New Delhi, April 7 The Centre designated two institutions as repositories for different categories of biological resources on Tuesday, allowing them to support the safe custody of biological materials, including voucher specimens, and strengthen the documentation of newly discovered species, as well as biological resources used for research and commercial purposes.
The two institutions are the Referral Centre at the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi, and the MACS Collection of Microorganisms and National Fungal Culture Collection at the Agharkar Research Institute in Pune.
"The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), in consultation with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has enabled the notification of these two institutions as designated repositories under Section 39 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002," an official said.
The repositories are entrusted with maintaining biological materials in safe custody, and any person discovering a new taxon is required to notify the designated repository and deposit the corresponding voucher specimens.
So far, 18 institutions have been designated as national repositories under Section 39 of the Act. With the addition of these two institutions, the national network of repositories has increased to 20.
"This will ensure that biological materials are preserved under appropriate scientific conditions and made accessible for research and innovation in a transparent and accountable manner. It will also support the effective implementation of access and benefit sharing provisions by improving traceability and record-keeping," the official said.
