Sarawak to increase pitcher plant exports

KUCHING: Sarawak, home to more than one-quarter of the 90 nepenthes or pitcher plants found in the world, is increasing exports of the plant.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the state exported 22,000 units of tissue-cultured nepenthes to 35 countries last year, up from 15,000 in 2005 and 11,000 in 2004.

"Twenty-one of the 25 species of the pitcher plants which are native to Sarawak are offered for sale," he said in a speech to open a four-day nepenthes summit at the Sarawak Tourism Complex on Saturday.

Seven of the 90 recognised nepenthes species are only found in Sarawak.

Taib's text of speech was read by his deputy Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, also state Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture.

Twenty-one papers are being discussed at the event, which features an exhibition and a workshop on nepenthes cultivation.

Taib said the state started the propagation of nepenthes when a private tissue culture laboratory was set up 11 years ago.

"In Borneo, the nepenthes has been the focus of biological research and discovery for more than 150 years.

"The plant has also been an important part of the state's traditional culture since before recorded history, being used for folk medicine and cooking."

Taib said as Sarawak was one of the 12 "mega biodiversity hotspots" in the world, the government wanted the state to be recognised as a centre of excellence for research, especially on biodiversity conservation.

He said the state had over the years enacted several laws to protect and conserve its rich biological resources.

Biodiversity: Cultural And Ethical Aspect

Biodiversity, culture and ethics each raise complex conceptual issues of their own - to attempt to describe their interactions is no easy task especially if one wishes to keep in mind the theme of this Forum : "Science and development, Towards a New Partnership". The very concepts of "diversity" and "biodiversity" have now a different meaning and content from the one they had a few decades ago because of the progress made in scientific research and the increased awareness of the importance of ecological systems.

We now know that the first bacteria was born 3,4 billion years ago. A census (philogenetic tree) covers about 1,400,000 species as of today - the unknown species are estimated at between 5 and 50 millions . The new quantitative information which the scientific community is gathering has qualitative impacts on the problematique of "biodiversity". It contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the relationships between living organisms and underlines the fact that this diversity is at the very basis of life.

Organic diversity is now accompanied by another type of diversity. We are moving from a society based on "production" to one based on "knowledge" a knowledge which is producing a huge information of a great diversity. In the field of science alone, there are over 2.000.000 scientific articles published each year in about 60.000 scientific magazines - about one article every four minutes.

The scientific vocabulary is enriched by 40.000 new words every year. Diversity has thus become not only a condition for biological and ecological survival but also for the development of a society of knowledge where the process is much more important than the product. The process is in itself a source of diversity With the help of innovation and creativity (added value) the "process" has become an important source of industrial diversity.

In the present paper we shall try to analyze the effects of culture and ethics on biodiversity without ignoring the reverse process - that is the key role of diversity in the areas of culture and ethics.

Three main topics will be dealt with succinctly:

1. The spiritual dimension of biodiversity.

2. Ethical Implications of diversity.

3. Cultural diversity : a prerequisite for communication and world peace.

I. The spiritual dimension of biodiversity

Diversity is a very basic concept for the understanding of nature as well as of human behaviour. It is a physical and a socio-cultural reality. It also has its spiritual and metaphysical facets. All of the Holy Books underline diversity as an essential element of Creation. I shall limit myself to a few quotations from the Koran (in which we find 37 times the expression "diversity").


"... To each among you
Have We prescribed a Law
And an Open Way.
If God had so willed,
He would have made you
A single people, but (His
Plan is) to test you in what
He hath given you: so strive
As in a race in all virtues.
The goal of you all is to God;
It is He that will show you
The truth of the matters
in which you dispute." (V, 48)

"It is He who produceth
Gardens, with trellises
and without, and dates,
And tilth with produce
of all kinds, and olives
And pomegranates,
similar (in kind)
and different (in variety):
eat of their fruit
in their season, but render
The dues that are proper
on the day that the harvest is
gathered. But waste not
By excess : for God
Loveth not the wasters." (VI, 141)

"If it had been thy Lord's Will,
They would all have believed,
All who are on earth !
Wilt thou then compel mankind,
Against their will, to believe!" (X, 99)

"And the things on this earth
which he has multiplied
in varying colours (and qualities)
Verily in this is a Sign
for men who celebrate
the praises of God (in gratitude) (XVI, 133)

"And among His Signs
Is the creation of the heavens
And the Earth, and the variations
In your languages
And your colours : verily
in that are Signs
for those who know." (XXX , 22)

"Seest thou not that God
Sends down rain from
the sky, and leads it
Through springs inn the earth?
Then He causes to grow,
Therewith, produce of various
colours : then it withers;
Thou wilt see it grow yellow;
Then he makes it
Dry up and crumble away.
Truly, in this, is
A Message of remembrance to
Men of understanding." (XXXIX, 21)
This small selection of verses is meant to show the diverse manners in which the concept of diversity is used in the Koran and how it applies to human beings, nature, plants and life in general. A remarkable verse X, 99,(see above) is the one in which it is said that if God had wanted to make all the people on earth believers he could have done so. It then goes on to criticize those who exert pressures in matters of belief, "Wilt thou then compel mankind, Against their will, to believe!" . This verse not only highlights the vital role of diversity in the Koran but also stresses the sense of tolerance and freedom which are essential conditions for diversity.

We also see how the Koran stresses cultural diversity (verse XXX, 22 above) and the "variations in languages and colours"... "If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people..." (V, 48 above). The reference to the spiritual dimension is also essential if we are to understand the shaping of values which affect our attitudes towards life and its diverse aspects. The spiritual concept of diversity leads to the understanding of "unity". Without a comprehension of unity we can not apprehend the true sense of diversity.


II. Ethical Implications of diversity
The following text of Professor Pierre Chambon is left in its original form which highlights beautifully the reasons why the living sciences of the last fifty years reveal to us a source of ethical values : the respect of the biological universe.

