Project ProBenefit"Process-oriented development of a model for equitable benefit-sharing for the use of biological resources in the Amazon Lowlands of Ecuador"
Kontext
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted at the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro in 1992 regulated access to biological resources. The Convention was signed by nearly all UN Member States, including Ecuador and Germany. By promoting ProBenefit the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) is making a contribution to implementing this international agreement.
The goal of ProBenefit is to develop a suitable procedure for equitable benefit-sharing for the use of biological resources and the associated indigenous knowledge in line with the principles of the CBD. To this end the project partners, together with the Ecuadorian government, the local Indian organisations and other relevant groups in society, as well as interested non-governmental organisations, will explore new models for sustainable use of biodiversity in the Ecuadorian Amazon region.
The project also intends to develop guidelines for a cooperation model on the basis of a concrete example. These guidelines aim to improve understanding between the various scientific disciplines and to involve all actors engaged in sustainable use of biological diversity.
Motivation
The Convention on Biological Diversity confirms the sovereign rights of the states over their biological resources and has thus contributed to the protection and sustainable use of these resources. However, this international agreement needs to be set out in concrete terms by national and regional legislation. The Andean Pact took an important step in this direction with its Decision 391.
In order to develop processes for achieving equitable benefit-sharing for access to biological resources in the Amazon region of Ecuador, the project partners target intensive cooperation between the host country, the local communities, the pharmaceutical firms and the various disciplines participating in the ProBenefit Project. They plan to pursue a transparent, integrative and interdisciplinary mode of work.
Such an interdisciplinary and integrative approach is new in this field of German research promotion. Earlier projects have only dealt with sub-aspects of the thematic complex of access and benefit-sharing, such as for instance exploring the biosphere, or legal and technical issues. ProBenefit aims to achieve better integration of the various disciplines and closely dovetail the modes of work and investigation methods of those actively involved
Project aims
The basic objective of ProBenefit is to develop a process making it possible to complete a model agreement on equitable benefit-sharing for the use of the natural resources in Ecuador's Amazon region, to explore the potential for using medicinal plants, and to develop possibilities for sustainable use of these plants. It is expressly stressed that all botanical or pharmaceutical investigations take second place to the superordinate goal of first creating the basis for transparent and participative agreement on the use of the biological resources. In addition the various interests and working modes of all participants will be investigated systematically to derive the necessary prerequisites and success factors for future projects of this kind.
Expected benefit of the project: - A model agreement on the use of biological resources in harmony with the goals of the CBD and derivation of rules for future Access & Benefit-sharing projects,
- Development of alternative sources of income by the discovery of new phytopharmaca,
- Capacity-building and a contribution to rural development,
- Transfer of technology and methods for the search for plants with potential medicinal effects,
- Support in the upgrading and maintenance of indigenous knowledge,
- Incentives for the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The German project partners and there tasks
Institut für Biodiversität - Netzwerk e.V. (ibn) - Moderation of a participatory process for an equitable and transparent agreement on the use of biological resources and indigenous knowledge,
- Ethnological back-up for the botanical examination and
- classification of vegetation structures in the second phase of the project.
Institut für Völkerrecht, Abt. für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht, Georg-August-
Universität Göttingen - Examination of the national and international legal bases,
- Legal contribution to the development of a cooperation model that takes into account the requirements of national and international legislation and special legal aspects resulting from the use of biodiversity,
- Derivation of generalisable rules and transfer to the development of an institutional framework that can be used in future for similar projects.
VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH, Zukünftige Technologien Consulting - Internal coordination and documentation of the project,
- Launching of the interdisciplinary process,
- PR work in Germany,
- Support to the project advisory council (organisation of advisory council meetings etc.) I
Abt. für Ökologie und Ökosystemforschung, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Dr. Willmar Schwabe GmbH & Co KG, Abt. Naturstoffe - Negotiating partner for a possible agreement on the use of biological resources and indigenous knowledge,
- Analysis of plant samples to produce extracts with pharmacological or nutrient-supplementing effects in the second phase of the project,
- Technical and scientific cooperation (for example selection and financing of an Ecuadorian student for a doctorate).
Schedule
The project has a planned term of about 5 years. It consists of two consecutive project phases: - Phase 1: Entry into a model agreement with all actors representing relevant interests in the spirit of the CBD on access to natural resources in a part of the Ecuadorian Amazon region.
- Phase 2: Ethno-botanical and pharmacological investigations for the possible production of a plant extract with documented medicinal effect.
ProBenefit started in June 2003. Evaluation steps and milestones are planned to review the project objectives.
Financing
The project is being financed by the Federal German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) in its programme "Biosphere Research - Integrative an Application-Oriented Model Projects" BioTEAM
Links
Universität Göttingen, Institut für Völkerrecht
www.gwdg.de/~ujvr/
Universität Göttingen; Albrecht-v.-Haller-Institut für Pflanzenwissenschaften
www.gwdg.de/~botanik/avhi.htm
Dr. Willmar Schwabe Arzneimittel GmbH & Co. KG:
www.schwabe.de/de/index_news.html
BMBF
www.bmbf.de
Bekanntmachung des BMBF zu Bioteam
www.dlr.de/PT/Umwelt/F70000/F73000/Bek-Biodiv.htm
deutscher Text der Konvention:
www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/i4/0.451.43.de.pdf
Bioteam
www.dlr.de/PT/Umwelt/F70000/F73000/Bek-Biodiv.htm
general information about Ecuador
http://www.embajada-quito.de/de/informationen/leben_arbeiten/
ABS Information Platform - Gemany
Probenefit - Projekthomepage www.probenefit.de
Literatur
HANDBOOK OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY vom Sekretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Sekretariat der CBD.
HENNE, G (1998): Genetische Vielfalt als Ressource - Die Regelung ihrer Nutzung. Nomos-Verlangsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden.
WILSON, E. O. (Hrsg.)(1988): Ende der biologischen Vielfalt? - Der Verlust an Arten, Genen und Lebensräumen und die Changen für eine Umkehr. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag Heidelberg (ISBN 3-89330-661-7).
Contact
Further information on the "Pro Benefit" project is available from:
Christiane Ploetz
Dr. Carsten Krück
Zukünftige Technologien Consulting der VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH
Graf-Recke-Str. 84
40239 Düsseldorf
Postfach 10 11 39
40002 Düsseldorf
Germany
Tel.: ++49 - (0)211 - 6214-503 oder -519
Fax: ++49 - (0)211 - 6214-139
e-mail:
ploetz@vdi.de
krueck@vdi.de
info@pro-benefit.de
www.probenefit.de
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ProBenefit
