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National consultation on Communicating

Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)

Held on 19-20 November, 2013

At Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Campus, Ahmadabad,

A national consultation on communicating ABS was organized on 19 & 20th

November, 2013 at Center for Environment Education (CEE), Campus, Ahmadabad,

Gujarat by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). The Programme brief was

given by Mr. Ishwar Poojar,

Project Manager, UNEP-

GEF MoEF ABS project and

the presidential address

was given by Dr. H.S.

Singh, Chairman, Gujarat

Biodiversity Board (GBB).

During the presidential address, Dr. Singh highlighted the initiatives carried out by

the GBB in implementing the Biological Diversity (BD) Act and its Access and Benefit

Sharing (ABS) mechanism. Shri Rajeeva, PCCF and Head of Forest Force, Gujarat

Forest department spoke about the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

objectives and the implementation challenges of the BD Act. Shri Kartikeya

Sarabhai, Director, Centre for Environment Education delivered the key note address

and explained why ABS mechanism is important in guarding against

misappropriation of country’s biological resources. He cited, few examples saying

that India’s bioresources were illegally patented and it is used by other countries.

Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, Chairman NBA delivered a special lecture through skype

on 20th November. While addressing the participants he said, communicating ABS to

the range of stakeholders is a challenging task because ABS is a new concept as

well as complex and ABS works at different levels and great diversity of stakeholders

are involved while implementing the ABS mechanism. He stressed that it is

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important to evolve an innovative and effective communication strategy for

implementing the ABS mechanism.

The Consultation

Nearly 33 participants attended the consultation (Annexure-1). On the first day,

participants were divided in to 4 working groups (WGs) based on their specialization.

The working groups are: 1) Communicating ABS for BMCs, 2) Communicating ABS

to the legal professionals, 3) Communicating ABS to the SBBs and using print and

electronic media and social networking tools to raise awareness on ABS and 4)

Development of curriculum for ABS.

These working groups had a detailed deliberations and discussions and came out

with recommendations for communicating ABS for different stakeholders. On the

second day, a representative from each of these groups made presentation on the

outcomes of discussions and suggested recommendations.

Group 1 - Communicating ABS for BMCs

Smt. Rita Benerji, a film maker representing the group said, to develop

communication strategy for the BMCs, it is important to map / identify the

stakeholders involved at the local level (such as local NGOs, CBOs, TSGs, JFM

committees, research institutions, schools and colleges). She emphasized to carry

out a baseline survey before developing or evolving communication tools / strategies

for the BMCs.

She said, at the local level, it is important to create awareness about the importance

of biodiversity, its economic, social, cultural, medicinal and aesthetic values. It was

emphasized that the local communities should know the importance of the BD Act

and its Rules, responsibilities of BMCs, ABS mechanism and associated traditional

The Objective this consultation is

• To evolve an innovative and effective communication strategy for the ABS under BD Act in

India;

• Developing effective communication tools for specific stakeholders;

• To use of modern communication methodologies and approaches for communicating the essence of ABS under the act to various relevant stakeholders.

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knowledge, conservation of land races, folk varieties and locally available

domesticated stocks and breeds.

The Suggested Communication tools targeting BMCs included exposure visits,

awareness and sensitization camps, training, seminar, workshops, ABS related films,

ABS case studies, documentary, radio programmes, traditional songs, help line,

capacity building materials, online resource center. It was emphasized that use of

local language publication materials is an essential pre-requisite.

Group 2 - Communicating ABS to the legal professionals

Shri Ram Gopal Soni, Chairman, Madhya Pradesh SBB and Smt. Mathu Sharma,

APCCF, Legal Cell, Karnataka Forest Department made a presentation on the

workings of this group. It was highlighted that it is important to develop relevant

communication tools for the legal Professionals dealing with the BD act and its ABS

provisions. The WG-2 came out with the following recommendations:

• To include BD Act in the curriculum of the law students and Universities;

• Provide training programmes and judiciary, establishment of internship

programs for law students at National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and State

Biodiversity Boards (SBBs);

• Creation of legal cell / cadre of law personnel trainees to support SBBs in

ensuring compliance of the BD Act;

• Suggested to Communicate BD Act and its guidelines through relevant

ministries like Ministry of Commerce and industries, law and others;

• Sensitization / orientation of media towards cases where violation of BD Act;

• Establishing media fellowships at NBA / SBBs;