"Accroché à l'un des rameaux de la couronne de l'arbre phylogenetique, fruit plus qu'improbable d'une loterie cosmique, l'homme qui est le seul être vivant a pouvoir se représenter lui-même comme un autre, est aussi le seul à connaître ses racines. Il me semble que cela lui impose des devoirs particuliers. Presque paradaxolement, s'il fallait trouver dans l'histoire du vivant que la biologie des cinquantes dernières années nous revele une source de valeurs éthiques, celles-ci devraient sans doute prendre en compte le respect de l'univers biologique auquel nous sommes si profondément ancrés." (Le Monde, op. cit.)

The respect of the biological universe calls for a set of ethical norms including a high consideration for diversity. We can not however separate the socio-cultural systems of humanity from the biological universe of which they are a part. Yet, the whole game of "power" consists in imposing one's own system of values and weakening if not overtaking the values of others thereby reducing cultural diversity.

We are thus confronted with a delicate ethical problem because all research today is showing the very close links between ecological systems and cultural systems in operational terms. Biodiversity is not an end in itself; it can no longer be thought of independently of the socio-cultural environment which it sustains.

Diversity has positive as well as negative aspects. When we look at the diversity in the quality of life within and between countries we are struck by huge inequalities. These inequalities make it very difficult to preserve biological diversity because of the rate of consumption and of pollution of the privileged minority on Earth.

How can one ethically give first priority to biodiversity as long as the problem of poverty has not been solved through the "partnership of science and development". About 1500 million people live in a state of absolute poverty, have no drinkable water nor electricity and are illiterate or quasi-illiterate.

On the other hand, we find 20 % of the world population earning 150 times more than the poorest 20 %. The diversity in the situations in the North and in the South is getting constantly worse.

There are more than 1100 million persons who earn less than a dollar per day ! The 20% poorest people in the world earn only 1,4% of the total world income in comparison with 82.7% in the case of the 20% richest people.

The countries of the North which represent less than 22 % of the world population consume 70 % of the world's energy, 75% of its metals, 85 % of its wood and two thirds of its food products. The North also accounts for over 90 % of expenditures in R&D and 80% of the expenditures in education.

How long can the ethics of biodiversity endure the consequences of unequitable economic diversity within and between countries ? I believe this to be a vital question to which a common answer must be found jointly by the North and the South on the basis of universal values to be agreed upon. The problem is one of equilibrium within diversity - an equilibrium which calls for an equitable redistribution and social justice. Without such a peaceful redistribution a socio-ecological explosion is inevitable in the medium term.


III. Cultural diversity: a prerequisite for communication and world peace
The Editorial of the issue of January 1994 (# 28) of "Biology International" highlights the cultural dimension when it states that in dealing with the theme "Origins, Maintenance and loss of biodiversity", "the major constraint is of cultural origin."

Cultural implications are to be found in every step of life. Let us take something as simple as the title of this international forum as well as of the international programme which calls upon the collaboration of a number of intergovernmental and governmental organizations : DIVERSITAS. Why choose a language which has a very clear cultural bias when dealing with a world wide programme. What happens to cultural diversity ? The word "diversity" exists in every language. In fact the use of "diversitas" can be interpreted as an unconscious form of ethnocentrism.

It is somehow contradictory to defend the principles of cultural diversity and cultural identity and at the same time claim "universality" for one's own values. This is what the West is doing in its relations with the rest of the world. Such an ethnocentrism is based on the assumption that "modernization" equals "westernization" and "westernization" signifies "universalization". These assumptions need to be corrected.

In a study entitled "Agenda for Japan in the 1990s" carried out by NIRA (Nippon Institute for Research Advancement), the President of the Institute stressed, in the Introduction the issue of cultural diversity :

"... it is no longer appropriate to view the world in terms of military polarization, i.e., Pax Russo-Americana. Rather, it has become necessary to look at the world system differently, to put aside a long-sustained view of world order based on stratification under American rule. The new world order may be called may be called the Age of Diverse Civilizations, based on the emergence of an age with multiple co-existing civilizations."

He then adds that "Japan's modernization served as evidence that modernization is different from westernization".

This last conclusion is very important because the ideological basis of colonialism, neo-colonialism (and now post-colonialism) has always been and still is that one can go through the process of "modernization" without going first through "westernization". There is no room left for diversity and for freedom of choice. We have to deal with prefabricated modernity and fast food democracy and human rights as defined by others.

When we speak of cultural diversity we speak of cultural identity, of cultural values, of preservation as well as of development of culture. This diversity does not cut off cultures from the "universal" - on the contrary it is diversity which is the source of universality and which permits true communication and mutual understanding instead of one way monologues. One of the dangers facing humanity is the absence of this cultural communication. We have a one way communication - the one of the powerful who imposes his values by force if necessary while maintaining that they are of a "universal" nature.

In 1978, during the First North South Round Table (Rome), I stressed the fact that the main problem in North-South relations was first and foremost one of "cultural communication". Cultural values are playing a greater and greater role in international relations. The big question is how to preserve diversity within harmony ? It is one of the conditions for the building of world peace.

On 2 October 1986, in Tokyo, in a Television Program of NHK, with Jean-Jacques Servan Schreiber, on the future of international cooperation, I maintained that future conflicts will have cultural causes and that we may witness such a type of conflict between the United States and Japan.

During the Gulf War, in an interview with "Der Spiegel" (11 February 1991) I qualified that war as the "First Civilizational War". In 1991 I published a book with that title (in arabic and french). The weight I have always attached to the importance of culture and cultural values in development and in international relations has been a constant one. It is therefore interesting to quote the following excerpt from "Foreign Affairs" written in 1993 by Samuel Huntington, Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University :

"It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural... The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future."

Culture and science have become the main determinants of the international system. A "partnership" between the two may help to solve many issues. As the subtheme of the Conference is "science and development towards a new partnership" one should recall René Maheu's (former Director general of UNESCO) definition of development : "Le developpement est la science devenue culture".

Ilya Prigogine has also very well described the link between science and culture by maintaining that the "problems of a culture can influence the development of scientific theories". He has also underlined the link between "science", "culture", "diversity" and "universality",

"la science s'ouvrira à l'universel lorsqu'elle cessera de nier, de se considérer étrangère aux préoccupations des sociétés, et sera enfin capable de dialoguer avec les les hommes de toutes les cultures et pourra respecter leurs questions."

