8th Pan-African ABS Workshop, 10-14 March 2014, Cotonou, Benin

Natural Justice’s Gino Cocchiaro and Josh Ogada are attending the Pan-African ABS Workshop, being held from the 10-14 March 2014, in Cotonou, Benin. Organized by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative and now in its 8th iteration, the workshop is being hosted by the Ministère de l'Environnement Chargé de la gestion des changements climatiques, du reboisement et de la protection des ressources naturelles et forestière.

The meeting brings together a range of stakeholders and interested parties including ABS National Focal Points, representatives of competent national authorities for ABS, representatives of relevant regional and international (research) institutions, NGOs, indigenous and local communities, as well as representatives of the private sector involved in bio-trade and bio-prospecting. Natural Justice is a key partner to the Initiative, and this workshop provides a unique opportunity to review and strengthen the partnership, as well as forge stronger linkages with other stakeholders in the area of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS).

BIOPAMA Regional Workshop - Eastern & Southern Africa

Via www.iucn.org

From 4-6 December, 2012, Gino Cocchiaro of Natural Justice attended the regional workshop for southern and eastern Africa on the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme in Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop provided a forum for participants and stakeholders from protected areas, governments and civil society to support the planning of BIOPAMA, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and the Access and Benefit Sharing Capacity Development Initiative (ABS Initiative). 

Gino and Suhel al-Janabi (ABS Initiative) presented on ABS case studies, including a discussion on how the Traditional Health Practitioners of Bushbuckridge are using their biocultural community protocol to work towards a potential ABS agreement with a cosmetics company. Other sessions included presentations and discussion on regional reference information systems, refining and addressing capacity development needs, and the drafting of an action plan for the regional implementation of BIOPAMA including the identification of priority activities, identification of key national and regional stakeholders, and agreed processes for collecting data and information. 

Learn more about BIOPAMA at its website here and through its introductory brochure in English, Spanish and French.