Opening and Adoption of the Agenda

8.00 - 9.00

Registration

9.00 - 9.25

Welcome and Opening

• Ahmed Djoghlaf
  Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)

Thanked the organisers of the Dutch German ABS Capacity Building Initiative. Noted that the Initiative has been much recognised and is a model that the German Chancellor feels needs to be replicated.

• Charles Gbedemah
  Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)
• Jochen Flasbarth
  German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)

Welcomed all participants and stated that Germany will not advocate its position within the next two weeks but rather will facilitate the process like any good presidency. Germany will try to lead this COP to successful conclusion taking seriously the 2010 target for an international regime on Access and Benefit Sharing. Germany asks the delegations to show flexibility and to be ready for compromises without which it is impossible to come to any agreement. Dr. Flasbarth thanked the African representatives of the outgoing bureau for their excellent work. Germany being the current presidency asks the African delegations to nominate strong candidates to the bureau. Dr. Flasbarth thanked the Dutch German Initiative for organising the ministerial preparatory meeting in Mahe.

• Bather Kone
  African Union (AU)

• Faouzia Abdoulhalik
  Institute de l’éngergie et de l’environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF)

In the name of the International Organisation of the French Speaking World I invite all participants. I would also like to thank the Dutch German Initiative.

• Anne-Katrin Pfeiffer
  German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Biodiversity loss is not only an ecological problem but also affects livelihood. This is the reason Germany is involved in this. Since 1985 the BMZ has supported 500 such projects. We are the third largest donor of the GEF and we finance the Dutch German Initiative. We need a long term plan for protect biodiversity. Capacity building is the key and GTZ has been involved in pilot projects in Africa. The main lesson is that capacity building at a policy level is insufficient and we need capacity building at an administrative level. So the ABS initiative seeks to develop capacity at all levels amongst all stake holders to participate in the national implementation processes. It is valuable to develop regional networks on ABS especially in the context of exchange of information. Reporting back from the different ABS meetings/workshops in Africa will enhance the preparedness of the African Group. We pledge our support for further activities that aid in the preparation of the African Group. The initiative seeks to develop into a multi donor initiative.

9.25 - 9.30

• Introduction and Adoption of the Agenda
• Nomination of new bureau members
• Co-ordination meeting tomorrow
• Aim to finish by 5 pm today

9.30 - 10.20

Reports on preparatory meetings held at the sub-regional level

Presentation of process and key results, questions and answers

• Capacity Building Workshop for Southern and Eastern Africa on NBSAPs and Mainstreaming Biodiversity (Rustenburg, 02/08)
  Francis Ogwal, Uganda (tbc.)

The purpose of the workshop was for development, review and updating NBSAPs. The workshop included an exchange national strategies and challenges. Each country made presentations on the progress of their NBSAPs. Participants had a field trip and a poster session and presentations on the 4th national reposts and on the upcoming events by the secretariat. Participants then had a panel discussion where countries were asked questions and responded to it. We realised NBSAPs were prepared and were being implemented by all countries present and that were number of similarities between countries. We concluded that NBSAPs provided an excellent framework for implementing biodiversity objectives of the CBD at a national level. We also noted that we need to review our NBSAPs in the context of new developments-climate change, biofuels etc. and we agreed to look at it not just as a biodiversity issue but also link it to government priorities of poverty alleviation etc. We also concluded that there is a need to do an inventory and evaluation for which funding is limited and crucial. Most African countries suffer from weak law enforcement as a result of lack of funding and we therefore need individuals who speak on behalf of us, who can communicate effectively.

The 4th national report will look at what progress countries have made towards the 2010 biodiversity target. The money being given for this report has continued to remain twenty thousand dollars for the last 5 years and this is insufficient

The participants visited two protected areas- Pilansberg and Kidda and saw strategies undertaken to protect species. Participants also observed game ranching in Kidda, to meet the demands of game meat.

• Subregional Workshop for the Francophone Africa on the Implementation of the Work Programme for Protected Areas (Libreville, 01/08)
  Mary Fosi, Cameroon

The participants for the workshop met for 4 days and we prepared a CD of which copies are available with the secretariat. Participants had presentations from managers of protected areas and understood the importance of protected areas as an insitu conservation site for biological resources. Participants also saw how it would help meet the 2010 biodiversity targets and aid in poverty alleviation and their strengths and challenges in this regard. The success of Madagascar which has embarked on a visionary management of its protected areas was noted, and we learnt of the number of joint activities that have been undertaken between government, communities and other stake holders. We learnt of the success of a protected area management in Benin because of the way the resources of the protected areas were shared with the community. We also looked at innovative and new sources of funding to support local communities, since protected areas also generate money. Participants discussed problems associated with transboundary protected areas and solutions that helped countries manage resources collectively- an example of North Africa was lauded, where a fishing area was shared. Participants concluded by calling on international donors to provide more support for protected areas and consider trust funds for protected areas. On a separate note participants discussed the contribution of protected areas for curbing the impact of climate change, and felt that countries which have a high number of protected areas should receive more funding as they would act as carbon sinks and as mechanisms to reduce the impact of climate change.