The implication of this statement is that science is not yet "open" to the "universal". Maybe the big task of the "science and development partnership" is to allow science to open itself to universality through a full respect of cultural diversity. It would be one of the best ways to contribute to better cultural communication and thus to the building of world peace and the respect of biodiversity.

MA releases second report: Biodiversity and Human Well–being

Launched today, the second Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Biodiversity Synthesis, synthesizes and integrates findings related to biological diversity from the four MA Working Groups: Conditions and Trends, Scenarios, Responses and Sub-global Assessments, in response to requests for information received through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The report will be launched as part of the celebrations for International Day for Biological Diversity today in:

Montreal, Canada - the CBD Secretariat will hold a press conference followed by a reception and will co-sponsor, with McGill University, a seminar aiming at providing an in-depth discussion of the report and its relationship to science, and policy. More details are available here
London & Cambridge, United Kingdom – UNEP will hold a press briefing on the findings of the Biodiversity Synthesis Report at the Royal Society, followed by a scientific seminar organized by UNEP-WCMC, and hosted at University of Cambridge. More details at www.unep-wcmc.org
Beijing, China – State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) will hold a press conference highlighting the Chinese government’s efforts to protect biodiversity in the past 10 years. More details at www.biodiv.gov.cn
“Loss of biodiversity is a major barrier to achieving development goals, and poses increasing risks for future generations,” said Walter Reid, Director of the Millennium Assessment. “The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report shows that management tools, policies and technologies do exist to dramatically slow this loss.”



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Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity, said that the report is of great value to all those concerned with the Convention on Biological Diversity and its objectives – the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and the equitable sharing of its benefits.

“The report’s findings remind us that biodiversity is a requirement for all life on the planet – it is life insurance for our changing world,” he said. “The report reminds us of the need for action now.”

“I encourage all parties to the Convention to consider the report at the upcoming eleventh meeting of our scientific advisory body – SBSTTA - and prepare recommendations concerning its implications for the future work of the Convention, including the 2010 biodiversity target,” Zedan added.



The key findings in this report highlighted by the CBD are:

1. In the last 50 years, human actions have changed the diversity of life on the planet more than at any other time in history. Our activities have lifted many people out of poverty, but at the price of a loss of biodiversity. If we continue down this road, we will reduce biological diversity, with life-threatening consequences.

2. Biodiversity is the foundation for human well-being. Not only does it provide the materials we need for food, clothing and shelter, but also gives us security, health and freedom of choice. The current pace and rhythm of our activities are harming ecosystems, consuming biological resources and putting at risk the well-being of future generations.

3. Human activities are leading to the loss of the variety of life. Population increase and economic activity, fuelled by technological change and our patterns of political and cultural life are placing undue pressure on ecosystems. Our actions are changing habitats, the climate, overexploiting resources, creating pollution and promoting the spread of invasive alien species. If current patterns continue, the loss of biodiversity will accelerate, not diminish.

4. In the past, actions and programs that promoted conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity limited biodiversity loss. This is promising, but we are not doing enough. To further reduce and stop the loss of biodiversity will require a whole host of new and stronger actions. Sustainable human development remains the primary goal and we need to strengthen the range and power of our ability to respond to biodiversity loss.

5. The size of the task ahead of us is so great that the 2010 biodiversity target will only realistically be achieved in certain areas and regions if we engage in substantial efforts. This sobering conclusion is not hopeless. Humankind can choose to act now for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity if it changes the way it is causing change, carefully chooses the ways it responds to change and makes the right tradeoffs.

Biodiversity is defined by the MA as the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

An assessment of the current state of knowledge, the material presented in this report and in the full MA aims to:

provide an authoritative source of information,
mobilize knowledge and information to address specific policy questions,
clarify where there are areas of broad consensus within the scientific community and where important controversies remain, and
provide insights that emerge from a broad review of knowledge that might not be apparent in individual studies.


About the MA reports

The MA reports will include a total of seven synthesis and summary reports, and four technical volumes. An additional set of about 16 sub-global assessments will be released separately. More details

A series of seven synthesis reports are designed to meet the needs of the international conventions (Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the Convention on Migratory Species) and also designed to meet the needs of other stakeholders, including business, civil society, and indigenous peoples.

On March 30, 2005, the first synthesis report, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report and a statement by the MA board of directors entitled “Living beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-being” were launched in London, Washington DC, Beijing, Brasilia, Cairo, Delhi, Lisbon, Rome, Stockholm and Tokyo.



About the MA

Involving some 1,360 of the world's leading experts, the MA is a partnership among several international organizations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Convention on Migratory Species, five UN agencies (WHO, FAO, UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP), the World Bank, and IUCN. It is supported by 22 of the world’s leading scientific bodies, including The Royal Society of the U.K. and the Third World Academy of Sciences.

The MA’s work is overseen by a 45-member board of directors, co-chaired by Dr. Robert Watson, Chief Scientist of The World Bank, and Dr. A. H. Zakri, Director of the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies. The multi-stakeholder board is composed of the international organizations plus government officials, the private sector, NGOs and indigenous peoples.

The Assessment Panel, which oversees the technical work of the MA, includes 13 of the world’s leading social and natural scientists. It is co-chaired by Ms. Angela Cropper of the Cropper Foundation, and Prof. Harold Mooney of Stanford University. Dr. Walter Reid is the Director of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Major funding was provided by the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The World Bank. The MA Secretariat is coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Gut Level Biodiversity

When people hear biodiversity, they tend to think of species in a large, outdoor habitat. But the basic concept of biodiversity—namely, that an ecosystem is most healthy when it contains a larger variety of individual species—can apply to just about any habitat. In the case of habitats such as the human body, it has implications for disease. Many bacterial infections can be viewed as caused less by the mere presence of a specific type of bacteria, but rather when a single species of harmful bacteria gets an upper hand on the rest and begins to overpopulate.

In an open access article at PNAS, researchers have looked at the biodiversity of the bacteria that live in the stomach of humans. They focused specifically on Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria that lead to ulcers, but cast their net quite widely. After sequencing over 1,800 individual samples from 23 people, they saw that the gut is home to more types of bacteria than expected (8 different phyla were found), including a few that had never been previously seen there. Intriguingly, different people seem to have different gut populations, suggesting that individual variation can alter the biodiversity there. It also appears that the stomach is a distinct environment relative to the mouth and esophagus.

