The Passing of Andries Steenkamp, Kalahari (Northern Cape)

Reflections of Indigenous Fellow, Ivan Vaalbooi

As the sun warmed up in the dusty Kalahari, we prepare to lay to rest one of the most outspoken leaders in the Kalahari, Andries Steenkamp. As the pastor had mentioned the previous night, Andries was a strong person who always said what he wanted and never doubted his stand in a matter.

In the church service it was mentioned once again that a huge tree has fallen. The funeral service for the fallen leader drew leadership figures from the !Xun and Khwe communities and was attended by many family members from throughout the Northern Cape. On behalf of Natural Justice I had the privilege to bid farewell to this remarkable leader. Andries  played a huge role in various Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cases, including  Hoodia, Scelletium as well as Rooibos. His presence will indeed be missed for his contributions in meetings, conferences and workshops. We all have to agree that Andries made a huge contribution to the Khomani San community in the Kalahari and for many indigenous peoples in South Africa. May his soul rest in peace and his legacy live forever with us.

All Photos credit: Ivan Vaalbooi

Natural Justice Hosted an Access and Benefit-Sharing Preparation Meeting with Khoi and San Communities Concerning Rooibos

Natural Justice’s Cape Town office hosted preparatory meetings with stakeholders to the Rooibos access and benefit-sharing agreement discussions. The stakeholders present included representatives from the Rooibos farming communities of Wupperthal and Niewoudtsville, the National Khoi-San Council and the San Council of South Africa.

The purpose of the meetings was to (i) Conduct Access and Benefit Sharing training, (ii) Engage in legal consultation with the stakeholders respective lawyers on the negotiations and (iii) to prepare the stakeholders for the broader access and benefit-sharing meeting with the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Rooibos Industry, scheduled for the afternoon of the 31^st of August.  The opportunity was also used to discuss with the communities the development of a Biocultural Community Protocol on Rooibos.

The meetings commenced the morning of the 30^th of August and closed the afternoon of the 31^st of August. During the final session the stakeholders took the time to reflect and wrap up the discussions from the previous day, and they watched a short video introducing the concept of biocultural community protocols along with WIPO’s (World Intellectual Property Organization) resources around traditional knowledge.

The communities then met with the Rooibos Industry during the afternoon. This meeting was hosted and facilitated by the Department of Environmental Affairs at their Cape Town offices.

African BCP Initiative Workshop Kicks Off

Natural Justice, ETC Compas and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), supported by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative (ABS Initiative) and the Ford Foundation, are hosting the African Biocultural Protocol Initiative Workshop from 5-7 November in Nairobi Kenya.

The workshop brings together representatives of the NGOs and CBOs that have been collaborating on the African BCPI and BCP processes in India. They are partners and/or community representatives from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Benin, Senegal, India, New York and the Netherlands.

ABS in Southern Africa: Developing Policy and Implementing Best Practice

On February 12-14 PhytoTrade Africa and The ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa, aided by Natural Justice, invited stakeholders of Southern African countries to discuss and identify good ABS policies and best practice on the basis of a number of regional value chain assessments.

One challenge in implementing the Nagoya Protocol has been to design strong and effective regulations while ensuring a business friendly regulatory environment that can attract investment in the sector and ensure its viability. Insights from already existing value chains and operating businesses across the region are highly useful in aiding governments in their efforts to design such national legislations, while ensuring that they simultaneously compliment and contribute to national development plans and objectives.  

Bringing together more than thirty governmental and non-governmental experts from across Southern Africa, along with representatives from industry, the two-day workshop assessed value chains on baobab, devil’s claw, kigelia and marula in Malawi, South Africa and Namibia.

Pacific Biodiversity

Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) attended the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in Fiji on 2-6 December 2013. Delegates reviewed the previous Action Strategy for Nature Conservation and updated it under the theme of 'Natural Solutions: Building Resilience for a Changing Pacific'. Natural Justice supported the ABS Capacity Development Initiative to host a workshop on challenges and opportunities associated with access and benefit sharing and attended with other workshops on locally managed marine areas and legal support for environmental challenges. More information on the conference is available here.

