Biological diversity: meaning, scope, biological resources and traditional knowledge

1. Meaning of biological diversity

Section 2(b) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (18 of 2003) defines biological diversity, or biodiversity, as the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. The definition is taken from Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992.

Three levels are recognised:

• Genetic diversity: variation of genes within a species, for example the thousands of traditional rice varieties grown in India;
• Species diversity: the variety of species in an area; and
• Ecosystem diversity: the variety of habitats, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, coral reefs and deserts.

2. Scope and importance

India is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries and contains four of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (the Himalaya, the Indo-Burma region, the Western Ghats with Sri Lanka, and Sundaland through the Nicobar Islands). The scope of the subject can be described under these heads:

• Ecological: stability of ecosystems, soil, water and climate.
• Economic: food, fodder, timber, fibre, and raw material for drugs, cosmetics and industrial enzymes; plant genetic resources for breeding new crops.
• Cultural and medicinal: Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and folk medicine depend on local plants and on the knowledge of how to use them.
• Legal: sovereign rights over resources, access and benefit sharing, protection of knowledge holders, conservation duties of the State under Article 48A and the citizen’s duty under Article 51A(g).

The threats are habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution and climate change, and, from the IP side, appropriation of resources and knowledge without consent or payment.

3. Biological resources

Section 2(c), as substituted in 2023, says biological resources include plants, animals, micro-organisms or parts of their genetic material and derivatives (excluding value added products), with actual or potential use or value for humanity, but do not include human genetic material.

• Derivative (section 2(fa)): a naturally occurring biochemical compound or metabolite of biological resources, even if it does not contain functional units of heredity. So an extract of a leaf is covered.
• Value added products (section 2(p)): products which may contain portions or extracts of plants and animals in unrecognisable and physically inseparable form. These are outside the definition, so a finished herbal tablet is not itself a biological resource.
• Commercial utilisation (section 2(f)): end uses such as drugs, industrial enzymes, food flavours, fragrances, cosmetics, extracts and genes used to improve crops and livestock by genetic intervention, but not conventional breeding or traditional practices in agriculture, horticulture, poultry, dairy, animal husbandry or bee keeping.

4. Traditional knowledge

Traditional knowledge (TK) is the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities, developed over generations, usually held collectively and passed on orally: which plant heals wounds, how to preserve seed, how to treat cattle. The Act does not define TK, but the 2023 amendment introduced:

• Codified traditional knowledge (section 2(ea)): knowledge derived from the authoritative books specified in the First Schedule to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, that is, the classical texts of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani; and
• Benefit claimers (section 2(aa)): the conservers of biological resources and the creators and holders of associated TK, excluding codified TK for Indians.

Why ordinary IP fits TK badly: it is old (so not novel), collective (no identifiable author or inventor), oral (no fixed expression), and meant to be shared, not owned for a limited term. India therefore protects it in several ways.

• Defensive protection: the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), started by CSIR and the AYUSH Ministry in 2001, translates classical texts into formats patent examiners can search, so that patents claiming known remedies are refused. Section 3(p) of the Patents Act, 1970 excludes an invention which is in effect traditional knowledge or an aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditionally known components.
• Positive protection: the Biological Diversity Act requires approval before foreigners access TK (section 3) and before anyone obtains IP on inventions based on it (section 6), with benefit sharing (section 21); People’s Biodiversity Registers kept by Biodiversity Management Committees record local knowledge; and section 36(5) directs the Central Government to protect local knowledge, including by registration and a sui generis system.
• Related laws: farmers’ rights under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, and geographical indications (dealt with in the IPR I note on geographical indications).

5. Biopiracy

Biopiracy is the appropriation of biological resources or associated traditional knowledge, usually by obtaining patents abroad, without the consent of the source country or community and without sharing benefits. Three episodes are always cited.

• Turmeric. A US patent granted in 1995 to two researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center for the use of turmeric powder to heal wounds was challenged by CSIR with ancient Sanskrit texts and an old Indian journal article, and was revoked by the US Patent Office in 1997 for lack of novelty.
• Neem. A European patent granted to W.R. Grace and the US Department of Agriculture for a method of controlling fungi on plants using neem oil was opposed by Indian farmers’ groups and others and revoked by the European Patent Office in 2000, a decision upheld on appeal in 2005, because the use was already known in India.
• Basmati. A US patent granted in 1997 to RiceTec Inc. covered basmati rice lines and grains. After India challenged it, most of the claims were withdrawn or rejected and the patent was narrowed to three specific strains bred by the company.

These cases showed that challenging a foreign patent after grant is slow and costly, which is why India built the TKDL, put a prior-approval requirement for IP into section 6 of the 2002 Act, and argues at the WTO for mandatory disclosure of origin in patent applications.

How this is examined

January 2026 asked “Explain the meaning and scope of biological diversity” and February 2025 “What is bio-diversity? Discuss the scope and nature of biological diversity”. Use sections 1 and 2, then the definitions in section 3, and close with the threats. The 6-mark options have been “Traditional Knowledge” (January 2026), “protection of traditional knowledge” (June 2025) and “bio-piracy” (February 2025): use sections 4 and 5. The first part of January 2026’s Q.2(a), “Define biological resources”, is section 3.