RI warms up to biodiversity talks

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)