Group 3 - Communicating ABS to the SBBs and using print and electronic media and social networking tools to raise awareness on ABS

Shri Rajeev Ranjan, Member Secretary, Haryana Biodiversity Board and Dr. C. Thomson

Jacob, Consultant NBA made a presentation on the recommendations from the

group. While presenting the recommendations Dr. Thomson said, all the SBBs

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should be network in a common platform in dealing with ABS provisions under the

BD Act. The WG -3 recommendations includes:

• Train the SBB staffs dealing with ABS application processing;

• Organization of structured and periodical training programmes on ABS at

State level for various stakeholder groups;

• Developing capacity building material for SBBs (brochures, newsletters, fact

sheets, booklet, terminology booklet, pull-ups, online web resources etc.);

• Awareness raising using mass media, articles, regular monthly press

conferences, social network websites, digital bill boards at market places,

mobile Apps, street plays and other such means;

• Dissemination of best ABS case studies among various SBBs;

• Organization of capacity development on valuation methodologies of bio-

resources, processing prior informed consent, mutually agreed terms,

technology transfer, negotiation skills for SBBs and its partners;

• Development of online ABS application processing mechanism at national

and state levels for the speedy disposal of applications and transparency;

• Creating and using online platforms for better networking and dissemination of

information;

• Organization of periodical online chat / web conferencing / webinar by both

NBA and SBBs;

• Development of ABS Clearing House Mechanism in compliance with Nagoya

Protocol.

• Development of e-learning models with animation to target various groups

(policy makers / researchers /NGOs / etc).

• SBBs level support to develop capacities for other stakeholders like

journalists, industries, banks, custom officials, research institutes/ universities/

colleges on ABS related issues.

• Developing promotional Audio-Visuals / mobile applications that could be

used to communicate to institutions, banks, NGOs and others on ABS issues.

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Group 4 - Development of curriculum for ABS

The group was represented by the CEE who identified different target groups and

suggested development of suitable curriculum on ABS. These target groups

includes decision makers, legal professionals (lawyers and Green Tribunals,

Customs and quarantine officers), BMCs, managers of natural resources, line

departments dealing with biological resources, pharma and biotechnology industries,

national and international corporate bodies, users and benefit claimers under the

Biological Diversity Act. This group suggested the following:

S.No Target Groups Curriculum for ABS Communication tool

1 Legal professionals and Law Enforcement Bodies

(lawyers and Green

Tribunals, Customs and

quarantines)

• Broad understanding of Biodiversity,

BD Act, 2002 and Its Rules 2004;

• Benefit Sharing Mechanism and its

provisions;

• Nagoya Protocol, National legislations

and MEAs related to Biodiversity

(WTO, WIPO, FAO, WHO, CITES

etc);

• Explanatory notes on the various

provisions of the BD Act and its

Rules;

• Process involved in PIC, MAT and

MTA and Legal issues involved in

implementing ABS mechanism;

• Distance learning,

• On-campus

• Workshops, seminars

• Publication materials

• Webinars

2 Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs)

• BD Act and its Rules

• Formation of BMCs and

administrative procedures in the

formation of BMCs, IPR issues, Levy

of fees, Preparation of action plan,

project reports, annual reports etc.

• preparation of PBRs, Documentation

of bioresources and associated TK;

• Formation of TSGs, Identification of

potential Biodiversity Heritage Sites;;

• Laws related to biodiversity, Rights

and responsibilities of the BMCs;

• Hands-on training,

• workshops,

• Focused group

discussions

• BMC meetings

• Publication (local

language)

• Audio and media (through

Local channels)

• Training for the

preparation of PBRs

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• Identification of economic potential /

and economic valuation of

bioresources;

• Taxonomic studies

• Creation and management of LBF;

• Negotiation skills.

• Taxonomic courses for

identifying flora, fauna and

the microbes

3 Bioresource based Industries/ Corporate

(Eg. Pharma and

biotechnology industries)

• BD Act and its Rules and BD related

Acts;

• ABS mechanism and TK, Best ABS practices / case studies, alternate resources and technologies, branding;

• Process involved in Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanism and ABS application processing mechanism;

• Normally Traded Commodities;

• Economic, medicinal, cultural, ecological and the esthetic value of bioresources;

• Clearing house mechanism and database;

• Different BD related laws and linkages with other national and the international laws / conventions;

• Rapid Biodiversity related EIAs;

• Technology Transfer and livelihood issues.

