Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 16 Oct 10;
Jakarta. Indonesia stands to benefit financially if it agrees on a scheme to share genetic data from its wealth of biodiversity at a conference next week in Japan, an expert in the field says.
The 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to be held Oct. 18 to 29 in Nagoya, will attempt to draw up an agreement between more than 190 countries on a so-called access and benefit sharing protocol, also known as the genetic resources pact or ABS.
The pact is a legally binding agreement on how countries can use genes from plants or animals that originate in other countries, and aims to ensure that developing countries are compensated for discoveries that are derived from their native species.
“Indonesia is listed as one of the 12 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world, alongside Brazil, the United States and Australia, and there are indications that many countries are highly dependent on our biodiversity,” Harry Alexander, a legal expert for the Wildlife Conservancy Society and a member of the Indonesian delegation to the conference, said on Friday.
“If we don’t agree to the ABS scheme, then plenty of our genetic resources will be stolen from right under our nose.”
The ABS protocol, he added, was crucial in establishing a benefit-sharing protocol.
“We’re not talking about getting royalties from the end-products,” he said. “What we want is to share the benefits of the genetic resources. So if a country takes genetic resources from us and turns them into other products... there should be clear benefit-sharing guidelines for that.”
Separately, Emil Salim, a prominent environmentalist and presidential adviser, said Indonesia should pursue the scientific expertise and technology necessary to develop its own genetic research sector.
“Our biodiversity can be our strength when competing against China or India, because we have abundant resources,” he said.
“If we could just obtain the technology needed to exploit those genetic resources, imagine how powerful we would become on the world stage.”
