Download Maria Mbengashe - ABS Initiative

DUTCH-GERMAN ABS CAPACITY INITIATIVE FOR AFRICA
KIRSTERNBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
19-24 November 2006
ABS AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
1. INTRODUCTION
On behalf of the government of South Africa let me once again warmly welcome you to this
evening function. Let me also take this opportunity to warmly welcome the honorable
ambassadors of Germany and the Netherlands and our distinguished international speakers.
More importantly let me welcome you to our country in the beautiful province of Western Cape.
I hope you will all have the time to visit our two World Heritage Sites; Robben Island, which is a
cultural heritage site and the Cape Floristic Protected Areas and I expect all of you to go up the
Table Mountain.
South Africa is honored to be part of this important regional capacity building workshop on
access and benefit sharing. We all know that one of the challenges facing many Parties to the
Convention on Biological Biodiversity is implementation of the third objective of the
Convention; namely, fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic
resources. Another bigger challenge to the global community is the development of an
international regime on Access and benefit sharing as mandated by the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Paragraph 44 (o) of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) called for action to “negotiate within the framework of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), bearing in mind the Bonn Guidelines, an international regime to
promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefit arising out of the use of the
utilization of genetic resources; a call that was reiterated by the UN General Assembly in its
resolution 57/260 of 20th December 2002.
It is therefore important to share experiences and strengthen the negotiating and
implementation capacity of African countries to regulate the use of genetic resources in their
quest for social and economic development.
2. SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa is the signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity and is committed to it’s
the implementation of the three objectives of the Convention, namely; conservation of
biodiversity; sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the use of genetic resources.
Like most African countries, biodiversity is the cornerstone of South Africa’s livelihoods and
economy. As the third most biologically diverse country, South Africa views its rich biological
resources as having a vital role to play in alleviating poverty, ensuring food security, fostering
industrial innovation and developing new medicines. In addition to its rich biodiversity and
vast traditional knowledge on the uses of plants, South Africa has capacity for biodiversity
research and well managed collections. All these factors make South Africa a favoured
destination for biodiversity prospecting companies seeking potential new species with
medicinal, agricultural, horticultural, environmental and other economic potential.
According to some estimates, seventy percent of the planet’s biodiversity is located in
approximately fifteen countries distributed throughout Asia, Oceania and Africa. Most of these
megadiverse countries are found in developing world in areas and among poor, rural
communities.
Distinguished ladies and gentleman, genetic resources are assets that, if properly managed,
could contribute substantially, to local and national economies and towards achieving the
Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty and environmental sustainability. The
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) makes reference to the role that genetic
resources have played and continue to play in the lives of African people.
African peoples and communities have for centuries depended on these resources for their
economic, social and cultural well being. The rich biological resources, diverse cultures and
indigenous knowledge systems of African people are being used in modern medicines as in
the case of Hoodia used by the San people of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. The
growing appreciation of the value of indigenous knowledge by the global community and
modern technology means it has to be nurtured, maintained and protected. In this regard, it is
equally important to recognize and respect the rights of holders and practitioners as living
libraries of indigenous knowledge. Unregulated exploitation and misappropriation of genetic
resources and indigenous knowledge erode the rights of the holders of that knowledge and
adversely affect conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and associated Indigenous
knowledge.
3. THE CHALLENGE
What are the challenges?
The rapid scientific and technological advances in biosciences, globalisation, cross-cutting
nature of the issue of ABS, commodification and privatization of biological resources,
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provisions of the CBD and other multilateral agreements and complex partnerships involved in
ABS agreements, present challenges to governments all over the world to govern the
knowledge society, particularly issues related to genetic resources, indigenous knowledge and
innovation.
The challenges are well known – inadequate scientific and technological capacity, weak and
ineffective legal and institutional frameworks, intellectual property rights, protection of
indigenous knowledge, insufficient financial resources, poor involvement and collaboration
among all affected and interested parties, research institutions, industry, relevant government
departments, local and indigenous communities and non-governmental organisations,
inadequate capacities to manage and enforce policies and legislation on access and benefit
sharing, lack of clear market information regarding the value of genetic resources and the
history of mistrust between providers and users of genetic resources.
Despite these challenges, South Africa has put legal frameworks in place to manage and
regulate access to genetic resources and promote equitable sharing of benefits arising from
genetic resources. Among many of the laws addressing aspects related to ABS, chapter 6 of
the National Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) Act No. 10 of 2004) deserves mentioning.
The chapter provides a framework for regulating access and benefit sharing and
bioprospecting of indigenous biological resources. Regulations related to access and benefit
sharing are being developed to ensure that the procedures to be followed by both providers
and users of biological resources are clear and simplified particularly as regards to obtaining
prior informed consent and development of benefit sharing agreements.
The Department of Science and Technology has put an indigenous knowledge policy and
legislation in place that will protect, develop and promote IKS and will help improve livelihoods
and economic well being of indigenous and local communities. A national indigenous
knowledge office (NIKSO) has just been established. The Department of Trade and Industry
has amended its Intellectual Property (IP) legislation to allow the registrar of patents to refuse
or revoke an application for a patent which does not disclose the origin of the biological
material on which the invention is base or prior knowledge associated with biological material.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is undertaking ongoing biodiversity
research in collaboration with local communities and industry on various plant species in
search for potential health and other social and economic benefits.
At SADC level as part of the follow up from the SADC ministers’ meeting during CBD COP8 in
Curitiba, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana are undertaking an ABS case study with
the aim of enhancing development of effective and harmonised legal and institutional
frameworks and learning lessons from previous ABS agreements like Hoodia, and SANBI-Ball
agreements in the case of South Africa.
Like most countries, South Africa is also faced with implementation challenges and putting
institutions in place that will ensure that clear procedures required for accessing genetic
resources are in place and relevant departments and agencies are working together to
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ultimately ensure that communities and the broader South Africa benefit from its rich genetic
resources as part of one of the many options for achieving economic and social development.
Increasing capacity for scientific and technological research, improving skills for development
and implementation of effective legal and institutional frameworks, management and
dissemination of information on ABS, developing equitable partnerships, increased technology
transfer, protection of indigenous knowledge and developing skills for negotiations are all
challenges that I hope the workshop will identify and take concrete steps to address.
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I hope your deliberations in the next few days will address some of these
challenges. What we need to achieve ultimately is positive impact on the ground, so that
benefits arising from biosprospecting can contribute to the lives of the rural poor and women in
particular.
I hope you have a pleasant evening and I wish you a great success in your deliberation and I
will be interested in the outputs of the workshop.
Maria Mbengashe
Chief Director: International Marine and Biodiversity Cooperation
Date: 19 November 2006
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