Biodiversity talks end, making little progress

Biodiversity talks end, making little progress

JAKARTA (JP): A United Nations meeting on the environment
ended here yesterday with a mixture of success and continuing
challenges.

The participants in the UN Conference of Parties to the
Convention on Biodiversity agreed to enhance cooperation in
conservation and sustainable development, although the forms that
the cooperation will have yet to be spelled out.

The conference, which started on Nov. 6, also agreed to
promote recognition of traditional knowledge in the face of rapid
advances in biotechnology.

Another decision of the 117 attending parties was that a new
post for indigenous peoples be established in the Convention
Secretariat.

The convention has been ratified by 134 countries.

The post is meant as a forum to address such problems as
protecting traditional knowledge and "prior informed consent" in
the taking of natural resources from a local community.

This measure was a response to the demands of some government
delegates as well as representatives of indigenous peoples that a
formal representation of indigenous communities be established.

On intellectual property rights, delegates decided to work
with the World Trade Organization to study the impact on such
rights of biodiversity conservation and use.

Another step agreed upon is the holding of consultations with
all stakeholders in natural resources - the private sector, local
and indigenous peoples - to ensure "equal sharing" in the use of
genetic resources.

"Equal sharing" has yet to be defined.

Private sector

The initial conference document only mentioned consultation
with the private sector.

Another result of the conference is the Jakarta Mandate on
Coastal and Marine Biodiversity. This states that Indonesia is
the world center of expert meetings on coastal and marine
biodiversity.

The meeting, however, could not decide on the question of new
funding for developing countries' environmental programs. This
particular issue pitted developed countries against developing
ones during the conference.

A permanent source of funding will be decided at the next
conference, to be held next year in Argentina.

The convention, which states governments' commitment to
conservation and equal sharing of benefits of natural resources,
was issued at the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil.

Observers said the slow pace of progress in Jakarta reflected
difficulties in reconciling economic interests with less tangible
environmental benefits.

NGOs blamed developed countries for holding back progress at
the conference.

Trade interests held up talks on conservation measures for
forest, marine and coastal biodiversity. But an informal
agreement among 11 equatorial countries was eventually reached
after days of negotiations.

"The talks have been very tough because countries have been
grouped in ways that make them uncomfortable," said the
conference chairman Sarwono Kusumaatmadja.

The countries which reached the informal agreement are
Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Kenya, Uganda, Zaire, Equatorial
Guinea, Rwanda, Maldivez, Kiribati and Indonesia.

Yesterday Indonesia received aid from the World Wide Fund for
Nature to increase its ability to live up to the convention.
(anr)