The Wetland That Holds Rice's Ancestor: Borjuli Becomes a Biodiversity Heritage Site
Oryza rufipogon, the wild progenitor of cultivated rice, survives in an Assam wetland now protected under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act
What happened
Protected-area answers usually treat all designations as interchangeable. This one rewards precision, because a Biodiversity Heritage Site is legally unlike a national park — it protects without displacing, which is the whole point of the category. And the thing being protected here is not charismatic: it is a weedy wild grass whose value lies entirely in genes that cultivated rice has lost and may need again.
Why the Wild Ancestor Matters
Wild Rice vs Cultivated Rice
| Oryza rufipogon (wild) | Oryza sativa (cultivated) | |
|---|---|---|
| Seeds at maturity | Shatter and disperse | Retained for harvest |
| Flowering | Photosensitive (Nov–Dec) | Largely day-neutral varieties |
| Disease & pest resistance | Broad | Narrowed by breeding |
| Flood & salinity tolerance | High | Limited |
| Use | Unfarmable — genetic reserve | Staple crop |
| Designation | Biodiversity Heritage Site |
| Provision | Sec 37, Biological Diversity Act, 2002 |
| Effect on local rights | Not extinguished or curtailed |
| India's first BHS | Nallur Tamarind Grove, 2007 |
Source: National Biodiversity Authority; Biological Diversity Act, 2002
A Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) is notified under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, by a State Government in consultation with local bodies, over areas of particular biodiversity significance — sites rich in wild or domesticated species, high endemism, keystone species, evolutionarily significant taxa, or associated cultural value.
●The category is deliberately distinct from national parks and wildlife sanctuaries under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: a BHS does not extinguish or curtail the rights of local people, and management is intended to operate through Biodiversity Management Committees alongside continued community use.
●India's first BHS was the Nallur Tamarind Grove, Bengaluru (2007). Borjuli Wetland, in Sonitpur district, Assam, has now been declared, principally for harbouring Oryza rufipogon — the wild progenitor of cultivated rice, Oryza sativa.
●The wild species is photosensitive, flowering in the short days of November–December; its seeds shatter on maturity, dispersing rather than remaining for harvest; and it tolerates flooding and saline conditions while resisting a range of diseases and pests.
●Seed shattering and photosensitivity are precisely the traits domestication removed, which is why it cannot be farmed — and its disease resistance and stress tolerance are why it matters to breeders.
●The institutional framework runs from the National Biodiversity Authority through State Biodiversity Boards to local Biodiversity Management Committees maintaining People's Biodiversity Registers.
A Biodiversity Heritage Site protects without displacing — which is why it can be declared over a wetland people still use, and why the category exists separately from the sanctuary.
◎ In Simple Words
All the rice we grow came originally from a wild grass. That wild ancestor still exists — and one place it grows is a wetland called Borjuli in Assam, which has now been given special protection. The wild plant is a poor crop: its seeds fall off before you can harvest them. But it survives floods, salty soil, diseases and pests that kill farmed rice. Scientists use such wild plants to breed those strengths back into crops when new diseases or a changing climate demand it. Protecting the wetland keeps that genetic library available.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
With reference to Biodiversity Heritage Sites in India, consider the following statements:
1. They are notified under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
2. They are declared by State Governments in consultation with local bodies.
3. Their declaration extinguishes the existing rights of local people over the area.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Oryza rufipogon, recently in the news, is best described as:
Mains Practice Questions
"Domestication made crops productive and narrow; wild relatives hold what was discarded." Examine the case for in-situ conservation of crop genetic resources in India. (250 words, GS3)
Biodiversity Heritage Sites protect without displacing. Discuss how this distinguishes them from protected areas under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and assess their effectiveness. (250 words, GS3)
Explain why option value is systematically under-provided in conservation funding, with reference to crop wild relatives. (150 words, GS3)
Frequently Asked
· People also askWhat is a Biodiversity Heritage Site?
An area of particular biodiversity significance notified under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, by a State Government in consultation with local bodies. Crucially, unlike national parks or sanctuaries, its declaration does not extinguish or curtail the rights of local people.
Prelims · GS3Sites qualify on grounds such as richness of wild or domesticated species, high endemism, keystone or evolutionarily significant species, or associated cultural value. India's first was the Nallur Tamarind Grove, Bengaluru, notified in 2007.
SOURCE Biological Diversity Act, 2002
Why is Borjuli Wetland significant?
It harbours Oryza rufipogon, the wild progenitor of cultivated rice. The wild species resists a range of diseases and pests and tolerates flooding and saline conditions — traits that domestication largely bred out of Oryza sativa.
Prelims · GS3It is located in Sonitpur district, Assam, and has been declared a Biodiversity Heritage Site by the National Biodiversity Authority under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
SOURCE National Biodiversity Authority
Why can't wild rice simply be grown as a crop?
Because its seeds shatter on maturity, dispersing rather than staying on the plant for harvest, and it is photosensitive, flowering only in the short days of November and December. Domestication removed exactly these traits — which is why it is unfarmable and why it retains the genetic variation cultivars lost.
GS3 · AgricultureIts value is as a breeding resource: breeders introgress resistance and tolerance traits from wild relatives into cultivated varieties when new pathogens emerge or growing conditions change.
SOURCE National Biodiversity Authority
How does this differ from storing seeds in a gene bank?
A gene bank preserves a sample frozen at one moment. A wild population keeps evolving under natural selection, developing resistance as pathogens themselves change. For a species valued precisely for disease resistance, the living population stays current in a way a stored sample cannot.
GS3 · EnvironmentIn-situ and ex-situ conservation are therefore complementary rather than alternatives — seed banks guard against catastrophic loss, while protected wild populations continue generating new variation.
SOURCE Crop genetic resource literature
Why use a Biodiversity Heritage Site rather than a sanctuary?
Because the wetland sits in a landscape people use for grazing, fishing and cultivation. Declaring a sanctuary would have required curtailing those rights, generating resistance and possibly hastening degradation. Section 37 permits protection without displacement — which is why the category exists.
GS3 · EnvironmentManagement is intended to operate through local Biodiversity Management Committees alongside continued community use, rather than through exclusion enforced by a forest department.
SOURCE Biological Diversity Act, 2002
What is the main risk to this protection working?
Institutional weakness. Biodiversity Management Committees and People's Biodiversity Registers exist on paper across most states but function unevenly, often constituted without resources, training or real influence over decisions affecting the area.
GS2 · GovernanceA declaration unaccompanied by a functioning committee, a management plan and a budget is a notification rather than a protection — and protection then defaults to the forest department, which is the outcome the category was designed to avoid.
SOURCE Biological Diversity Act, 2002