Preliminary

1. Short title, extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint:

Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.

2. Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "benefit claimers" means the conservers of biological resources, their byproducts, creators and holders of knowledge and information relating to the use of such biological resources, innovations and practices associated with such use and application;

(b) "biological diversity" means the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within species or between species and of eco systems;

(c) "biological resources" means plants, animals and micro organisms or parts thereof, their genetic material and by products (excluding value added products) with actual or potential use or value, but does not include human genetic material;

(d) "bio survey and bio utilization" means survey or collection of species, subspecies, genes, components and extracts of biological resource for any purpose and includes characterization, inventorisation and bioassay;

(e) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the National Biodiversity Authority or, as the case may be, of the State Biodiversity Board;

(f) "commercial utilization" means end uses of biological resources for commercial utilization such as drugs, industrial enzymes, food flavours, fragrance, cosmetics, emulsifiers, oleoresins, colours, extracts and genes used for improving crops and livestock through genetic intervention, but does not include conventional breeding or traditional practices in use in any agriculture, horticulture, poultry, dairy farming, animal husbandry or bee keeping;

(g) "fair and equitable benefit sharing" means sharing of benefits as determined by the National Biodiversity Authority under section 2 1;

(h) "local bodies" means Panchayats and Municipalities, by whatever name called, within the meaning of clause (1) of article 243B and clause (1) of article 243Q of the Constitution and in the absence of any Panchayats or Municipalities, institutions of self government constituted under any other provision of the Constitution or any Central Act or State Act;

(i) "member" means a member of the National Biodiversity Authority or a State Biodiversity Board and includes the Chairperson;

(j) "National Biodiversity Authority" means the National Biodiversity Authority established under section 8;

(k) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(l) "regulations" means regulations made under this Act;

(m) "research" means study or systematic investigation of any biological resource or technological application, that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify products or processes for any use;

(n) "State Biodiversity Board" means the State Biodiversity Board established under section 22;

(o) "sustainable use" means the use of components of biological diversity in such manner and at such rate that does not lead to the long term decline of the biological diversity thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations;

(p) "value added products" means products which may contain portions or extracts of plants and animals in unrecognizable and physically inseparable form.