NGOs told to shun political activities
JAKARTA (JP): The government welcomes cooperation and input from non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the 1992 Earth Summit results, but warns that they must not bring up "political issues."
Aca Sugandhy, assistant to the State Minister of Environment for policy formulation of environmental management, said yesterday that organizers of the Global Biodiversity Forum had to be wary of "political maneuvers" on the part of certain participants.
The Nov. 4 - Nov. 5 meeting will be hosted by Indonesia's Kehati Foundation, which is chaired by the former state minister of environment, Emil Salim.
"I think it's all right if they (participants) make pamphlets as long as they are relevant to the agenda, such as those regarding biosafety protocols," said Aca.
"However, posters that read something like 'Conglomerates destroy forests' would be improper," he said.
The Global Biodiversity Forum meeting will be held ahead of the second inter-governmental talks on the Convention of Biodiversity in Jakarta on Nov. 6 to 17.
The Nov. 6-17 event is a follow-up to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which issued the Convention in 1992. The first such meeting was held in the Bahamas last year.
Two hundred delegates from more than 100 non-governmental organizations will attend the Global Forum, from the well-known Greenpeace International to the little known International Potato Center.
A limited number of Indonesian NGOs are also invited to sit in during the inter-governmental meeting. Aca said that so far the Indonesian Forestry Community, an organization of timber business owners chaired by Mohammad Bob Hasan, and the vocal environmental network WALHI, the Indonesian Environment Forum, have been registered.
Aca said the Conference is expected to result in a consensus on the contents of a biosafety protocol, and not a final form of procedures for biotechnology research.
"The final results might take two more conferences," Aca said.
Biosafety protocols, or safety procedures for biotechnology research, have been controversial in previous meetings on the issue, with advanced countries resisting the need for such procedures.
However, in a statement published in April, scientists from both advanced and developing countries urged the need for international regulations ensuring the safety of commercially released products of genetic engineering. (anr)