Learning about intellectual property, community protocols and ABS

A training for indigenous peoples and local communities in Africa on intellectual property, biocultural community protocols (BCPs) and access and benefit sharing (ABS) is taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the 23rd to the 27th of September. The meeting is organized by the ABS Initiative, in collaboration with Natural Justice, the Indigenous Information Network, the Indigenous Peoples Coordination Committee of Africa and hosted by the African Union Commission.

Intellectual property protections, such as patents, are often placed over developments that have originated from the knowledge held by indigenous and local communities. Unfortunately, these communities rarely provide their consent for such actions nor are able to share in any benefits that emerge from the developments.

Therefore, African indigenous people and local community representatives have requested training on the intellectual property regime, its linkages with access and benefit sharing and tools, such as community protocols, that can be used to protect their knowledge.

During the week long training, participants will share information on patents, geographical indications, plant variety protections, trade marks, the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and community protocols.

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Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration Submit New Letter to EU MEPs Regarding the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol as the European Parliament considers its Implementation within the Union

On 6 September 13, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration sent an letter to the Members of the European Parliament regarding the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol) in the European Union.

The original Draft Regulation on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization in the Union presented by the European Commission (EC) in October 2012 (Draft ABS Regulation) included a number of short comings, including the fact that user obligations were only going to be triggered by the physical access of genetic resources in the provider country post ratification of the Nagoya Protocol. When the Draft was considered by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI Committee) on 4 July 2013, the ENVI Committee adopted a number of amendments that addressed some of these short comings, including the modification of the scope of the regulation to include new and on-going utilizations of genetic resources (GRs) and traditional knowledge (TK). In their letter, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration urge Members of the European Parliament to adopt the balanced proposal tabled by the ENVI Committee without further amendments.

The two organizations argue that if the ENVI Committee text were amended to revert back to access-based trigger points for user compliance, the European Regulation implementing the Nagoya Protocol would not apply to the new utilization of GRs and TK accessed before its entry into force, even when the use of such GRs and TK is newly initiated or the GRs or TK has been accessed illegally. They underscore that this approach would undermine the Nagoya Protocol’s principles in relation to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits, be inconsistent with an overwhelming body of ABS laws of provider countries, thereby increasing legal uncertainty for European users, and would lead provider countries to take extensive control measures at the moment when GRs are taken out of the country, regardless of the purpose for removal. Similar and additional arguments  were submitted to EU MEPs by the African Union on behalf of the African Group on 9th September.

The upcoming vote at the European Parliament in the coming days is key as it will set the path of the next negotiation phase. In order to ensure a greater legal certainty for providers and users of GRs, as well as to facilitate access to GRs for European users and consistency with the spirit of the Nagoya Protocol, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration therefore call for the adoption of the proposal tabled by the ENVI Committee in its current form.

See also:
Joint Letter to the European Union Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the EC’s Draft ABS Regulation
Letter by Indigenous Information Network and Natural Justice, signed by 53 civil society organisations and individuals, 2013

Joint Submission to the European Union on the Draft Proposal on the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing
Submission by Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration on access, utilisation, and user obligations, 2013

ABS and BCP Workshop in East London, South Africa

On 3 and 4 July 2013, the Department of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) unit of the Medical Research Council of South Africa held the third and final pilot workshop on the international legislative framework and the South African domestic laws relating to Access and Benefit-Sharing.  The workshop was held in East London with twenty-eight participants and six resource persons.  Laureen Manuel and Gino Cocchiaro of Natural Justice conducted the workshop, which included presentations, group discussions and role plays on biocultural community protocols (BCPs).  

Members of seven different communities from villages in Uitenhage, Grahamstown and Willowbridge, as well as two representatives from the Mokgola community in Zeerust, participated in the workshop. Some of the participants are traditional healers and others are engaged in the farming of various types of tea leaves.  

International and domestic law on Access and Benefit Sharing, specifically the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol, and the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations of South Africa were among the topics covered under the session on laws. 

The workshop concluded with participants readily taking part in the group discussions and role plays on BCPs, where they were required to engage with challenging questions about their own communities' visions for the future and their decision-making processes. 

The short report for the African BCP Initiative 2011-2012 can be found here.