• Capacity building through documenting ABS Case studies;

• Film on ABS

• Articles on ABS in news papers and scientific magazines

4 Civil Servants • BD Act and its Rules and BD related Acts;

• ABS implementation mechanism;

• Resources as a common property;

• Rights and responsibilities of the

stakeholders for conserving

bioresources;

• IPR Issues;

• Economic importance of

Bioresources.

• Civil Services training Discussion meetings,

• presentations

• online information

packages,

• Publications

• Media

• Dialogues

• Consultation

• Publications

5 Educational and Academic Institutions and Research groups

Biodiversity as a whole career options.

• Multi channel communication strategy

• Educational series/video on Television

• Presentations/lectures

• Projects, Internships,

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Course works, Practice teachings for ABS, Online courses, distance learning courses, Professional Development courses, Part of compulsory EE curriculum

6 Planners, Politicians and Decision makers (MoEF,

NBA, SBBs, Env. Depts.)

• Historically viable finding (data

support, case studies and trends)

• Discussions, Presentations, Video Conferences, Social media (Duration: 30 minutes to 2 hours max)

7 Related Line Departments dealing with Bio-resources

(Agriculture, Fisheries,

Forestry, Marine, rural

department, health, mining,

pollution control etc)

• Awareness in terms of salient features of BD Act and ABS in particular.

• Mainstreaming of Biodiversity in various sectors, policies and programmes.

BD related acts and convention to

strengthen other sectors.

• Awareness programmes

on Mainstreaming

Biodiversity;

• District level workshops and meetings and seminars;

• Interministerial / departmental dialogues.

8 Benefit Claimers

(Farmers/livestock owners/

agricultural practioners

communities, traditional

healers) Provider of the

bio-resources.

• Economic potential of Bioresources and Valuation methodologies;

• Incentive mechanism, conservation of bioresources;

• Technology transfer, value addition, marketing, entrepreneurs development;

• Negotiation skill ;

• Utilization SBF and LBF and levy charges, benefit sharing mechanism;

• Conservation measures

• Negotiation skills and techniques

• Skill development programmes

• Teaching valuation methodologies.

• Film on ABS

• Publication;

• News paper article on ABS.

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Annexure 1- List of Participants

Sl.no Name Agency

1 Shri S. Sandeep Ashwath

Faculty, Animation, Srishti School of Arts Science & Technology, Bangalore 09901982086 sandeep@srishti.ac.in

2 Smt. Rita Banerji Freelance Filmmaker, Delhi 9810250260 ritabanerji@gmail.com

3 Dr.Pankaj N. Joshi,

Programme Director, Biodiversity and Conservation, Sahjeevan, Bhuj, Gujarat Bhujjoshi.pn.sahjeevan@gmail.com

4 Shri Atul Deulgaonkar

Joint Secretary, Forum of Environment Journalists of India (FEJI) ‘Chandramauli’,Saraswati Colony Latur 413 531 Phone:- 91 (2382) 242531, 256858 Fax:- 242531 cell-9422071905 atul.deulgaonkar@gmail.com, atulcd@yahoo.com

5 Dr. Rashmi Gangwar

Programme Coordinator CEE Himalaya, 19/323, Indira Nagar Lucknow 226016, Uttar Pradesh Tel : 0522-2719959,2719301 (Mobile)-9415104125 rashmi.gangwar@ceeindia.org

6 Shri Pramod Sharma

Programme Coordinator Centre for Environment Education Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad 380054 079-26858002-09 pramod.sharma@ceeindia.org

7 Dr. Shailaja Ravindranath

Programme Director Centre for Environment Education CEE South, Kamala Mansion No. 143, Infantry Road, Bangalore-560001 Tel-080-22869094/22869907 Fax-080-22868209 shailaja.ravindranath@ceeindia.org

8 Shri Vijay Kaushal Programme Coordinator, Nehru Foundation for Development,Viksat Vijay.kaushal@viksat.org

9 Dr. H.S. Singh Chairman, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Block B/5, Aranya Bhawan, Sector-10, Gandhinagar chairman-biodiversity@gujarat.gov.in hss.ifs@gmail.com

10 Dr. Rajeeva

Head of the Forest Force, Gujarat Forest Department Aranya Bhawan, Sector-10, Gandhinagar, Gujarat rajeeva1954@yahoo.com

11 Smt. Madhu Sharma APCCF, Legal Cell, Karnataka Forest Department

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9448482403/Madhu1sharma@yahoo.com

