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Itanagar, May 22 (PTI): The Shergaon Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh was on Saturday awarded the best such panel in the country at the fifth edition of the India Biodiversity Award, official sources said.
The award was given by the National Biodiversity Authority at a virtual programme on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, they said.
The India Biodiversity Awards is a joint initiative by the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change ministry, National Biodiversity Authority and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
"I congratulate the #Shergaon Biodiversity Management Committee for winning the #IndiaBiodiversityAward2021 in the category of 'Best Biodiversity Management Committee'. Proud to know Shergaon BMC is first in Arunachal to win the Award," Chief Minister, Pema Khandu tweeted.
It is an innovative mechanism to identify and recognise the efforts of individuals, communities and institutions working towards biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of biological resources, access and benefit sharing and biodiversity governance, sources said.
Winners of the India Biodiversity Awards get a memento, a certificate, and a cash prize of INR two lakh each for individuals and INR 5 lakh each for institutions.
The award is given in five categories--Conservation of Wild Species, Conservation of Domesticated Species: Institution and Individual, Best Biodiversity Management Committee, Sustainable Use of Biological Resources: Institution and Individual, and Replicable Mechanisms for Access and Benefit Sharing.
The BMC award is given to appreciate the committees for the exemplary work in documentation of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, generating awareness, establishing best practices in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
The Shergaon BMC has worked on documentation of endemic flora and fauna of the village forest. Plant species like Paris polyphylla, Taxus baccata, Swertia chirayita, Rubia cordifolia, and faunas such as red panda, flying squirrels, civets, Himalayan Asiatic black bear have been documented, sources said.
Shergaon BMC Chairman Pem Norbu Thungon dedicated the award to the ancestors for preserving the forest and all villagers.
It was established on March 15, 2016, and Arunachal Pradesh has 164 BMCs. BMCs are created to promote conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity.