Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 6 Oct 10;
Jakarta. As a country rich in biodiversity, Indonesia will strongly push for an international legally-binding compensation scheme covering the use of natural resources between countries at upcoming talks in Nagoya, Japan, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said on Wednesday.
The 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held Oct. 18-29, will attempt to draw up an agreement between over 190 countries on a so-called access and benefit sharing protocol, also known as the genetic resources pact.
The pact is basically an 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.
“At the negotiations, we will be forceful on the ABS issue because we, as one of the mega-biodiverse countries, should not only be spectators [on biodiversity issues].
We need to make sure that we will benefit from the richness of our natural resources,” the minister said.
Indonesia stands to benefit handsomely from a genetic resources pact.
Based on a report from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the country is ranked among the world’s top five nations for its plant biodiversity, with 55 percent of all species endemic here.
For fauna, around 12 percent, or 515 species, of known animal species worldwide are found in the country.
However, Gusti said he did not expect that all of Indonesia’s demands would be met at the negotiations.
“I have a feeling that negotiations will be tough, but we will lobby other developing countries to reach this agreement,” he said.
Some countries that have voiced concerns over the ABS include Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Meanwhile, Japan and the European Union have thus far voiced their support for the protocol.
Harry Alexander, assistant director for law and policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the ABS would be very important for Indonesia because of the potential economic benefits coming from the agreement.
“Indonesia is basically a provider for the world because we are a mega-diverse country,” Alexander said.
“The fair and equitable sharing will provide economic benefits for provider countries such as Indonesia, because other countries have been taking genetic resources from us without paying.”
“It will be hard for other negotiators, but it’s not fair to let them keep on taking our genetic resources for free,” he said.
