National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) today disbursed 17 lakh rupees to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed that the arrangement ensures that a portion of the commercial gains derived from biological resources is channelled back to local communities, supporting community-level development initiatives. It added that, with the present release, the total ABS support extended to Maharashtra has reached nearly 8 crore rupees, benefiting over 2 hundred Biodiversity Management Committees and seven institutions across the state.