On the 15th of July, 2013, the Communicating Biodiversity team* visited the National Biodiversity office in Chennai. The meeting gave us a great overview of the kind of initiatives that are being taken for the preservation of the country's biodiversity. The current focus is strengthening the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act and Rules with focus on its Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)Provisions through the UNEP-GEF and MoEF Project.
We were fortunate to speak to the individuals, including the Chairman, Mr. Balakrishna Pisupati, about their initiatives and could gather many interesting facts about Biodiversity Management.
For one, the NBA has undertaken an exhaustive valuation of the countries biological resources by engaging and training village youth, traditional healers, womenfolk and local communities to identify and record the biodiversity in their vicinity in Peoples Biodiversity Registers.
It was note-worthy to see how Biodiversity was being geographically categorized under Wetlands, Forests and Agriculture to define the various ecosystems. Culturally, Biodiversity was identified in medicinal herbs, sacred groves and seasonal plants. Even though valuation focuses on the economic value of Biological Resources, their health and nutrition benefits were also highlighted. It was made visible to us how various livelihoods and practices are closely linked with their ecology. The importance and vastness of the country's Biodoversity could be appreciated in just listening to the various details that the NBA initiatives cover.
For one, the NBA has undertaken an exhaustive valuation of the countries biological resources by engaging and training village youth, traditional healers, womenfolk and local communities to identify and record the biodiversity in their vicinity in Peoples Biodiversity Registers.
It was note-worthy to see how Biodiversity was being geographically categorized under Wetlands, Forests and Agriculture to define the various ecosystems. Culturally, Biodiversity was identified in medicinal herbs, sacred groves and seasonal plants. Even though valuation focuses on the economic value of Biological Resources, their health and nutrition benefits were also highlighted. It was made visible to us how various livelihoods and practices are closely linked with their ecology. The importance and vastness of the country's Biodoversity could be appreciated in just listening to the various details that the NBA initiatives cover.
As for the Communicating Biodiversity project, we were given the freedom to explore various forms, narratives, subjects as long as we did it with sensitivity and empathy. The power of storytelling as a mode of communication is something that the NBA believes in and Dr. Balakrishna gave us several examples of how innovative communication such as board games or textbooks created from People's Biodiversity Registers can enhance people's understanding and interest in the subject of Biodiversity.
For us, it was extremely motivating to see their interest and enthusiasm in designing new modes of communication. Which leaves us with the responsibility of delivering something that does justice to this freedom. The task now is to pick the right themes, choose the appropriate form and design a powerful story.
* You can view the progress of the animation being created for the project on Harshvardhan's blog http://backyard-biodiversity.blogspot.in/
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