RI warms up to biodiversity talks

JAKARTA (JP): Government and non-governmental agencies here are planning a series of discussions prior to an international conference on biodiversity in November.

Konphalindo, the National Consortium for the Conservation of Indonesian Forests and Nature, will bring government officials, experts and NGOs together for a one-day talk today.

The Kehati Foundation, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, is preparing another meeting of Southeast Asian experts and government officials on Aug. 22-24 entitled "Genetic resources for the livelihood of Southeast Asian people".

"The symposium will be the third in the region since 1975, but the first since the Earth Summit," said the Foundation's executive director, Setijati D. Sastrapradja on Saturday.

"The issue of genetic resources, such as developing high yield grains, is still low on national priorities, which is why we need to hold these discussions repeatedly," said Setijati, a researcher at the biotechnology center at the Indonesian Institute of Science.

The meetings will cover issues related to the Convention on Biodiversity, which was issued at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Conservation activists have been lamenting the slow progress the world has made since Rio. At a recent meeting in Madrid, for example, plans to introduce safety procedures in biotechnology met much resistance.

Prior to the conference discussing the Convention on Biodiversity, Kehati and the Indonesia office of the Worldwide Fund for Nature will host the Global Forum, another international meeting of NGOs.

The Forum is set for Nov. 4-5. The government has not yet announced the date of the international conference.

The Global Forum will focus on marine and forest conservation, access to genetic resources, and decentralizing the management of the Convention.

The issues of community rights and procedures to ensure safety in biotechnology, called biosafety protocols, will likely be included under access to genetic resources, said Setijati.

Regarding biosafety protocol, a participant of the workshop on community-based conservation told The Jakarta Post earlier that scientists are increasingly aware of the need for tight control of biotechnology products before commercialization.

"They know that not all the effects of the products are known," said Chee Yoke Ling of the Hong Kong-based Third World Network. She added that companies involved in biotechnology research have lobbied strongly against the need for biosafety protocols in their countries. (anr)