LLM Group 6 Environment and Legal Order Biological Diversity and Legal Order 2018 Question Paper with Solutions

The definition

Biodiversity, a contraction of biological diversity, is defined in section 2(b) of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 as the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within species or between species and of ecosystems. The Act took the definition from Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992, which adds that the sources include terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems.

Three levels

The definition describes variety at three levels. Genetic diversity is variation within a species, such as the differences between the rice varieties of Kerala and Punjab or between the Gir and Sahiwal breeds of cattle. Species diversity is the number and variety of species in an area. Ecosystem diversity is the variety of habitats and ecological processes, from alpine meadows to coral reefs. The word that matters is "variability": biodiversity is not a list of species but the differences among living things, which is what allows life to adapt.

Need 2: food security

All crops and livestock descend from wild ancestors and are improved from the diversity farmers have kept. Losing landraces and wild relatives removes the genes future breeding will need against pests, disease and drought. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture 2001 and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 respond, the latter through farmers' varieties, the National Gene Fund and the farmer's right to save seed under section 39(1)(iv).

Need 3: health and medicine

Plants, animals and micro-organisms supply the Indian systems of medicine and many modern drugs, and diverse ecosystems regulate the spread of disease. The Biological Diversity Act 2002 regulates access to such resources under sections 3 and 7, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 controls the medicines made from them.

Need 4: livelihoods

Millions of forest dwellers, fishers and pastoralists live directly on biodiversity. Section 3(1)(c) of the Forest Rights Act 2006 recognises their right to collect and sell minor forest produce, and section 41 of the Act of 2002 gives local Biodiversity Management Committees a role in managing resources.

The Union Government sought modification, arguing that undergrounding high-voltage transmission from solar and wind parks was often impracticable and would slow India's move to renewable energy, itself a climate commitment. The Court withdrew the blanket direction, appointed an expert committee to assess where undergrounding was feasible in and around the bird's priority areas, and held that Articles 14 and 21 recognise a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change. The matters were finally disposed of on 19 December 2025, when the Court accepted the committee's reports, fixed revised priority areas covering 14,013 sq km of Rajasthan and 740 sq km of Gujarat, and barred inside them any new wind turbine, any solar park of more than 2 MW and any overhead line above 11 kV not routed through a dedicated power corridor. The case bears on the question because it treats the need to protect a species and the need to combat climate change as parts of one constitutional duty, to be reconciled rather than traded against each other, and its final directions show the reconciliation in practice: renewable energy may grow, but not across the bird's remaining habitat.

The Court found the State's efforts far from satisfactory and directed Chhattisgarh to prevent interbreeding immediately, undertake genetic research and training, and prepare a plan of operations, with full Central funding under the scheme for development of wildlife habitats. It declared that environmental justice could be achieved only if the law moved from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric approach, recognising the intrinsic value of all forms of life. The case bears on the question because it recognises that the genetic level of biodiversity itself needs legal protection. It also exposes a gap: section 62A of the Act of 1972 and Article 8(h) of the Convention deal with alien species, and section 2(16A) confines invasive alien species to those not native to India, so the dilution of a wild population by native domestic stock was met here by court-directed management rather than by any specific statutory prohibition.

Need 10: culture and identity

Sacred groves, totemic species and landscapes of worship carry meaning for communities that no compensation replaces. Section 36C of the Act of 1972 allows community reserves, section 37 of the Act of 2002 allows biodiversity heritage sites, and in Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd. v. Ministry of Environment and Forests, (2013) 6 SCC 476, the Supreme Court directed that the religious, cultural, community and individual claims of the Dongria Kondh over the Niyamgiri hills, which they hold sacred, be decided by the Gram Sabhas under the Forest Rights Act 2006, and that the Ministry take its final decision on forest clearance for bauxite mining in the light of those decisions.

Need 11: knowledge and science

Much of what is known about the use of plants and animals is held orally by communities and is lost when species or cultures vanish. Section 36(5) of the Act of 2002 directs the Central Government to endeavour to respect and protect the knowledge of local people, People's Biodiversity Registers record it, and section 3(p) of the Patents Act 1970 prevents its patenting.

Conclusion. Biodiversity, defined in section 2(b) of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and Article 2 of the Convention of 1992 as the variability among living organisms and their ecological complexes, exists at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, and India, a megadiverse country with parts of four global hotspots, holds an unusual share of it. It needs protection for ecological security, food, health, livelihoods, a fair share of economic value, climate resilience, the prevention of extinction, genetic integrity, future generations, culture, knowledge and national sovereignty, and each need has its legal answer, from the Forest Rights Act to the Regulations of 2025. Ganesh Wood Products makes intergenerational equity a limit on present use, the wild buffalo case protects the genetic level and adopts ecocentrism, Ranjitsinh joins species protection to climate justice and ends with binding limits on power projects in the bustard's habitat, and Orissa Mining Corporation protects its cultural meaning, together showing that the needs are not only reasons of policy but obligations the courts enforce.