Community Biodiversity Register

Establishment of Community Biodiversity Register (CBR) was piloted during the Global Agrobiodiversity Project, starting in 1998. It was implemented by Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) in collaboration with the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Bioversity International. CBR can be used as ‘information databases’ on biodiversity and associated knowledge, where¬by communities gain better understanding of their biological assets; for developing community biodiversity management plans, identifying PGRFA for conservation and sources of seed and planting material; or for protecting traditional knowledge against appropriation. LI-BIRD follows eight steps for developing a CBR: (1) selecting the community; (2) informing the community on the rationale and objectives; (3) strengthening institutional capacity; (4) defining a specific focus and initial requirements for data collection; (5) documenting, compiling and validating information; (6) analysing and sharing information; (7) designing and implementing conservation and development plans; and (8) registering and linking with a national repository. Participating farmers realized that many local landraces are vulnerable to genetic erosion and eventual loss; Community Seed Banks were established in some areas to address this issue. Information collected should be used for planning of community-based biodiversity management activities, rather than limiting the approach to documentation alone.