of the provisions of the Act and Rules. Coordinator of CEERA, Prof. (Dr.) Sairam Bhat, Professor of Law, NLSIU, is appointed as the Expert Member for the implementation of the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) provisions under the Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Biodiversity Rules, 2005 and also the Guidelines on Access to Biological Resources and Associated Knowledge and Benefit Sharing Regulations, 2014. Further, CEERA has also assisted KBB in drafting legal opinions, prepare guidelines on implementation of post facto approval amongst various other issues. The Biodiversity Act, 2002 prescribes the companies involved in utilizing the bio-resources to approach the Board and give prior intimation. Several entities default in making compliances as prescribed under the Act thereby attracting the provisions for prosecution. Mr. Rohith Kamath, Advocate and Consultant, CEERA and Mr. Raghav Parthasarathy, Advocate and Teaching Associate, CEERA have been appointed by the Biodiversity Board on their panel for representing them before the courts of law. The primary task would be to file complaints under the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 before the Magistrate and other courts against the defaulting entities as prescribed under the Biodiversity Act, 2002.