Legal Mechanisms for Conservation and Commercialization of Biological Resources

Biodiversity is the variety of living species that forms an essential part of the ecosystem without which even human survival is not possible. The loss of Biodiversity due to anthropogenic activities has made the human civilization to think ways for reducing rather controlling such losses for which they initiated legal regulatory framework from time to time. One such framework is the Access and Benefit Sharing mechanism launched initially by the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 and later supported by Nagoya Protocol. In India the same has been implemented by virtue of Biological Diversity Act, 2002. This ABS mechanism is expected to link conservation of Biodiversity with its commercialization since utilization of Biological Resources is must for human survival but it must be used in a sustainable manner without compromising with the needs of the present as well as the future generations. In short this mechanism ensures conservation through commercialization. Assam a land of scenic beauty is held as the Biodiversity hotspot for not only India but for the entire world as well. As such Biodiversity laws do play an important role in regulating the human excess to Biological Resources. This book makes an attempt to analyse the role played by the legal framework in regulating the process of conservation and commercialization of Biological Resources with a case study of Kamrup District, Assam and highlights the best practices required for sustainable utilization of such resources.