From the disease perspective, it looks like Helicobacter pylori was the most common type of bacteria present in those individuals who had previously tested positive for it. But it is more widespread than previously thought, showing up at low levels in seven people who had not tested positive. It also looks like there is less bacterial diversity in the stomachs of those with high levels Helicobacter pylori. These findings reinforce the concept that it's the levels of the disease-causing bacteria relative to its harmless companions that's important, rather than its presence or absence.

Rare Dolphin's "Extinction" A Red Flag for Biodiversity Loss

The international expedition that recently declared the Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, “functionally extinct” has called the disappearance of the species “a loss not only for China, but for the entire world.” The rare white cetacean had been living in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and its tributaries for more than 20 million years, where it survived at the top of the aquatic food chain. But with the Yangtze river basin now home to nearly 400 million people—roughly a third of China’s population—unchecked human activities have gradually destroyed the animal’s habitat, according to scientists with the Institute of Hydrology at the China Academy of Sciences.

The expedition team spent 38 days in November and December scouring a 3,400-kilometer segment of the Yangtze River with hi-tech optical and acoustic equipment, but found no trace of the dolphin. A 2004 report from a conservation workshop concluded that the number of baiji in the river has declined rapidly and continuously since the 1970s. Whereas some 300 of the dolphins were reported in the mid-1980s, a follow-up survey in 1997 recorded only 13 individuals.

The dramatic decline in the baiji population has been linked with an increase in the amount of wastewater discharged into the Yangtze in recent decades. In 2005, an estimated 29 billion tons of wastewater from industrial and municipal sources entered the river, up from some 15 billion tons in the late 1980s, according to the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee. Most of the wastewater is poorly treated, with an average treatment rate of only 15 percent. It is estimated to be causing eutrophication in more than half the lakes in the basin and endangering some 500 municipal drinking water sources along the river.

Illegal fishing and busy vessel traffic are also considered culprits behind the baiji’s disappearance. But scientists say the greatest threat to the dolphin is the construction of large dams in the river basin. In recent decades, the Chinese government has considered dams a vital means of securing water, electricity, and energy supplies to support the country’s roaring economic development. But the dams have altered the river’s hydrology, with long-term impacts on freshwater species and their habitats. The baiji, for example, needs year-round water flow to move freely between deep riverine pools and to feed successfully.

A 2004 study conducted jointly by WWF and the World Resources Institute ranks the Yangtze River basin the most dam-filled basin in the world, with 46 large dams currently planned or under construction, in addition to a significant number of existing dams. The study identified the basin as being at severe risk of ecological degradation, due to population pressure and the loss of habitat for birds and the Yangtze River dolphin. The basin is currently home to rich terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity, including an estimated 322 fish species and 169 amphibian species.

“It’s never too late to mend the fence, even if you have lost some sheep,” the old Chinese saying goes. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture approved a plan to preserve the baiji back in 2001 but did not carry it out due to lack of funding; it has learned from this oversight by recently launching a two-year survey of rare fish species in a nature reserve in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. This is the first-ever effort by the Ministry to understand the river’s hydrological and environmental conditions, including the economic and ecological status of its fish species.

In addition, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) is cooperating with The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based conservation organization, to launch a two-phase project to assess the threats to China’s endangered species and ecosystems. The first phase of the project will include an evaluation of biodiversity in the upper Yangtze basin and develop recommendations and strategies for conservation action, which will be taken nationwide in the second phase. SEPA expects the project results to support government decision-making on natural resource conservation and sustainable development.

Yet public awareness of the need for species conservation lags considerably in China. The media reported that during the first five months of 2005, only five people made donations to the Wuhan-based Baiji Conservation Foundation, the first foundation in China to support the endangered dolphin. Thus, there remains great potential for the media, nongovernmental organizations, and educational institutions to work together and play more active roles in engaging the public in biodiversity conservation in China

Biodiversity: Climate change and the ecologist

The evidence for rapid climate change now seems overwhelming. Global temperatures are predicted to rise by up to 4 °C by 2100, with associated alterations in precipitation patterns. Assessing the consequences for biodiversity, and how they might be mitigated, is a Grand Challenge in ecology.


PANORAMIC IMAGES/GETTY

Alpine ecosystem. Species in mountain habitats are especially sensitive to climate change.

How serious is climate change compared with other factors affecting biodiversity?

Very — but it tends to act over a longer timescale. The ecological disruption wrought by climate change is generally slower than that caused by other factors. Such factors include habitat destruction through changes in land use; pollution, for example by nitrogen deposition; the invasion of ecosystems by non-native plant and animal species (biotic exchange); and the biological consequences of increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Fig. 1, overleaf). In the short-to-medium term, human-induced fragmentation of natural habitat and invasive species are particular threats to biodiversity. But looking 50 years into the future and beyond, the effects of climate are likely to become increasingly prominent relative to the other factors.

Figure 1: The main factors, or 'drivers', affecting biodiversity.
This summary of the relative effects by the year 2100 is a composite derived from calculations carried out for 12 individual terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems by O. E. Sala et al. (Science 287, 1770–1774; 2000). Overall, changes in land use constitute the main estimated impact on biodiversity, but the pattern varies considerably for different ecosystems. According to Sala and colleagues' calculations, climate change will have the strongest effect on Arctic, alpine and boreal ecosystems, whereas biotic exchange (that is, invasion by non-native species) will exert its main influence in lakes.

High resolution image and legend (33K)



What are the effects of climate change?

Most immediately, the effects are shifts in species' geographical range, prompted by shifts in the normal patterns of temperatures and humidity that generally delimit species boundaries. Each 1 °C of temperature change moves ecological zones on Earth by about 160 km — so, for example, if the climate warms by 4 °C over the next century, species in the Northern Hemisphere may have to move northward by some 500 km (or 500 m higher in altitude) to find a suitable climatic regime. Higher temperatures are likely to be accompanied by more humid, wetter conditions, but the geographical and seasonal distribution of precipitation will change. Summer soil moisture will be reduced in many regions such as the Mediterranean basin, thus increasing drought stress. Overall, the ability of species to respond to climate change will largely depend on their ability to 'track' shifting climate through colonizing new territory, or to modify their physiology and seasonal behaviour (such as period of flowering or mating) to adapt to the changed conditions where they are.

