Chandigarh, Sept. 7 -- The 16th National Meet of State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Union Territory Biodiversity Councils (UTBCs) began in Chandigarh on Sunday, bringing together senior officials, experts, scientists and representatives of biodiversity bodies from across the country to deliberate on strengthening biodiversity governance at the state and local levels.

Organised by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), the two-day meet will focus on implementation of the biodiversity governance framework, functioning of biodiversity management committees (BMCs), people's biodiversity registers (PBRs), access and benefit sharing (ABS), capacity-building and conservation of ecosystems and traditional knowledge.

The inaugural session ...