In News:

Following directions issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a suo motu case, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) constituted a multi-disciplinary Expert Committee on Invasive Alien Species.

About the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)

• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is an autonomous statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It was established on 1 October 2003 under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted to implement India's commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992.
• The Authority is responsible for conserving India's biological diversity, promoting its sustainable use, and ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits (Access and Benefit Sharing – ABS) arising from the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.

Key Functions

• The NBA advises the Central Government on biodiversity conservation policies and sustainable utilization of biological resources. It also recommends the notification of Biodiversity Heritage Sites under the Biological Diversity Act.
• The Authority regulates access by foreign individuals, companies, and institutions to India's biological resources and grants approvals for research, commercial use, transfer of research results, and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) based on Indian biological resources.
• It coordinates with State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) for regulating commercial use of biological resources by Indian entities and oversees Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) constituted at the local level. These committees prepare People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) documenting local biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
• The NBA is also empowered to constitute expert committees to address emerging biodiversity issues, such as the recently formed committee on Invasive Alien Species.