What about the effect of atmospheric gases?

Carbon dioxide is, of course, known as one of the main drivers of the greenhouse effect, and so of increasing temperatures. But it is also essential for green-plant photosynthesis. Increased atmospheric CO2 results in an increase in photosynthesis rates (through CO2 fertilization), which could potentially balance the effect of temperature increase. This has the largest effect in regions where plant growth is limited by the availability of water, and will probably alter the competitive balance between species that differ in rooting depth, photosynthetic pathway or 'woodiness', as well as the subterranean organisms associated with them. Likewise, an increase of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen deposition affects nitrogen-limited regions (temperate and boreal forests, and alpine and Arctic regions) by conferring a competitive edge on plants with high maximum growth rates.

Which ecosystems are we talking about?

All of them, but climate change will affect them in different ways. For example, in marine ecosystems the possible consequences include increased thermal stratification (in which temperature differences separate water layers), reduced upwelling of nutrients, decreased pH and loss of sea ice. These changes will influence the timing and extent of the spring bloom of phytoplankton, and so the associated food chain (krill to fish to marine mammals and birds). On the terrestrial side, deserts, grasslands and savannahs in temperate regions are likely to respond to changes in precipitation and warming in various ways. Mediterranean-type ecosystems, which occur worldwide and are characterized by shrublands, are especially sensitive, as increased temperature and drought favour development of desert and grassland. In tropical regions, CO2 fertilization — in which plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere — and altered patterns of naturally occurring fires will have a strong influence. On tundra, low-growing plants are especially important as habitats for other organisms: their poleward movement will have an ecosystem-wide impact. Finally, species living on mountains are particularly sensitive to changed conditions, in that migration upwards can occur to only a limited extent.

How do biologists monitor changes in biodiversity?

Long-term observations and re-surveys of previously sampled sites are traditional approaches. In certain areas, natural-history societies have long recorded the seasonal time of appearance (of flowers, for instance, or migratory birds), or species' ranges. Such data sets are then viewed against measured variations in temperature or precipitation. Another approach is the re-survey of sites sampled 50 or 100 years previously. Species' identities and abundances are then compared with changes in such external factors as climate or land use. The drawback of both approaches lies in distinguishing a true cause from a correlation.

Do experimental studies help?

Monitoring programmes can be complemented by research in microcosms or, for example, on existing plots of grassland or forest. In these experiments, temperature, precipitation and even CO2 concentration can be manipulated, and such work often reveals unexpected responses arising from the complex interplay of different factors. But for obvious reasons these experiments are difficult to carry out on large spatial and temporal scales.

What responses to climate change are actually documented?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the range of terrestrial plants and animals has shifted, on average, 6.1 km per decade northward or 6.1 m per decade upwards, with advance of seasonal phenomena by 2.3–5.1 days per decade over the past 50 years. These changes are significantly correlated with measured changes in temperature and precipitation. The relationships are correlative in essence, but are too robust, numerous and consistent to be random or to have arisen from other factors (such as natural climatic variability or land-use change). Similarly, the remarkable increase in the plant diversity of some high-elevation peaks in Switzerland over the past 100 years, owing to the upward shift of species that traditionally inhabited lower elevations, can be attributed to changed climate regimes.

Is there a consistent global picture?

We can only guess that patterns such as these are likely to be global in compass, but to differing extents. The two poles are probably being most affected, because the greatest changes in temperature and precipitation are occurring there. By contrast, biodiversity in the equatorial belt is likely to suffer more immediately from deforestation and land degradation. Most of the detailed quantitative studies come from the Northern Hemisphere, or from well-studied 'hotspots' of biodiversity such as the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa. Even in these regions, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of climate change from those of other factors. And we have little or no data on vast swaths of territory in South America, Africa and Asia.

Do climate change and other factors interact?

They do. A notable example concerns invasive species: change in climate can trigger change in biodiversity by creating opportunities for previously innocuous alien species by enhancing their reproductive capacity, their survival and their competitive power against the native flora and fauna. The dispersal of many species, including microorganisms, has been immeasurably increased by the globalization of human economic activity and trade. A combination of climate change, species invasions and reduced areas of natural habitat is likely to promote biotic homogenization in biodiversity hotspots in particular, and to foster unpredictable interactions between plants, animals and microorganisms.

How do ecologists set about forecasting the impacts of climate change on biodiversity?

Experimental studies are informative, but can rarely be generalized. Another approach is to combine ecological modelling with various scenarios of climate change. For example, statistical 'niche-based' models are used to determine the environmental conditions that currently account for species' distributions, and the results can be compared with models of future climate and patterns of land use to predict where these conditions will occur in the future. Validations are usually done by modelling past distributions (as, for instance, surmised for plants from a pollen database). These models don't take into account biological factors such as competition and evolutionary history, but have produced forecasts claiming that 15–37% of natural species will be 'committed to extinction' by 2050. An alternative is 'process-based' modelling, which aims to predict species distributions on the basis of resource allocation, demography or competition. They are theoretically more robust than niche-based models, but require much more ecological knowledge and data.

What are the uncertainties behind forecasting?

All too many, starting with projections of climate change. It is no easy matter to accurately reflect complex interactions (such as those between the ocean and atmosphere), and account for different scenarios of greenhouse-gas emission. There is also our cruel lack of knowledge about the response of biota to rapid climate change. Few, if any, of the most popular models explicitly deal with migration, the dynamics at the trailing edge of shifting populations, species interactions, the interaction between the effects of climate and land use, and the direct effects of changes in atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen deposition. At a basic level, ecologists are still debating the respective influence of interspecific competition and random events in shaping animal and plant communities. And different models tend to provide different predictions of species distribution or biodiversity under similar scenarios of environmental change, showing their limitations.

Can forecasting be improved?