12 Shri. Sanjay Barnela

Creative Director Srishti Films, Srishti School of Arts, Design & Technology Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore-560106 Tel: 080-40447000 Mob: +91-9880216622 sanjay_b@srishti.ac.in

13 Shri. Ram Gopal Soni, IFS,

Member Secretary, Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, 1st Floor, Kisan Bhavan, Mandi Road, Arera Hills, Bhopal-462 011, Madhya Pradesh. rgsoni_sni@rediffmail.com mp_biodiversityboard@yahoo.co.in

14 Shri Rajeev Ranjan, IAS

Member Secretary, Haryana Biodiversity Board, O/o The Director, Environment Department, Government of Haryana, SCO 1 – 3, Sector 17 – D, Chandigarh – 160017. 9780822200 rajeevranjan786@gmail.com

15 Dr. Nitin K. Sawant

Member Secretary, Goa State Biodiversity Board, O/o Department of Science, Technology & Environment, Opposite Saligao Seminary Saligao, Bardez-403 511 Cell 09822483535 0832 -2407033(f) goanbiodiversity@gmail.com/nitinnature@yahoo.co.in

16 Shri D. Srinivas Reddy

Scientific / Technical Assistant, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board, Hyderabad 8008883882 dudyalasrinivas@gmail.com

17 Dr. Aeshita Mukherjee-Wilske

State Project Coordinator, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gujarat 9662101179 /aesharne@gmail.com

18 Shri Shailesh Dodiya

Scientific / Technical Assistant, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gujarat 7698143726 /shailesh.unep-gef@gsbb.in

19 Shri Raiyani ArvindKumar Naranbhai

Finance Assistant, SPU, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gujarat 09879712212 spu.unep-gef@gsbb.in

20 Shri Pritesh Parmar

Computer Assistant, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gujarat / 09924533001(m) pritesh.unep-gef@gsbb.in

21 Dr. Murari Lal Thakur State Project Coordinator,

UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project,

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Himachal Pradesh Biodiversity Board, 9857547111 /mlthakur75@gmail.com

22 Dr. Rupam Mandal

State Project Coordinator, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, West Bengal Biodiversity Board, Kolkata, 9432669432 /mandalrup@gmail.com

23 Dr. Ishwar Poojar

Project Manager, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai. /projectmanagergef@nbaindia.in

24 Ms. Tamizh selvi

Finance Manager, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai. fmgef@nbaindia.in

25 Dr. Thomson Jacob. C

Consultant, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai. ecbd@nbaindia.in

26 Shri N. Singaram

Computer Specialist, UNEP-GEF-MoEF ABS Project, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai. computerspecialist@nbaindia.in

27 Shri Ramesh Savalia

Programme Coordinator (Sustainable Livelihoods & SGP West) Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad-380054,, Gujarat, India ramesh.savalia@ceeindia.org

28 Shri Suman Rathod Deptuy Programme Coordinator (Sustainable Livelihoods), ceejasdan@ceeindia.org

29 Ms. Priya Verma Festival Coordinator, CMS Vathavaran, New Delhi Vatavaranpriya@cmsindia.org

30 Ms. Kartika Singh Miditech and National Geographic Producer, Gurgaon kartika707@gmail.com

31 Ms. Shruti Shah Gujarat Ecology Society jjlakh@gmail.com

32 Ms. Amita Sankhwal Gujarat Ecology Society jjlakh@gmail.com

33 Shri A.J. Amin ACCF, Geer Foundation, Gandhinagar dir-geer@gujarat.gov.in

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Annexure 2 - Photographs

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Annexure 3 - Concept Note

National Biodiversity Authority UNEP – GEF – MoEF ABS Project

“Strengthening the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act and Rules with focus on its Access and

Benefit Sharing Provisions”

CONCEPT NOTE

National Consultation on the Communicating for Access Benefit Sharing

Date : 19-20 November, 2013

Venue: Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Campus, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Access Benefit Sharing – A brief background: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at the United

Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio “Earth Summit”) and entered into

force on 29 December 1993. The Convention is the only international instrument comprehensively

addressing biological diversity. The Convention’s three objectives are the conservation of biological

diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising

from the utilisation of genetic resources. To further advance the implementation of the third objective,

the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002) called for the

negotiation of an international regime, within the framework of the Convention, to promote and

safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources.

