The Inception of a Capacity Development Initiative for Sabah

On the 15th of March, Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas joined Agnes Lee Agama (South East Asia Regional Coordinator, GDF) at a meeting hosted by Dr Fatah (Director, Sabah Biodiversity Centre) to discuss potential collaboration on an ABS capacity development initiative for Sabah. Dr Fatah explained that the first draft of the Sabah ABS Regulations would be ready by April, with the intention of finalizing them by June. In the meeting, Natural Justice provided advice on structuring a programme to facilitate the Regulations' implementation, including to view the community workshops as potential for experience-sharing between the Biodiversity Centre and communities, as well as considering establishing a multi-stakeholder dialogue towards the development of a set of ABS guidelines for Sabah. The meeting concluded with agreement to continue the discussion in Cali, Colombia, where Dr Fatah will be attending the 9th meeting of the Working Group on ABS together with Natural Justice's Johanna von Braun, Holly Shrumm, Kabir Bavikatte, Gino Cocchiaro and Harry Jonas.