Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
juncture, the Biodiversity Board found itself dominated by LDF sympa-
thizers and therefore in a position to carry out and support the party's
ongoing decentralization reforms, with an environmental focus.
The Biodiversity Board's activities became formally tied to the Peo-
ple's Plan through one of its main projects: People's Biodiversity Regis-
ters. Since its inception, one of the board's core activities has been to set
up projects throughout Kerala to collect information about the history
and uses of plants and animals, as well as any traditional knowledge about
them, while fostering local participation in the government management
of resources.10 Teachers and students from local schools and colleges,
NGOs, and villagers produce these registers, and similar biodiversity
boards throughout the country are also engaged in developing them, an
activity mandated under the National Biodiversity Bill. Kerala, however,
has produced the second largest number of registers in India, despite
being one of the smaller states geographically.11
The initial development of these registers dovetailed with the goals of
the People's Plan, which was already being implemented. Not only had
several members of the Biodiversity Board supported and had direct ex-
perience executing the LDF's decentralization reforms, but the People's
Plan had even previously supported a similar inventory process, to assist
people at the local level with planning and environmental management.
The plan had advocated mapping natural resource information in part-
nership with NGOs such as the KSSP. The development of Biodiversity
Registers therefore aligned perfectly with existing government initiatives.
The People's Plan was first implemented by the Kerala State Planning
Board, a state agency. Consequently, the planning board also oversaw the
development of the state's first Biodiversity Registers in the late 1990s,
with technical assistance from the KSSP. These registers directly received
funds allocated to the People's Plan under Kerala's Ninth Five Year Plan.
W hen the state officially established the Biodiversity Board in 2005, the
board assumed control over the creation of the registers.12 To this day,
the Kerala State Planning Board and the People's Plan remain influential
institutions backing the Biodiversity Board.13
I had the opportunity to look at several of Kerala's Biodiversity Regis-
ters. Many are stored in the board's main office in Thiruvananthapuram,
