From 19-22 November, 2012, the first ever Oceania Biodiscovery Forum took place in Brisbane, Australia. The meeting was jointly facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Eskitis Institute of Griffith University, the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative. This meeting was followed by an Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) capacity development workshop for ABS Focal Points and other relevant stakeholders in the Pacific region from 22-23 November.
The Biodiscovery Forum provided a platform for exchange on the nature of bioprospecting activities by Australian research institutes, both public and private. A number of researchers shared the nature of their work, ranging from small-scale commercial bioprospecting activities to large-scale gene banks of marine genetic resources. These activities were then discussed against the backdrop of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Australia’s draft policy as a user of genetic resources as well as the existing permit system as a provider of genetic resources. A number of national and regional benefit sharing examples with local communities were shared with participants.