Large-scale, long-term experiments and observations are required to provide the data to make generalization possible, and for modelling studies. Mountains lend themselves to being natural laboratories, given that research can be carried out over steep gradients to investigate the differential response of species and the influence of local adaptations. Overall, what is needed is information that, when appropriately synthesized, can be applied to determine and fine-tune the parameters to be used in process-based models. The building of global databases is a big step forward in accumulating meta-information for this purpose. These databases include compilations of genetic sequences of species (for example, GenBank), the phylogenetic relationships of species (Tree of Life, Phylocom, TreeBASE), and measures of species traits such as mode of dispersal and competitive ability (TraitNet). There is also a new generation of hybrid models of species distributions, which aim for a compromise between realism and accuracy, and complexity and simplicity. These developments are opening up new ways to address the pressing ecological questions: combining hybrid models with statistical advances in 'ensemble' forecasting promises to provide probabilistic projections (Fig. 2).

Figure 2: The probabilistic approach to forecasting biodiversity.
a, Each sub-activity produces an ensemble of projections based on subtly different initial conditions (such as factors influencing species distributions); on the class of model involved and its parametrization; and on the climate-change scenarios chosen. These ensembles are then combined to extract the possible range of outcomes and the likelihood of each occurring. Such estimates are called the 'probability density function' of the event being studied. b, An example of such a function, in which the projected range change of a given species is expressed as a probability of occurrence. In this case, there is an 80% probability that the given species will lose 20–60% of its current range. (Graphic based on M. B. Araújo & M. New Trends Ecol. Evol. 22, 42–47; 2007.)

High resolution image and legend (59K)



What use are forecasts for conservation planning?

For all their imperfections, they are essential. For example, projections of species distributions guide the management of organisms under threat by helping to identify biological corridors for dispersal, sites for reintroduction and areas requiring protection. Lately, the conservation agenda has moved on to consider adaptation to climate change, and to test strategies such as habitat re-creation, creation of dispersal corridors and enhancing the resilience of ecosystems to changed conditions. An alternative is to identify desired future states, and then use models for 'backcasting' to identify strategies for achieving those states. Modellers need to explore how far species-distribution models can be taken to answer the crucial questions that arise from rapidly changing climate. Invasive species are a case in point. In principle, forecasts can predict the probability of an invasive species becoming established, and can incorporate early warning systems for controlling it.

How do human societies fit into this picture?

Much debate has centred on how climate change will affect human welfare through, for instance, rising sea levels and different patterns of crop production. But that well-being also depends on the diversity of organisms used for such 'ecosystem goods and services' as food, energy production and medicines. In certain parts of the world, the chain linking biodiversity, ecosystem processes, and ecosystem goods and services is likely to be broken as biodiversity is affected by altered climatic conditions and the many other factors affecting human health and well-being (Fig. 3). Here again, forecasting can be used to formulate policies that will ameliorate the consequences. For instance, forests are among the most valuable sources of ecosystem goods and services. 'Forest-gap' models can predict tree growth and biomass, the result then being used to guide forest conservation and production strategies.

Figure 3: The complex web of factors affecting human health and well-being, biodiversity and ecosystems.
Changes in land use through land degradation, and climate change, are the most prominent factors. Perturbation of 'ecosystem goods and services' is just one part of this bigger picture.

High resolution image and legend (45K)



What can we conclude from all this?

As outlined above, our ecological knowledge base and modelling capabilities are far from adequate: making swifter progress will depend on attracting the best scientific talent and the funds to work on these immensely intricate issues. That apart, forecasts of the consequences of climate change for biodiversity need to be couched in probabilistic terms, by stating the possible range of outcomes and estimating the likelihood of each occurring — as is now common practice in weather forecasting. That then presents the problem of recommending a particular course of action for particular circumstances. But if that step can be taken, we reach the stage at which action comes down to political will, at levels running from the global to the individual village.

Biologists Produce Global Map Of Plant Biodiversity

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Bonn in Germany have produced a global map of estimated plant species richness. Covering several hundred thousand species, the scientists say their global map is the most extensive map of the distribution of biodiversity on Earth to date.
The map, which accompanies a study published in this week's early online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlights areas of particular concern for conservation. It also, the scientists say, provides much needed assistance in gauging the likely impact of climate change on the services plants provide to humans.

Walter Jetz of UCSD and Holger Kreft of the University of Bonn sought in their study to determine how well the diversity, or the "richness," of plant species could be predicted from environmental conditions alone.

"Plants provide important services to humans-such as ornaments, structure, food and bio-molecules that can be used for the development of drugs or alternative fuels-that increase in value with their richness," says Jetz, an assistant professor of biology at UCSD and the senior author of the paper.

"Tropical countries such as Ecuador or Colombia harbor by a factor 10 to 100 higher plant species richness than most parts of the United States or Europe. The question is, Why?"

While explorers to these tropical regions long ago recognized this increased diversity over more temperate regions, the general understanding among ecologists about this striking difference continues to be very limited.

"Given that we are far off from knowing the individual distributions of the world's 300,000 odd plant species," says Jetz. "Holger Kreft and I investigated how well the richness of plants can be predicted from environmental conditions alone."

Combining field-survey based species counts from over a thousand regions worldwide with high-resolution environmental data, the scientists were able to accurately capture the factors that promote high species richness of plants.

"This allowed us to estimate the richness of yet unsurveyed parts of the world," says Jetz. "The global map of estimated plant species richness highlights areas of particular concern for conservation and provides much needed assistance in gauging the likely impact of climate change on the services plants provide to humans. It may also help to pinpoint areas that deserve further attention for the discovery of plants or drugs yet unknown to humanity."

"Climate change may drive to extinction plants that hold important cures before we find them," says Kreft, a biologist at the Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants at the University of Bonn. "Ecological research like ours that captures complex diversity - environment relationships on a global scale may assist in a small, but important way so that such a fatal potential failure can be averted."

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Biodiversity summit on Verde Island

The Philippines is rising to the challenge of being a biodiversity hotspot. Last Wednesday, November 8, a biodiversity summit was held on Verde Island, the sentinel of the much-crossed Verde Island Passage between Luzon and the Visayas.

Led by President Arroyo herself and organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with Secretary Angelo Reyes and his wide spectrum of staff specialists, ably assisted by private sector groups and non­government organizations with the participation of local government officials and international environmental organizations, the Verde Island summit on biodiversity had a formal output—a pledge to conserve and protect Philippine biodiversity in multiple ways by a wide range of entities and citizens so as to hand it unchanged and unimpaired to the younger generation.

