Forests are not merely a useful bio-resource to the forest dwellers and other

tribal communities but a whole way of life, which includes their culture, society,
food, income, and employment. They worship forests as their Gods and Goddesses in
appreciation of sustaining their life. The dependency of forest dwellers and other
tribal communities on the forests is deeply interwoven with their traditional and
indigenous knowledge, which they acquired through generations from their elders.
The indigenous knowledge evolved by these communities is predominantly influenced
by the natural forces and has been ecologically sustainable. With the advent of
evolutionary changes in human civilization such as urbanization, globalization, and
industrialization, the lives of these indigenous communities do not leave
uninfluenced by these changes. This study is related to implement the third
objective of the Biodiversity Act 2002, i.e., access and benefit sharing
effectively in the state, the collection of data related to tradable bio-resources
of Madhya Pradesh (quantity, value, trade chain, and price-assessment of bio-
resources). Chandra Prakash Kala in his paper on Harvesting and Supply Chain
Analysis of Ethnobotanical Species has mentioned about his study on the trends and
status of collection, seasons of collection, prices, and supply chain of
ethnobotanicals. He has also found that as the tribal communities found these
trades quite lucrative, they have started unsustainable harvesting of tradable
forest resources to get maximum returns, unlike their ancestors.
To establish the trade chain of the different stakeholders involved in the trade of
the bio-resources, it is important to understand the exact scenario of the market.
Pradeep Chaudhary in his paper related to Green Economics and Value Chain Analysis
has discussed about the economics and value chain for a medicinal plant Piper
longum Linn. cultivated by village-based marginal farmers from Odisha state of
India, whose livelihoods are significantly supported by the commercial scale
production of this plant.
As the access and benefit sharing is not implemented by most of the states in
India very effectively, there is a need to have clarity and awareness about the law
amongst everyone. K. Venkatraman, in his paper, has summarized the main features of
India’s Biological Diversity Act 2002 (BD Act) and its role in biodiversity
conservation in the country. He has also mentioned about the three-tier system of
the BD Act and also about the access and benefit sharing in detail. He has also
summarized the necessary sections of the Act for the approval of access to and
transfer of biological resources,
results or technology of scientific research to foreign citizens, companies or non-
resident Indians and several other matters related to conservation of India’s
biodiversity.The Act
insists upon appropriate benefit sharing under mutually agreed terms related to
access and transfer of biological resources or knowledge occurring in or obtained
from India for various
purposes.