About People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR):
- It is a comprehensive record documenting various aspects of biodiversity, including the conservation of habitats, and preservation of local agricultural varieties, and domesticated animals.
- It also includes various fauna reeds, micro-organisms, and the accumulation of knowledge related to the area’s biological diversity.
- Kerala is the first state in India to have a Biodiversity Register across all the local bodies.
- Presently Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) have prepared more than 2.5 lakhs of PRBs across the country.
- BMCs are set up under the Biological Diversity Act 2002 to promote conservation and document biological diversity by preparing PBRs in collaboration with local communities across states and Union Territories.
- There is a plan to establish PBRs in every village across the country under Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
- Mission LiFE promotes the conservation of planet Earth through the mindful use of natural resources and various community and individual actions nationwide.
Why in the News?
- Thazhakara has become the first panchayat in Alappuzha, the first in Kerala to update and publish a comprehensive People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) with the involvement of local communities.
- This update of PBR reveals a decline in Indian black turtles, Indian garden lizards, barn owls, and Indian flying foxes, largely attributed to poaching and other factors.

