Citizens Charter of the Assam State Biodiversity Board 1. Vision Bountiful, Secured and Economically Rewarding Biological Divers

Citizens Charter of the Assam State Biodiversity Board

1. Vision Bountiful, secured and economically rewarding biological diversity

2. Mission Ownership rights to people for conservation and wise-use of local biological resources and equitable sharing of benefits on commercial utilisation.

3. Who we are Assam State Biodiversity Board is an autonomous and statutory body created by the Government of Assam in exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (I) of Section-22 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (Act 18 of 2003). The Board was notified on 29th September-2010, to promote biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of commercial use of biological resources or associated traditional knowledge. The headquarter of the Board is located at Guwahati.

4. Our Objectives  Promote conservation and sustainable utilization of biological resources.  Inventory biological richness at local level and record in Peoples’ Biodiversity Registers  Devise and decide strategies for conservation and sustainable use of biological resources  Develop framework for equitable sharing of benefit arising out of use of biological resources  Promote awareness and research

5. Our Mandate  The primary mandate of the Board is to collaborate with a range of partners to ensure biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of bio-resources. As a body corporate under the Biodiversity Act, the Board is mandated to:  Provide for regulated access to bio-resources for commercial purpose by Indian Nationals  Facilitate documentation of biodiversity and associated knowledge (People's Biodiversity Registers) leading to Information on biological resources and ensure adequate protection of such knowledge.  Facilitate awareness and capacity building of partners including Biodiversity Management Committees, NGOs and other agencies.  Mainstream biodiversity concerns and biodiversity based livelihoods in sectoral policies and planning  Strengthen in situ and ex situ conservation of biodiversity including setting-up of biodiversity heritage sites  Advise the state government on issues of biodiversity conservation, its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits

6. Activities: With the eco-region as the conservation unit, conservation action has been initiated in all of the seven eco-regions of the state. The conservation actions are under the following thematic heads:  Information and documentation  In-situ and ex-situ conservation  Education and awareness  Sustainable use and equitable benefit sharing  Governance  Policy and legal aspects

7. Programmes Undertaken by us:  Constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).  Preparation of People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR).  Biodiversity Awareness/ Education Programs.  Biodiversity Research Associate Programme  Internship Programme on ‘Biodiversity Conservation’

8. Projects Undertaken by us:  Biodiversity Assessment Study of proposed 132 KV S/C west Phileng-Marpara Transmission Line (Dampa Tiger Reserve), Mizoram”  Study the Diversity of Spiders of Upper Assam with special reference to KNP.  Inventory and Documentation of Insect Fauna of Assam from existing entomological resources/ information  Documentation of the commonly traded Rare and Endemic Wild Edible Bio- Resources from the Local Markets of Central Assam, India.  Study on the Fish Diversity in Brahmaputra River inside Assam to identify the threatened species, evaluate and determine their present conservation status and needs.  Preparation of Assam Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan”  Assam Biodiversity Portal  Five (5) short documentaries on the themes:  Subsistence value of Forests,  Traditional Knowledge,  Human-Animal Conflict,  Trades in NTFP and  Life of a Forest Guard.

9. On-going Projects: a. Plant Diversity Assessment of Dima Hasao district in Assam. b. Enhancing Conservation efforts in Hoolangapar Gibbong Wildlife Sanctuary c. Development of a Digital PBR Database. d. Nature Learning Centre (NLC), Assam. e. Documentation of tradable bio-resources and associated traditional knowledge from the local communities of Assam for establishing Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Provisions.

10. Publications: a. Publication of a bilingual booklet on Biodiversity Act 2002 and Assam Biodiversity Rules 2010. b. Wonder Island Burhachapori c. Glimpse of Assam d. Assam: Land of Red River & Blue Hills e. Sustainable development (Assamese & English) f. BMC toolkit (Assamese, English & Bengali) g. Story book (Assamese) h. Common Spider from selected Protected Areas of Upper Assam. i. Edible Bio-recourses and Livelihood j. Orchid Diversity of Assam k. Karbi Anglong, Moving ahead for Biodiversity Conservation l. Brochure on ‘Assam State Biodiversity Board’ (both in Assamese & English)

11. Documentaries: i. Biodiversity of Assam and Biological Diversity Act 2002. ii. Amulya Jaibaboichitra (Assamese) iii. Biodiversity of Assam (English) iv. Documentary on ASBB logo v. Five (5) short documentaries on the themes:  Subsistence value of Forests,  Traditional Knowledge,  Human-Animal Conflict,  Trades in NTFP and  Life of a Forest Guard. 12. How you can help To help us perform better, we need you to inform us about any activity which may endanger the biodiversity of the state or suggest any measures which might help enhanced our conservation efforts.

13. How to give us feed back We welcome comments from our citizens to help us make our service better. Feel free to provide feed backs including complements, suggestions and complaints at our email: [email protected] or you can write at our office address below. We are also available on face book page

14. How you could contact us Following person of the Board to be contacted for various purposes: Member Secretary Mr. A. K. Johari, IFS Special Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Biodiversity & Climate Change) Assam

Email: [email protected]

15. For further improvement of the charter Citizens are welcome to give their comments and suggestions for further improvement of the Charter at following address:

Assam State Biodiversity Board Aranya Bhawan, 2nd Floor Near Sankardev Kalakshetra, Panjabari, Guwahati-781037 Email: [email protected] Phone: 0361-2333917/2332278 Fax: 0361- 2333788

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