The Convention’s Conference of the Parties (CoP) responded at its seventh meeting, in 2004, by

mandating its Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing to elaborate and

negotiate an international regime on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing in order to

effectively implement Articles 15 (Access to Genetic Resources) and 8(j) (Traditional Knowledge) of

the aforesaid three objectives. After six years of negotiation, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to

Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the

Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted at the tenth meeting of the CoP on 29 October 2010,

in Nagoya, Japan.

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Communicating for ABS: Communication has the definite role in implementing the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) systems

as per Biological Diversity Act at the national level for India. It provides us communication

considerations, approaches and methods for the different phases of ABS implementation.

Establishing ABS policies, regulations, institutions and mechanisms is a process of social change.

Well-designed communication strategies will help us to manage the change effectively, and efficiently.

Strategic communication requires specialist knowledge and experience. ABS implementation process

requires partnering with communication experts. Hence teaming up with individuals and partner

agencies would help designing and implementing the communication strategy.

Why a Special Communication Required for ABS A lot has been written about communication, about strategic communication, and about

communicating biodiversity. Why do we need a special targeted communication system for ABS

implementation? The short answer is: Because ABS is new, and because it is complex. What‘s New about ABS? Although the basic concept is as old as the Convention on Biological Diversity, many people still don‘t

know much about ABS. In October 2010 a new internationally agreed framework – the Nagoya

Protocol – to implement the ABS principles of the Convention was adopted at the tenth Conference of

the Parties (COP 10). Since then, the focus has turned from international negotiations to national

implementation – and this is indeed a very new task for many people within India and in many

countries.

The community of ABS practitioners is still in a learning process, regarding both implementation and

communication. At this stage, the Protocol is still not very well known – let alone understood – so that

communicating ABS to the various stakeholders often starts from scratch.

What‘s Complex about ABS? ABS works at different levels and with a great diversity of stakeholders:

• ABS involves many expert issues (e.g., biology, technology, law, justice, economics, politics, ethics, culture, etc.), and it is hard for any individual to be a “fully-fledged” ABS expert.

• ABS touches upon a variety of sectors and markets such as agriculture, horticulture,

pharmaceuticals, veterinary, cosmetics, biotechnology and others.

• The range of stakeholders in ABS is very broad and heterogeneous: From policy makers and legal experts, via scientists, business people and NGOs, to indigenous and local communities. They all have their own worldviews and perspectives, speak their own languages, have their own interests and objectives – and the distribution of power among them is often unequal.

• There is a good deal of interdependence between the Nagoya Protocol on ABS and other

international agreements, for example in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the Food and Agriculture

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Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

• ABS is not a project with clear boundaries in space or time. Rather, ABS is a political arena

and a policy field: Communicating ABS is only partly about selling a new concept but much more about leading, coordinating and facilitating a socio-political negotiation process.

The Nagoya Protocol has the potential to reduce the complexity of ABS, but only if all stakeholders

can arrive at a shared understanding of how to implement it – which requires good communication.

India’s Strides on Access Benefit Sharing: The CBD was adopted in the year 1992 and the Biological Diversity (BD) Act in India was enacted in

2002, taking the cognizance of the provisions of CBD and to deal with extensive pressure on our

biological resources. To detail the procedures to be adopted, the Biological Diversity Rules were

notified in the year 2004. Several state rules were also notified subsequently for implementing the Act

in various states of India. Implementation of ABS provisions under the Biological Diversity Act

provides significant challenge and opportunity for the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State

Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in realising the

objectives of the CBD & BD Act.

In spite of more than a decade of existence of the Act and Rules, stakeholders are still unclear about

ABS provisions under the Act. This Consultation is an effort to demystify issues relevant to ABS under

the Indian Biological Diversity Act through evolving effective communication tools, methodologies,

strategies and innovative approaches. This consultation is also to bring together the experts in

communication and domain knowledge holders on ABS to evolve a better outputs.

Objectives:

• Evolve an innovative and effective communication strategy for the ABS under BD Act in India. • Developing effective communication tools for specific stakeholders. • Use of modern communication methodologies and approaches for communicating the

Essence of ABS under the act to various relevant stakeholders. The Consultation will have 5 working groups (10-15 people each) alongside two plenaries with

opening and closing remarks on the thematic areas with working group presentations with generated

outputs on the following thematic groups:

1. Communicating ABS for BMCs

Every local body (for eg.,Village Panchayat), in accordance with provisions of Section 41 of the BD Act shall constitute a BMC within its area for the purpose of promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and micro-organisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity. The BMCs are the statutory bodies at the local level.

