MEDIA ADVISORY
Friends of the Earth International
BIOPIRACY THREATS AT BIODIVERSITY
MEETING
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) February 9, 2004 -
While representatives of 187 countries gather
here for a key meeting on biodiversity
starting today, Friends of the earth
International warned about the negative
impacts of the increasing 'commodification'
of life.
Between February 9 and 20 the 187 parties
to the United Nations Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) meet for the
seventh time to make decisions on a wide
range of issues related to biodiversity
[1].
They will discuss for instance the role of
protected areas, technology transfer, and the
rights of Indigenous Peoples and local
communities. Crucially, they will also decide
if they will start controversial negotiations
on legally binding rules on access to genetic
resources and associated traditional
knowledge, and the ?fair and equitable?
distribution of the benefits of this cultural
and biological diversity.
Friends of the Earth International, the
world's largest grassroots environmental
organization with 68 national groups in as
many countries is concerned about those
rules, since biopiracy [2] is on the increase
worldwide.
"New rules based on the commodification of
genetic resources and associated traditional
knowledge would be unacceptable because they
would facilitate biopiracy instead of halting
it. This would make the CBD lose its
credibility," said Simone Lovera of Friends
of the Earth International.
"Patents on life and the further
commodification of biodiversity are
threatening the main objective of this
Convention: preserving our planet's
biodiversity," added Isaac Rojas of Friends
of the Earth Costa Rica. There are many
activities that are directly responsible for
the loss of biological and cultural
diversity. The logging (which caused the
disappearance of a great part of the world's
forests) and mining industries are two major
culprits.
The main demands of Friends of the Earth
international to the parties of the CBD
are:
* To ban large-scale commercial logging in
tropical forests (like those of Malaysia,
Papua New Guinea and Indonesia)
* To ban mining, at least in the world?s
protected areas
* To ensure explicit safeguards for the
rights of Indigenous Peoples and local
communities in the proposed workplan on
protected areas.
* Not to start negotiations on biopiracy
rules (regime) that allow patents on life and
the commodification of biodiversity and
associated traditional knowledge.
For more information contact in Kuala
Lumpur :
Isaac Rojas (gavitza@racsa.co.cr) Friends
of the Earth Costa Rica (speaks Spanish) at
+31-6-10897827 (mobile from Tuesday
Feb.10)
Simone Lovera (simonelovera@yahoo.com)
Friends of the Earth International (Speaks
English) at +31-6-10897827 (mobile from
Tuesday Feb.10)
Yin Shao Loong (shaoloong@myjaring.net)
Friends of the earth Malaysia (Speaks
English) at +60-12-6199234 (mobile)
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] Official website of the CBD:
www.biodiv.org
[2] Biopiracy is the appropriation and
commodification of genetic resources and
associated traditional knowledge.
|
