Explained | Biodiversity Heritage Sites in India

Gupteswar Forest, adjacent to Gupteswar Shiva temple in Odisha’s Koraput district has been declared as the fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) of the state.

The site is spread over 350 hectares of demarcated area. 

Along with its sacred grooves traditionally worshipped by the local community, the site is bestowed with a wide range of flora and fauna.

With this declaration, the state now has four Biodiversity Heritage Sites. 

The other three are Mandasaru in Kandhamal district, Mahendragiri in Gajapati district, and Gandhamardan Hill in Bargarh and Balangir districts.

The state government has asked the Odisha Biodiversity Board to prepare a long-term plan for intensive conservation and development of these sites through direct participation of the local communities. 

As per Section 37(1) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 the state governments may, from time to time in consultation with the local bodies, notify in the Official Gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites.

Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro led to the preparation of the international legal instrument, the ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’  during the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) for the conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable sharing of benefits of biological diversity. 

• Consequently, the Indian Parliament passed the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, which came into force in 2003. India also notified the Biological Diversity Rules in 2004. 

• The Act provides a legal framework for conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and generation and dissemination of knowledge.

• A three-tier institutional structure was formed for implementation of the BD Act 2002, whereby the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was established in 2003 under Section 8 of the Act. 

• The NBA is a statutory body that performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory functions for the government. The NBA, with its headquarters in Chennai, implements the BD Act at the national level as the first tier. 

• The second and the third tier constitute the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) operating at the local level.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites

Biodiversity Heritage Site is a unique conservation approach recognised under the Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. 

Biodiversity Heritage Sites are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems. They are spread over terrestrial, coastal, inland and marine waters having rich biodiversity as well as:

i) Domesticated species

ii) High endemism

iii) Rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domesticated/cultivated species

iv) Fossil beds

v) Cultural, ethical or aesthetic values for maintaining cultural diversity, with or without long human association with them.

As many as 45 Biodiversity Heritage Sites have been notified by 16 states. 

They are: 

1) Majuli River Island - Assam

2) Borjuli Wild Rice Site - Assam

3) Hajong Tortoise Lake - Assam

4) Purvatali Rai - Goa

5) Sacred Grove at Sural Bhatori Monastery - Himachal Pradesh 

6) High Altitude Meadow, Hudan Bhatori - Himachal Pradesh

7) Birch-Pine Forest Patch, Nain Gahar - Himachal Pradesh

8) Nallur Tamarind Grove, Bengaluru - Karnataka

9) Hogrekan, Chikkamagaluru - Karnataka

10) University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru - Karnataka

11) Ambaraguda, Shimoga - Karnataka

12) Asramam, Kollam - Kerala

13) Naro Hills, Satna - Madhya Pradesh

14) Patalkot, Chhindwara - Madhya Pradesh

15) Amarkantak - Madhya Pradesh

16) Glory of Allapallii, Gadchiroli - Maharashtra

17) Bambarde Myristica Swamps, Dodamarg - Maharashtra

18) Ganeshkhind Garden, Pune - Maharashtra

19) Landorkhori, Jalgaon - Maharashtra

20) Schistura Hiranyakeshi, Sindhudurg - Maharashtra

21) Dialong Village, Tamenglong - Manipur

22) Khlaw Kur Syiem Kmielng, Ri-Bhoi - Meghalaya      

23) Mandasaru, Kandhamal - Odisha

24) Mahendragiri Hill, Gajapati - Odisha

25) Gandhamardan Hill, Bolangir and Bargarh - Odisha

26) Gupteswar Forest, Koraput - Odisha

27) Tungkyong Dho - Sikkim 

28) Arittapatti, Madurai - Tamil Nadu

29) Ameenpur Lake, Sangareddy - Telangana

30) Gharial Rehabilitation Centre, Lucknow - Uttar Pradesh

31) Baramura Waterfall, Khowai - Tripura

32) Silachari Caves, Gomati - Tripura

33) Chabimura (Debbari), Gomati - Tripura

34) Betlingshib & its surroundings - Tripura

35) Unakoti - Tripura

36) Tonglu, Darjeeling - West Bengal

37) Dhotrey, Darjeeling - West Bengal

38) Chilkigarh Kanak Durga, Jhargram - West Bengal     

39) State Horticulture Research and Development Station, Nadia - West Bengal

40) Char Balidanga, Nadia - West Bengal

41) Amkhoi Wood Fossil Park, Birbhum - West Bengal

42) Baneswar Shiva Dighi, Coochbehar - West Bengal

43) Namthing Pokhari, Darjeeling - West Bengal

44) Birampur-Baguran Jalpai, Purba Medinipur - West Bengal

45) Haldir Char Island, Purba Medinipur - West Bengal.