Govt notifies Natural History Museum in Mizoram as country’s 21st designated repository

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has designated the Natural History Museum (NHM), Mizoram University, Aizawl, as a designated repository under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. 

• Established in 2022 under the aegis of Mizoram University, a central university established by an Act of Parliament, the NHM is uniquely positioned because of its location within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot and its specialised taxonomic expertise. 

• Mizoram and the wider Northeastern Region harbour more than 7,500 species of flowering plants and over 2,000 faunal species. 

• The NHM will maintain voucher specimens of select flora, including pteridophytes and macrofungi, and fauna such as reptiles, amphibians, fishes, moths, beetles and butterflies. 

• It will also serve as the designated depository for type specimens of newly discovered species from the region. 

• These authenticated collections will strengthen species identification, traceability and scientific research while safeguarding India’s biological resources for long-term conservation. 

• They will also support future ecological restoration in the event of habitat loss, natural disasters or species decline.

• The museum’s expertise in pteridophytes, macrofungi, moths, beetles and other lesser-studied taxa fills an important gap in India’s network of designated repositories and strengthens the scientific documentation of the region’s rich biodiversity.

National network of repositories

• Designated repositories constitute an important component of India’s biodiversity governance framework by preserving authenticated biological specimens accessed under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

• Based on the recommendation of the National Biodiversity Authority and after due examination of the proposal, the central government notified the institution as a designated repository. 

• With this notification, NHM becomes India’s 21st designated repository.

• These repositories will support the safe custody of biological materials, including voucher specimens, and strengthen the documentation of newly discovered species, as well as biological resources used for research and commercial purposes. 

• The repositories are entrusted with maintaining biological materials in safe custody, and any person discovering a new taxon is required to notify the designated repository and deposit the corresponding voucher specimens. 

• To facilitate this process, the NBA has issued guidelines outlining the criteria for institutions seeking designation as repositories. 

• Proposals received from institutions are considered by the NBA and recommended to the ministry for notification.

National Biodiversity Authority

• The National Biodiversity Authority is a body established in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, at Chennai with effect from October 1, 2003 under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. 

• The Biological Diversity Act is being implemented through a three-tiered institutional structure — NBA at national level, State Biodiversity Boards at state level and Biodiversity Management Committees at local level.

• The NBA is an autonomous, statutory and regulatory organisation.

• It performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

• The NBA with its headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, delivers its mandate through a structure that comprises the Authority, Secretariat, SBBs, BMCs and expert committees.

• Since its establishment, NBA has supported the creation of SBBs in 29 states/UTs and facilitated the establishment of BMCs at the local level.

The main objectives of NBA are:

i) To regulate access to biological resources of the country to conserve and sustainable use of biological diversity.

ii) To secure sharing of benefits with the local people as conservers of biological resources and holders of knowledge and information relating to the use of biological resources.

iii) Conservation and development of areas of importance from the view point of biological diversity by declaring them as biological diversity heritage sites.

iv) Protection and rehabilitation of threatened species. 

v) Involving with institutions of state government in the broad scheme of implementation of the BD Act through constitution of committees.