MEDIA ADVISORY - NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Friends of the Earth International
18 february 2004
BIOPIRACY THREATS IGNORED AT KEY U.N.
MEETING
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 18 February 2004
- While some 70 Ministers gather here today
for the final part of a key United Nations
meeting on biodiversity [1], Friends of the
Earth International denounced attempts by
governments to negotiate rules on access to
genetic resources without taking into account
the threats posed by biopiracy [the
appropriation of genetic resources and
associated traditional knowledge].
The 188 parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) agreed on Feb.17
the Terms of Reference for an international
regime on access to genetic resources and
associated traditional knowledge and benefit
sharing without safeguards for the rights of
Indigenous Peoples and small farmers,
according to the environmental
federation.
Through their traditional technologies and
practices, farmers and Indigenous Peoples
have been the main caretakers and breeders of
seeds, medicinal plants and other forms of
biodiversity. Companies and commercial
research institutions are trying to buy these
varieties and the associated traditional
knowledge, in order to monopolize and profit
from this valuable information through
patents and other intellectual property
rights. This is called biopiracy.
"The international regime that is
currently proposed will do nothing to halt
such biopiracy practices", explains Isaac
Rojas of COECO- CEIBA/Friends of the
Earth-Costa Rica.
"As existing practices to patent life
forms and associated knowledge are not
addressed by the proposed scope of the
regime, the outcome of these negotiations
will only lead to further theft of genetic
resources and traditional innovations," he
added.
"Traditional knowledge and biodiversity
are collectively shared amongst Indigenous
Peoples and local farmer communities, so
existing intellectual property regimes do not
provide appropriate tools to protect their
rights", adds Simone Lovera, Biodiversity
Coordinator of Friends of the Earth
International.
"Instead, these systems violate the rights
of farmers and Indigenous Peoples to freely
exchange and reproduce their seeds, and other
genetic resources and associated knowledge.
Women, who are often the main caretakers of
seeds and holders of traditional knowledge,
are the main victims of this biopiracy," she
added.
Friends of the Earth International support
the position of the Indigenous Peoples Forum
on Biodiversity, which has called for a clear
safeguard of Indigenous Peoples' rights
before any negotiations on an international
regime are started.
Friends of the Earth International welcome
the safeguards to Indigenous Rights that have
been incorporated into the Work Program on
Protected Areas. However the environmental
network regrets that the work program has
failed to properly address the major causes
of biodiversity loss: large-scale commercial
logging, mining and oil exploration.
"In many countries, governments are
handing out mining and logging concessions in
protected areas, while banning local
communities from entering these areas,"
explains Abraham Baffoe of Friends of the
Earth-Ghana.
"So-called ecotourism, plantation
establishment, climate change and
over-consumption in general form big threats
to rainforests and other biodiversity-rich
ecosystems, and we will not be able to
protect these areas unless these threats are
effectively addressed" adds Shamila Ariffin
of Sahabat Alam Malaysia/ Friends of the
Earth-Malaysia.
For more information, contact in Kuala
Lumpur:
Simone Lovera, International Campaign
Coordinator, Friends of the Earth
International: +31-610897827
Isaac Rojas, Biopiracy Campaign
Coordinator, Friends of the Earth- Costa
Rica: +60-173278680
Shamila Ariffin, Media and Research
Officer, Sahabat Alam Malaysia/ Friends of
the Earth-Malaysia: +60-163174049
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