16th National Meet of Biodiversity Boards Opens in Chandigarh

The 16th National Meet of the State Biodiversity Boards and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils opened at Chandigarh on 6 September 2026. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) organised it. The meeting runs two days, on 6 and 7 September, and draws chairpersons and member secretaries of the boards and councils from every part of the country.

Who presided

Three leaders presided over the inaugural session. They were Gulab Chand Kataria, Governor of Punjab and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh; Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Rao Narbir Singh, Haryana's Minister for Environment, Forest and Wildlife. Virendra Tiwari is the Chairperson of the National Biodiversity Authority and was present, as were the Ministry's Secretary Tanmay Kumar and Director General of Forests Sushil Kumar Awasthi.

The law behind the meeting

The Governor linked ecological security to food security, water security, livelihoods and sustainable development. He asked for stronger Biodiversity Management Committees and People's Biodiversity Registers. The Union Minister traced the legal frame to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and said the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Biological Diversity Rules, 2024 have tightened it further. He urged States and Union Territories to bring their own rules and processes in line with the amended framework.

Money reaching communities

On Access and Benefit Sharing, the Minister said the National Biodiversity Authority has passed on more than Rs 200 crore of ABS funds. Farmers, local communities, Biodiversity Management Committees, State Biodiversity Boards, Union Territory Biodiversity Councils and research institutions have received the money. He wanted the benefit to be visible to communities and tied to conservation and steady livelihoods. He also asked that the more than 2.76 lakh Biodiversity Management Committees be made to work in practice, and that People's Biodiversity Registers become live planning tools for local bodies.

India's commitments

The Minister noted that India has filed its 7th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its 1st National Report on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. He spoke of the updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for 2024 to 2030, which is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. He asked for measurable results in ecosystem restoration, species and habitat conservation, agro-biodiversity and climate-resilient landscapes, and encouraged States and Union Territories to help meet the global 30-by-30 conservation target. He also recalled Mission LiFE, Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, Amrit Sarovar and the Green Credit Programme.