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2. Using Print, Electronic Media and Social Networking Tools to Raise Awareness on ABS

Use of advanced technologies such as tweeters, Google Groups, Wiki-space, Face Book, Caricature, social media, multimedia has become current trend of communication and large number of stakeholders do have attraction for these media along with innovatively designed print materials hence this calls for us to use these tools for the communicating ABS.

3. Development of Curriculum for ABS. Since last two years NBA has put in its efforts to popularise the provisions of act with special reference to ABS, over the months there is fair amount of demand to learn and understand more information about access benefit sharing as per the biological diversity act. Hence this calls for developing an curriculum for the specific target groups these groups are decision makers, legal professionals, BMCs, managers of natural resources, line departments dealing with biological resources, pharma and biotechnology industries, national and international corporates, users and benefit claimers under the biological diversity act. Hence we need to evolve an curriculum for these target groups to educate them about the provisions of ABS under the act.

4. Communicating ABS to Legal Professionals. Fair amount of interest has been generated among the Legal Professionals within India to access the knowledge about the biological diversity act and its ABS provisions, as print media has communicated many issues relevant to the act across the nation. It also becomes inevitable for the practicing lawyers and legal advisors at the bio-resources user of agencies & corporates to understand realities involved in each of the cases in depth about biological resources and relevant practices among the users of bio-resources. Hence we need to develop relevant communication tools for the Legal Professionals dealing the BD act and its ABS provisions.

5. Communicating ABS Mechanism to State Biodiversity Boards. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) wishes to bring all the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) into one plain of understanding to deal with ABS provisions under the biological diversity act. Currently the SBBs deal with bio-resources access applications for the Indian bio-resource users and thereby deal with benefit arising out of bio-resources by the users and benefit claimers. Since India is large country with diversity of culture and resources. This calls for suitable communication tools to reach common goals under the Biological Diversity Act

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Annexure 4 - Draft Agenda

National Biodiversity Authority UNEP – GEF – MoEF ABS Project

“Strengthening the implementation of the Biological Diversity Act and Rules with focus on its Access and

Benefit Sharing Provisions”

National Consultation on the Communicating for Access Benefit Sharing

Date : 19-20 November, 2013

Venue: Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Campus, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Draft Agenda

Date : 19 Nov,2013 09:30 - 10:30 Registration & Grouping 10:30 - 11:00 Inauguration

Key Note Address on Communicating for ABS 11:00 - 11:20 Photo Sessions & Coffee / Tea Break 11:20 - 12:00 Opening Plenary - Introducing Working Groups topics to participants and

team leads 1. WG1 - Communicating ABS for BMCs 2. WG2 - Using Print and Electronic Media and Social Networking

Tools to Raise Awareness on ABS 3. WG3 - Development of Curriculum for ABS 4. WG4 - Communicating ABS to Legal Professionals 5. WG5 -Communicating ABS Mechanism to State Biodiversity Boards

12:00 - 13:30 Working Groups Sessions at Seminar Halls 13:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break 14:00 - 15:30 Working Group Presentations 15:30 - 15:45 Coffee / Tea Break 15:45 - 17:30 Discussion & Closing Remarks for the Day Deliberations

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Date : 20 Nov, 2013 Work Group Presentations 10:00 - 10:20 WG1 - Topic: Communicating ABS for BMCs 10:20 - 10:40 WG2 - Topic: Using Print, Electronic Media and Social Networking Tools to

Raise Awareness on ABS 10:40 - 11:00 Coffee / Tea Break 11:00 - 11:20 WG3 - Topic: Development of Curriculum for ABS 11:20 - 11:40 WG4 - Topic: Communicating ABS to Legal Professionals. 11:40 - 12:00 WG5 – Topic: Communicating ABS Mechanism to State Biodiversity Boards 12:00 - 13:30 Discussion and Fine Tuning the Documents. 13:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break 14:00 - 15:00 Presentation of the Documents Before the Group by Team Leads –

Submission of Hard and Soft Copies of Outputs to NBA 15:00 - 15:15 Coffee / Tea Break 15:15 - 15:40 Closing Plenary 15:40 - 16:00 Open Interaction Among the Working Groups 16:00 - 17:00 Closing remarks/ TA Disbursements by the NBA Accounts Division