1 Vol – 4 No-1 e- NEWSLETTER March , 2013 Chairman’s desk 1 G reat ideas often come from the study of little things. The same can be said regarding the findings of the famed Harvard entomologist and evolutionary biologist, known as the “doyen of biodiversity studies”, Edward O. Wilson, who not only has expanded our knowledge of the behavior and biology of social insects, but also has revealed the vital dependence of human- ity on the smaller forms of life. In his words, “the humble and the ignored are often the star species”. Another gem comes from him, when he says, if insects were to disappear, humans would go extinct very shortly thereafter, because of the ecosystem services these species provide. The central tenet of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 conforms to the same conception that we find in Professor Wilson; to know the biodiversity in its totality, develop knowledge bank and conserve those. Thus it goes without saying that biodiversity knowledge bank forms the core element for preparing the People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) through community participation. The devel- opment of community knowledge base needs integration of indigenous, traditional, and scientific knowledge of biodiversity. Accordingly, West Bengal Biodiversity Board has been doing this process by providing training on identification of flora and fauna, their role in ecosystem, and sustainable use in livelihood development of the community. During the 8 th National Annual Meet of State Biodiversity Boards in Chennai (15 th - 16 th March 2013), National Biodiver- sity Authority especially emphasized on in-depth discussion regarding the revised guidelines for operationalization of the BMCs. It is my sincere hope that BMCs constituted under the revised guidelines will play a significant role in effectively imple- menting the Act and Rules in objective manner. The Board appreciates the views and suggestions received from the readers / user groups about the newsletter. I convey my thanks to the authors of the valuable articles pub- lished in the current issue. In this connection, I thank Dr. A. Roy, Mrs. Tuli Bandopadhayay and all other colleagues in the Board for their sincere efforts in preparation and publishing the issue in time. —— Dr. A.K. Sanyal Special articles in this issue: 1. Conservation value of a sacred grove. R.K. Bhakat & U.K.Sen (Page no. –6) 2. State of bioresource protection in IPR regime S.C. Santra Page no. - 8) W ES T BENGAL BIODIVERSITY BOARD (Department of Environment, Government of West Bengal)