New institutions created through decentralisation policies around the world, notwithstanding the rhetoric, are often lacking in substantive democratic content. New policies for decentralised natural resource management have transferred powers to a range of local authorities, including private associations, customary authorities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Scholars see such transfers as detrimental to the legitimacy of local democratic institutions, leading to a fragmentation of local authority and dampening prospects for democratic consolidation.

Substantial biological diversity exists on lands outside protected areas and its survival depends on the goodwill of people who own those lands.

The role of socio-cultural values in biodiversity conservation is an integral part of the people living in Uttarakhand, Central Himalaya, India. Due to a variety of reasons the area under traditional crops is declining very fast in the region but undoubtedly many of the crop varieties are still conserved in the region because of their socio-cultural and religious values. The traditional festival called "Harela' is one the festivals in Uttarakhand which encourages people to conserve and manage their traditional crop diversity.

After much active negotiation with countries of the North and South, India signed the Convention for Biological Diversity in 1992. The Convention required every member country to formulate its own National Biodiversity Strategy, and Action Plan.

Even when social institutions agree on conservation goals, for instance, the protection of endemic, rare, or at-risk species in regional conservation area networks, there is typically a long waiting period between setting goals and the formulation of an explicit action plan to achieve those goals, and an even longer period before the plan is funded and implemented on the ground.

The concept of Pancha Yajnya (five scarifies), reflected in Manusmruti such as Rrushi Yajnya (Sacrifices: for the source of Knowledge -Teacher), Deva Yajnya (to the Gods – Environmental powers), Bhoota Yajnya (living creatures), Nrru Yajnya (to men) and Pitru Yajnya (to manes); is aimed to raise eco-consciousness amongst the human environment. Man, should be committed to show obligation to the above environmental agents as an ethical and ecological responsibility, from whom he receives unasked gifts continuously; is the basic theme of Pancha Yajnya; discussed in this communication from ethnobiological point of view.

The Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) says India's vast gene pool in agriculture and livestock has been widely ignored, creating a food security risk in the country Measures to

A thorough exploration for the rare, endemic and threatened species in the sacred groves of Kanyakumari District in Southern Western Ghats is lacking. The tropical climate and soil conditions coupled with the religious and social beliefs enabled these groves to harbour a large number of RET species, which are on the verge of extinction. (Sep 2007)

Sacred groves are small tracts of near-virgin forests protected by the indigenous communities. Being the storehouses of medicinal plants, these are a unique Indian way of in-situ conservation of biodiversity. This paper deals with an account of the role played by Chilkigarh sacred grove in West Bengal in the conservation of regional ethnomedicinal trees. (Sep 2007)