Biodiversity Board for State expected in a month

Shastry V. Mallady and D. Karthikeyan

MADURAI: Procedures for setting up a State Biodiversity Board in Tamil Nadu have been completed and a GO from the State Government is expected in a month’s time, S. Kannaiyan, Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority, said here on Friday. He said that 18 States had established Biodiversity Boards and Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were likely to make an announcement soon.

Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. Kannaiyan said that the National Biodiversity Authority would provide Rs.10 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Government towards setting up an office for the proposed board. He was in the city to attend a State-level workshop on “traditional livestock keepers, indigenous knowledge and biodiversity conservation,” organised by a non-governmental organisation. According to him, the NBA had been giving importance to protect animal genetic resources and in this process special attention was paid to ‘Umbalacheri,’ an indigenous cattle breed common in the delta regions of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam.