Rs 55 Lakh Disbursed To Tamil Nadu Farmers Cultivating Red Sanders Under ABS Framework

Chennai, Oct 28 (KNN) Under India’s Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has released Rs 55 lakh to 18 farmers cultivating red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district. 

The funds were disbursed through the Tamil Nadu State Biodiversity Board to cultivators from eight villages — Kannabhiran Nagar, Kothur, Vembedu, Siruniyum, Goonipalayam, Ammambakkam, Alikuzhi, and Thimmaboopola Puram.

Said to be the first-of-its-kind, this benefit-sharing initiative for red sanders cultivators marks a significant step toward inclusive biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biological resources.

It follows the NBA’s earlier disbursement of Rs 48 crore to the forest departments and biodiversity boards of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for Red Sanders protection and conservation.

The initiative is based on recommendations from an Expert Committee on Red Sanders constituted by the NBA in 2015, which developed a policy framework titled ‘Policy for Conservation, Sustainable Use and Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing Arising from the Utilisation of Red Sanders’. 

One of the key outcomes of these recommendations was the 2019 relaxation by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) allowing exports of Red Sanders from cultivated sources — a measure aimed at promoting legal, sustainable trade and farm-based conservation.

Red Sanders, an endemic species native to the Eastern Ghats, holds ecological, economic, and cultural significance. While naturally found in Andhra Pradesh, it is also cultivated in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha, and other states. 

Encouraging cultivation-based production supports farmers’ livelihoods and helps meet market demand through legally sourced timber, thereby reducing pressure on wild populations.

The NBA stated that the benefit-sharing model strengthens community participation in biodiversity conservation while ensuring equitable distribution of gains.

(KNN Bureau)