Tuesday, 21st November 2006
9.00 – 9.45
Presentation of the “draft vision” by Task Force 1 (government)
Facilitator: Dr. Gudrun Henne
Comments by participants and handing over to Task Force 2 (private sector and academia)
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9.45 – 10.00
Elevator Talks
Short introduction of the case studies by the presenters to enable the participants to decide, which of the two case study streams they want to attend.
10.00 – 10:30
Coffee Break
10.30 – 13.00
Presentation of six case studies in two parallel streams of case studies
Case Study Stream 1
Facilitator: Esther Mwaura-Muiru
Presentations by:
- David Harrower and Dr. Maureen Wolfson, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South Africa
The SANBI/BALL Horticultural Agreement - Dr. Maureen Wolfson, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South Africa
Anti-Malaria Consortium - Lovemore Simwanda, Technical Advisor, Environmental Conservation Association of Zambia (ECAZ), Zambia
Biopiracy on Zambian Medicinal Plants
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6.0 MB |
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824 kB |
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3.3 MB |
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74 kB |
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Case Study Stream 2
Facilitator: Dirk Jung
Presentations by:
- Wivine Ntamubano, Lecturer / Researcher, Faculty of Sciences, University of Burundi
Collecting and Exporting a Medicinal Herb - Peter Munyi, Chief Legal Officer, Southern Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (SEAPRI), International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenia
Sustainable Commercialisation of Mjidea zanduebarica (mgambo) - Joyce Katjirua, Project Assistant, Directorate of Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia
Shared Ownership of Property Right for Maruline
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2.7 MB |
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0.9 MB |
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55 kB |
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13.00 – 15.00
Lunch break and guided tour through the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
The participants heard many interesting stories, such as:
- The estate or conservation area covers 528 hectares of the eastern slopes of Table Mountain and that it offers a vast variety of vegetation types from relic Afro-montane forest to typical Fynbos.
- The Kenyan President visited Kirstenbosch in 1992 on his way to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and planted an African wild olive tree as a symbol for African peace and brotherhood.
- Twigs of mpephu (Helichrysum petiolare) are taken to the South African parliament every year to chase away bad spirits and encourage wise decisions.
- The medicinal plant buchu is highly endangered, due to its high value and unprotected access.
- South African fragrance plants are the focus of many cosmetic companies that come to the Kirstenbosch Gardens to bioprospect for new fragrances.
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15.00 – 15.30
Fish bowl discussion: Reflections on the case studies
Facilitator: Dirk Jung
- Case studies of stream 1 were still at a research level and not many benefits were realized.
- Generally benefits were not shared with all important stakeholders.
Role of government:
- Legislation is important, but ABS can also be happening parallel with legislation establishment process (Namibia case).
- Legislation is important to transmit the new concept of benefit sharing to African communities.
- Control that all stakeholders in the ABS agreement are included., so that benefits are created and shared in a transparent way.
Capacity building:
- Civil Society and NGO’s carry an important role to transmit ABS legislation from the government to the communities.
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15.30- 16.00
Coffee break
16.00 – 17.00
Panel discussion on the implementation of ABS regulations in five countries
Facilitator: Esther Mwaura-Muiru
On the panel:
- Dr. Rachel Wynberg, Trustee, Biowatch South Africa
- Freddy Magagula, Fisheries Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Swaziland
- Anne Angwenyi, Acting Director Legal Services, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya
- Lovemore Simwanda, Technical Advisor, Environmental Conservation Association of Zambia (ECAZ), Zambia
- Gladman Chibememe, Coordinator GLTP Rural Communities Network Programme
- Chibememe Earth Healing Association (CHIEHA), Zimbabwe
Lessons learned:
- Difficult to distinguish legally between bio prospecting for research and for commercialisation.
- Definition of ownership of resources very difficult.
- Definitions such as what is a genetic resource or biological resource etc. is also very difficult.
- ABS being an inter-disciplinary issue necessitates a synchronization of different departments with their legally binding policies.
- All processes need to be participatory, as even though legal Acts on access benefit sharing will still develop; it raises awareness in different stakeholder groups.
- All processes are still in the early stages; South Africa passed the amendments to the Biodiversity Act whereas Swaziland only started negotiations in June this year. Thus experience on implementation and policymaking are still sparse or missing altogether.
- Networking and exchanging of experiences would be very beneficial.
Catch of the Day
- ABS is not new to Africa
- ABS can be regulated by appropriate ABS legislation
- Effective implementation of ABS legislation depends on:
- good governance
- strong civil society
- A blue print for successful ABS does exist
- Many different methods for effective benefit-sharing
Lessons learned
- Consider multiple ABS agreements as opposed to exclusive agreements
- Define the scope of an ABS agreement clearly
- Approach actively potential partners
- Multidisciplinary approach can yield benefits
- Consider early involvement of business
- Need for clear and strong national legislation
- Traceability of the further use of genetic resources very important
