On the auspicious occasion of International Biological Diversity Day today (22 May 2014), we are pleased and privileged to dedicate this BioGov portal (http://biogov.in) to the endeavors of Biodiversity Governance in India.

As you know, India is very rich in Biodiversity; however, unsustainable harvesting and illegal exploitation of large number of highly precious plants in India has raised a serious alarm on the existence of hundreds of endemic (Indian) plant species. As per the decade long comprehensive studies conducted by Dr. M. K. Sarkar on the Biodiversity Governance in India, a total of 201 life saving Medicinal Plants species are suffering from various degree of threats. Some of those 201 species are on the verge of extinction. Nevertheless, the Indian legislation only provides to protect merely the ‘six’ plant species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Moreover, this number of protected plant species remained just the ‘six’ even after 42 years of the inception of this Act. The International authoritative databases enlisting threatened and endangered plants are mostly silent for most of the threatened plant species of India due to lack of information. Lack of effective Governance Policies further worsens the situation. Thus, there is a lot that need to be done as a matter of urgency in this sub-continent.

Dr. M. K. Sarkar, the author of important book “Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India – A Geo informatic Approach” deserves big thanks for igniting the Spirit of Biodiversity Governance in India and allowing BioGov to make his entire work available via this portal so that the country could benefit from his life-time studies on Biodiversity Governance. Read More