Syllabus:

GS 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment

Context: 

Recently, the Central government approved the Biological Diversity (Access to Biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025.

More on the News

• The rules will now guide the sharing of benefits for the use of biological resources, including digital sequence information (DSI) or knowledge associated with it. 
• The Regulation has set slabs based on the annual turnover of the person or the industry accessing the resource.

Key Highlights of the Regulation

All entities with an annual turnover exceeding ₹1 crore are required to submit a statement detailing their annual resource usage.

The new Act encouraged the cultivation of medicinal plants and exempted practitioners of Indian systems of medicine from seeking prior approvals for access and benefit-sharing obligations.

• This is being done as per the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023, which had replaced the Biological Diversity Act of 2002. 

The 2025 notification indicates that in case a product contains both cultivated and uncultivated plants, benefits would not need to be shared on products identified by the MoEFCC.

The benefit-sharing amount shall not be less than 5% of the auction proceeds or sale amount or purchase price for biological resources of significant conservation or economic value.

• These resources include red sanders, sandalwood, agarwood, and threatened species notified under Section 38 of the Biodiversity Act 2002.
• The benefit-sharing component could go up to more than 20 percent in case of commercial use. 

The 2025 Regulation replaces the 2014 Guidelines, expanding the scope to include DSI, which can now be considered part of genetic resources, unlike the earlier framework.

• This addition is helpful, considering they can be used instead directly using physical form of biodiversity.  

The Regulation mandates benefit-sharing by researchers and IPR applicants, detailing how claims are settled. 

• Of the total amount collected, 10-15% will be retained by The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA). 

Mains Question: 

PYQ. How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act of 2002 helpful in the conservation of flora and fauna? (2018)