• Ministerial ABS Preparatory Meeting (Victoria, 04/08, Seychelles)
  Moustafa Fouda, Egypt

The most important outcome of the meeting, is an African position on the International Regime on ABS. The Ministers provided strong support for the legally binding international regime. Since our ministers were invited to the Seychelles, I think it is important that at COP 9 our ministers should rely on the African position developed there and give a clear indication of their support for the legally binding nature of the international regime.

• COMIFAC COP 9 Preparatory Workshop (Douala, 04/08)
  Rufin Antoine Oko, COMIFAC

Mr. Oko began by stating that we have 4 different languages spoken among the 9 different countries in Central Africa, and we haven’t had a communication problem so far. He suggested that sub-regional workshops may be counter productive and asked the AU to bring countries together prior to COP. He concluded that while there is a need to prepare for COP and ABS WG through regional workshops, that in itself is insufficient and a common African position needs to be developed through a pan African workshop.

COMIFAC__rufin__antione.ppt

160 kB

10.20 - 10.30

• Launch of the Guide des Négotiations for COP 9
  Ariane Gagnon-Légaré, Université Laval, Canada

Ariane_Gagon-Legare.ppt

540 kB

10.30 - 11.00

Coffee break

11.00 - 12.00

Access and Benefit-Sharing: the Preparatory Process so far, African Viewpoints and Discussion

Presentations followed by questions and answers

• The negotiation process since COP 8 in Curitiba
  Valérie Normand, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

• Bricks and bullets – the outcome of WG-ABS 6 in Geneva Pierre du Plessis, Namibia

When ABS was introduced into the text in Rio, it was always a question of balance. We need to balance

1. access with benefit sharing
2. legal certainty with enforcement
3. simplicity with legally binding nature
4. clarity with compliance
5. profitability with capacity building
6. national sovereignty with the rights of indigenous and local communities and
7. the International Regime on ABS with WTO/WIPO.

The 'things to do' at COP 9 are:

1. To set a timeframe of ABS working group meetings before COP 10
2. To set the number of meetings
3. To set the number of expert groups
4. To focus on turning bullets into bricks
5. To continue to build consensus and
6. Africa should reflect on what can be compromised and what cannot in terms of their position

• Positions of the African Group and the EU on ABS: A dialogue paper
  Dr. Dagmar Lohan, Germany & Kabir Bavikatte, South Africa

	Valerie_Normand-African_briefing_ABS_negotiations_13-05.ppt Valerie Normand-Briefing on negotiations	434 kB
	Dialogue_Paper_Final.doc Dialogue Paper	222 kB

12.00 - 13.00

• The Ministerial coordination on ABS since the Mahé meeting
  David Hafashimana, Uganda
• Recommendations on ABS of the COMIFAC preparatory workshop
  Emmanuel Bayani, Gabon

The COMIFAC recommended a strong linking ABS to poverty alleviation and the need for immediate negotiations

David_Hafashimana-presentation_on_African_position.doc David Hafashimana - African position.

47 kB

13.00 - 14.00

• The way forward with the proposal for the UNEP/GEF/ABS Capacity Building Project for Africa
  David Duthie UNEP

David Duthie of the UNEP Division of GEF Coordination presented a brief history of a proposal for GEF financial support for capacity building for ABS in Africa. The concept originated in late 2004 and was developed as Medium-Sized Project (MSP) proposal and submitted to the GEF in 2005. It was reviewed and revised but subsequently never re-submitted to the GEF before the end of the GEF-3 funding cycle in June 2006. Following the introduction of the GEF-4 Resource Allocation Framework (RAF) and the new GEF project cycle, the original MSP was revised as a Project Identification Form (PIF) in November 2007. Copies of this PIF (see link) were circulated to the Group and there was strong support for moving forward with this proposal, possibly in an updated form, and possibly with additional countries, or as a set of similar (sub) regional proposals. It was agreed that discussions would continue this week on the margins of the COP 9.

David_Duthie_on_GEF.doc David Duthie on GEF

235 kB

Due to limited time meeting ended here

Other issues for In-depth Consideration at COP 9

14.00 - 14.15

• Illustrated tour through the COP programme and venues
  BMU

14.15 - 15.00

African viewpoints: presentations followed by questions and answers

• Introduction of non-ABS issues for in-depth consideration Chair
• Recommendations on relevant issues by the COMIFAC Mary Fosi, Cameroon

15.00 - 15.30

Collecting other important issues for in-depth coordination: the perspective of other sub-regions

15.30 - 16.00

Coffee Break

16.00 - 17.00

Collecting other important issues for in-depth coordination: the perspective of other sub-regions – contd.

17.00

Closure of the day

• Dr. Abdul Hakim Elwaer, African Union