Programme Director;
Premier of the Limpopo Province: Mr Cassel Mathale;
Executive Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality: Cllr Nomvula Sono;
Project Officer in the Directorate of Human Resources, Science and Technology of the African Union;
Commission, Ms Mahlet Teshome;
Head of department for Economy and International Affairs in the German Embassy: Mr Andreas Kuenne;
Policy Director of NORAD, under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Ms Bente Herstad;
The representative of the Director of the Institute of Sustainable Development in Canada: Madame Rajae Chafil;
The Managing Director of the ABS Capacity Development Initiative: Dr. Andreas Drews;
All participants to the seventh Pan African ABS workshop;
Members from the media,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Allow me to firstly, express my appreciation of the warm welcome I received from the leadership of the Limpopo province, the District and Local Municipalities and for the excellent venue made available to us.
I would also like to take this opportunity to convey my sincere gratitude to the Government of Germany, Norway, Denmark and the European Union as well as the Institute of Energy and Environment of the Francophonie in Canada for the financial support provided for this workshop, enabling the participation of countries from all over Africa.
You have once again provided evidence of your continued support to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation.
Allow me to also extend to you all a very warm welcome to this important event, the seventh Pan-African Workshop on Access and Benefit Sharing.
It is indeed a pleasure, to be amongst you in this beautiful province of Limpopo to advance our international obligations through the regional, sub-regional and national implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilisation under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
This Province is situated in the northern part of South Africa, bordering Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. It offers a mosaic of superb scenic landscapes, a fascinating cultural heritage, an abundance of wildlife species and many nature-based tourism opportunities, such as the Kruger National Park which is considered the largest game reserve in South Africa. It is truly the Eden of Africa.
As many of you may know, South Africa has a rich natural and cultural resource base that ranks amongst the top 3 in the world's most biologically diverse countries. We are home to approximately 24 000 plants species and have an entire floral kingdom within its borders. South Africa is not just rich in biological diversity but also blessed with a rich cultural diversity. These natural and cultural resources underpin a large proportion of the economy and many rural and urban people are directly dependent on them for employment, food, shelter, medicine and spiritual well being. The South African benefits derived from biodiversity or ecosystem services, or the natural capital as it is known, are estimated at 73 billion Rands contributing to 7 percent of South Africa's Gross Domestic Product per annum.
The biodiversity economy, which is part of our broader Green Economy, is therefore our country’s competitive edge in growing our economy and addressing climate change adaptation. We know that biodiversity is indeed a basis for human and socio-economic development. We recognise the significance of the green economy in creating decent green jobs, ensuring real sustainable economic growth and preventing environmental degradation.
Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa has long been one of the pioneers in the national implementation of the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) and the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations, 2008 are evidence of South Africa’s commitment to its obligations under the third objective of the Convention.
These regulatory frameworks emphasise the need for the management, conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and stress the importance of fair and equitable sharing of benefit with communities arising from commercial utilisation of indigenous biological resources and associated traditional knowledge. This legal framework provides a huge opportunity for economic growth, sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
The effectiveness of the above-mentioned legal framework is further complemented by the Threatened or Protected Species Regulations, cites Regulations, the Provincial Ordinances, the Patent Amendment Act, 2005 and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy. The incorporation of mandatory disclosure requirements for any new invention involving indigenous biological resources and their associated traditional knowledge in the Patent application process has placed South Africa at the forefront in addressing potential cases of misappropriation. In addition, the National Recordal System is underway within the umbrella of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy to put more measures to protect traditional knowledge associated with indigenous biological resources.
This is because the biological resources, whether from plants, animals or micro-organisms, are used by different types of users, for example academics, scientists, private companies; operating in different sectors, for example, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, horticulture; for a wide range of purposes, from basic scientific research, such as taxanomy, to development of commercial products which contribute to human-well-being.
Ladies and Gentlemen it is incumbent upon us to debunk the myth that biodiversity management hinders development, by positioning the biodiversity sector as a major contributor to job creation and the fight against poverty. This is why our Government through the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Council (CSIR),the National Traditional Healers Committee and the Mabunda and Maswanganyi Communities are collaborating on the project you will be seeing tomorrow during your field trip.
I strongly believe that the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their utilisation under the Convention on Biological Diversity has a great potential to achieve societal goals and also to contribute to the attainment of our Green Economy objectives, by ensuring that our people are central to this Economy.
As you may all be aware, South Africa ratified this Protocol on 10 January this year, joining the following African countries: Ethiopia, Gabon, Rwanda, Seychelles and Mauritius. It is worth noting that since the closing date of the signing requirements of this Protocol, Africa has maintained its 50% status in the ratification statistics. We urge the remaining African countries to fast track their national processes of ratification, accession or acceptance of this Protocol to ensure its early entry into force.
Notwithstanding the fact that the African region remains faced with challenges to develop and build both technical and human capacity to effectively implement this Protocol, I am grateful to the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, which is ably supported by the various donor countries represented here, for their unceasing support to the African countries in their quest to overcome this challenge. I would also like to share with you that in the coming week, the CITES-COP conference will be starting in Thailand, Bangkok and I am glad to recognise the new pathway that Parties are taking in a form of showcasing national activities through side-events which are contributing to livelihood improvement at a ground level through the utilisation of the cites listed species.
Majority of these species have a strong relationship with the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising from their Utilisation ABS as they are largely exploited for commercial research and product developments. In the South African case, the Aloe ferox species has been selected for this purpose. South Africa has facilitated community participation from one of our best case projects in the Eastern Cape Province involving the species of Aloe ferox and the Tyefu community.
Ladies and gentlemen, South Africa provides an ideal setting for our deliberations and I hope that during this week, we can all learn from South Africa’s experience coupled with a field trip to a bioprospecting project in Giyani. In Giyani, you will see how our Government, its research institutions (the CSIR and others), traditional leadership and local communities has formed a partnership towards locally owned enterprise development that contributes to job creation, poverty alleviation and sustaining livelihoods.
The project involves the cultivation of the plant (Musungungwane in Venda or Lippia javanica), the distillation and extraction of the oil for the manufacturing of the mosquito repellent candles. The associated research agreements and the beneficiation to the community and the knowledge holders, will inspire us to arrive at a successful and practical outcome of this workshop and assist us to effectively implement the three objectives of the CBD in a balanced manner.
I thank you and wish you a success during the seventh Pan-African Workshop on Access and Benefit Sharing. I declare this workshop officially opened.