Kent Carpenter himself of the World Conservation Union, who together with Victor Springer of the Smithsonian Institution did the pioneering study on global marine shore fish biodiversity which concludes that the Verde Island Passage has the highest concentration of diverse marine species on the planet, was present and gave his lecture on the subject.

The good news as he said was that through the unique geology of the Philippines and how it was formed in the movement of land masses from north to south and vice versa. Through high seismic activity, a wide range of marine life has survived, flourished and generated because of isolated water basins. As a result, the isolation factor has made for enough diversity to make the Philippines’ Verde Island Passage indisputably the center of marine diversity in the world.

The bad news is that the Philippines is one of the most threatened environments in the planet, a so-called hot spot where a threatened and degraded environment can endanger if not extinguish its very rich and diverse life forms. For the Verde Island Passage the primary dangers are marine pollution, habitat destruction and the lack of capacity to enforce laws.

Because Verde Island passage is the marine route from the north to south and vice versa in this country, it bears heavy traffic from passenger vessels to oil tankers, international shipping vehicles and local commercial transport. Dangerous chemicals aside from oil regularly pass through it. An accident like the Guimaras oil spill would be cataclysmic for its marine treasures. Meanwhile, ships have been known as a matter of practice to regularly discharge their trash along the way including Verde Island Passage before reaching port. Simultaneously, in surrounding areas over­fishing and illegal fishing methods are still going on which are already causing the disappearance of commercial fish in many former fishing grounds. Improper or intensive land use in coastal areas also takes its toll in erosion which causes damage to marine resources by making their environment less hospitable. Deforestation has its bad effects too.

These pernicious events could definitely affect the biodiversity of Verde Island Passage. But the President, the DENR together with other government agencies, virtually all of whom were present at the Biodiversity Summit, have announced their commitment to protect Philippine biodiversity using all government agencies necessary and coordinating with the private sector through business, civic spirited citizens and the youth to go on high gear for conservation and protection.

Private sector participation will be vital and already the challenge has been taken up by the Lopez Group’s power-generation company First Gen which has already led in the formation of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor Integrated Conservation and Development Program with an initial investment close to P3.6 million, a commitment of P8 million for the second phase and a further pledge made at the Biodiversity Summit of $1 million. Other business corporations like the Ma­lampaya Gas Corporation, Keppel Shipyards, JG Summit and others are making their own pledges for the project.

The Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor Integrated Conservation and Development Program has the participation of experienced conservation groups led by Conservation International Philippines, First Philippine Conservation, Inc. as well as Batangas province and the City of Batangas whose officials were present led by the governor and the mayor. National environment groups like Mother Earth and the Green Army are taking part.

Also partnering will be the Department of Education who will include the biodiversity in the Philippines in its curriculum to raise awareness and promote conservation and the Philippine Coast Guard who will protect the sealanes.

Other provinces whose activities can impact on Verde Island Passage were at the conference like Mindoro right across from Verde Island and Romblon. Congressman Banaag, Chair of the Congress Committee on Natural Resources, listed an impressive number of bills for environmental protection passed by the House and are now awaiting Senate action.

Many issues were tackled including the delineation of Protected Areas and National Parks nationally which the environmentalist lawyer, Antonio Oposa, urged the government to continue pursuing and implementing. A request for a cabinet cluster on the environment was presented by Romy Trono of Conservation International Philippines.

It was a high profile event appropriately enough placed on Verde Island itself which turned out to be a literally green island with bamboo groves and forest cover going all the way to the coastline. It has two marine sanctuaries and a number of beach resorts as well as diving opportunities for the Verde Island Passage marine riches. And its felicitous name appropriately enough graces the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the planet.

Air travel poses major threat to biodiversity, say scientists

Global air travel has become one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and public health by driving the spread of alien species and infectious diseases to new habitats, scientists report today.

The explosive growth of worldwide airlines has seen passenger numbers rise 8% a year in the past three years, creating travel networks that link remote and isolated ecosystems for the first time, boosting the spread of micro-organisms and insects to unprecedented levels, the scientists claim. The introduction of insects and other organisms from foreign regions has triggered ecological disasters around the globe. Many have no natural predators and thrive at the expense of native species which have not had time to evolve defences against the invaders.

Researchers at Oxford University analysed records for more than 3m scheduled flights between 3,570 airports around the world between May 2005 and April 2006 and calculated the most heavily-used routes. They then overlaid global climate maps, revealing the times of year different parts of the world experienced the best conditions for alien species to survive. By combining the information Andrew Tatem and Simon Hay at the university's spatial ecology and epidemiology group highlighted "invasion hotspots", the destinations most at risk from insects and micro-organisms being carried into the countries throughout the year.

The scientists found that the greatest threat to any country occurred from June to August, when many regions experienced similar climatic conditions and passenger numbers peaked. But closer inspection revealed specific routes that were at high risk of transferring organisms between distant countries. In January the greatest risk to Britain and other parts of Europe was found to come from air travel links with east China and Japan, while in July the risk shifted to routes servicing the east coast of South America. The analysis showed that the isolated Hawaiian islands, widely regarded as suffering the worst ecological damage from invasive species, were at risk from several countries within the space of a few months, as the climate varied to match that of east Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.

The wide-ranging climate and large number of airports put the US at greatest risk, with eastern US airports strongly linked to Mediterranean and Asia airports in January, and west coast airports most at risk from incoming flights from the Middle East and southern Africa in April

Bangladesh -- Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act

BIODIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE PROTECTION ACT OF BANGLADESH

29 September of 1998 Text proposed by the National Committee on Plant Genetic Resources

The National Committee on Plant Genetic Resources (NCPGR) has prepared the following text. This is the fourth and the final-draft and the result of an intensive participatory process involving internal consultation among the committee members. The final meeting took place on September 10, 1998 and the final draft incorporated suggestions of the meeting for further improvement of the text.

Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh

Preamble
WHEREAS, People's Republic of Bangladesh is a Party to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity signed at Rio de Jeneiro on 5th June 1992, therefore, there is the need to implement the spirit, principles and relevant provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity;

WHEREAS, the Convention on Biological Diversity came into force on 29 December, 1993 and became effective in Bangladesh from 12 May, 1994 and it reaffirms and recognizes that States have sovereign rights over their own biological and natural resources (Preamble and Article 15);

WHEREAS, Article 15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes that the authority to determine access to genetic resources rests with the national governments and is subject to national legislation;

WHEREAS, the Article 7(1) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh affirms that all powers of the Republic belong to the people. It is therefore necessary to provide adequate principles, institutions and mechanisms, which guarantee the inalienable and sovereign rights of the people of Bangladesh over the biological and genetic resources within their national territory;

WHEREAS, States have committed in Article 8 in the Convention of Biological Diversity to respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovation and practices;

WHEREAS, the Convention on Biological Diversity is committed to equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices and it is the responsibility of the State to give effect to this content as well as the spirit;

WHEREAS, the national territory of Bangladesh is recognized historically and scientifically as belonging to the origins of biodiversity of the world;

WHEREAS, the conservation, reproduction, enhancement, maintenance, management and sustainable use of biological and genetic resources in Bangladesh is extremely crucial for ensuring food security and survival under stress caused by natural calamities or created by human actions, and the protection and the regulation of access and use is vital for the survival of the people of Bangladesh in a competitive world under severe environmental and ecological crisis;

WHEREAS it is recognized that biological diversity is being reduced by many human activities and if left unprotected can be lost by unauthorized collection and exploitation;

WHEREAS, the communities play vital roles in generating and enhancing biological diversity and related knowledge, intellectual practice and culture and the responsibility of the State is to create legal, administrative and policy environment to facilitate this role;

WHEREAS, strengthening of national capacity in science and technology with regard to biological resources is a national priority in order to achieve technological and economic self-reliance;

WHEREAS, the intrinsic value as well as the ecological, genetic, social, educational, scientific, cultural and aesthetic values of biological diversity and related knowledge of the community is invaluable irrespective of their immediate or future use; it is necessary that the State clearly recognize this value and make sure that this value is not evaluated exclusively in monetary terms in trade, economic transactions or in market prices, separated from the life and livelihood of people or from the common and vital security interest of the whole of the nation; It is the duty of the State to guard, protect and defend this Real Value in clear terms in appropriate laws, regulations and institutional and administrative measures and arrangements.

WHEREAS there is a global tendency towards the affirmation of intellectual property rights over biological diversity, the products and process related to it and it is imperative that Bangladesh protect her resources;

WHEREAS, it is the duty of the State to establish the most appropriate way of regulating the research, collection, exploitation and use of biological and genetic resources as well as related intellectual knowledge and cultural expressions including the entry of such resources into the country.

Now, therefore, I, ..................President of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh by virtue of the power vested in me by Constitution and Law, do hereby order:


Article 1
Short Title

1. This Act shall be known as the Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh.

2. Any laws, regulations and rules or any of their fragments or parts, which are in conflict with this act, must be discarded and this Act shall prevail.

3. All Acts dealing with biodiversity and genetic resources and the related knowledge, practice and culture as well as new innovations shall belong to this Act and shall have to be consistent with this legislation.


Article 2
Objectives

1. The general objectives of this Act shall be,

a) to protect the sovereign rights of the Communities that have knowledge of biodiversity, and have managed, maintained, conserved, reproduced and enhanced biodiversity, genetic resources and traditional knowledge, culture and various forms of practice related to these resources and which are always held in common.

b) to create the legal and institutional environment so that the Communities, realizing the full potential of its benefits, can contribute and continue enhancing biodiversity through innovation, cultural internalization and expressions for a qualitatively rich and sustainable and life.

c) to strengthen the informal knowledge system and the collective innovation of the Communities that prohibit claim for private ownership, private intellectual property rights or privileges that do not exist now, and that are against the moral, intellectual and cultural values of the Communities.

2. The specific objectives of the Act shall be,

a) to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biological and genetic resources and related knowledge, culture and practice in order to maintain and improve their diversity as a means of sustaining the life support and healthcare system of the people of Bangladesh.

b) to protect biological and genetic resources and the related knowledge, culture and practice from pollution, destruction and erosion;

c) to protect and support the rights, knowledge, innovations and practices of local and indigenous communities and national scientific and research institutions with respect to the conservation, use and management of biological and genetic resources;

d) to provide an appropriate system of access to biological and genetic resources and related knowledge based upon the Prior Informed Consent of the concerned local or indigenous communities and the State;

e) to promote appropriate mechanisms for a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological and genetic resources and related knowledge and technologies;

f) to ensure participation and agreement of concerned communities in making decisions regarding the distribution of benefits which may derive from the use of biological and genetic resources;

g) to promote and encourage the building of national scientific and technological capacity relevant to the conservation and sustainable utilization of biological and genetic resources;

h) to promote new innovations and discoveries to reproduce, manage and enhance biodiversity and genetic resources;

j) to ensure that the transfer and movement of biological resources and the knowledge of the community take place in transparent manner and in accordance with this Act; and

k) to protect the biological and ecological environment of the country from all pollution, particularly from the potential hazards of biological pollution caused by the release of genetically modified organism in the environment or may be caused by the genetic engineering technology;

3. The Act shall be the principal instrument to guide, inform, determine, control, reinterpret and to give effect, where necessary, to the rights and privileges granted, if any, to new innovations of any form that has used the natural and biological resources including knowledge and culture of the country or of other countries with which Bangladesh has reciprocal recognition of similar Acts, Ordinances or Laws.

4. The Act will provide appropriate institutional mechanisms for the effective implementation and enforcement of this legislation;


Article 3
Commencement and Scope

1. The Act shall come into force on such date as the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh may specify by notification in the Official Gazette.

2. This Act shall include all biological and genetic resources and related knowledge as well as their derivatives within the jurisdiction of the country, both in situ and ex situ. It implies all varieties of life forms including plants, animals, fish and aquatic life forms and microorganisms belonging to all genera/species and varieties, wild or cultivated, occurring naturally or modified in any manner whatsoever through any process, and to their cell lines, genetic material, characteristics, traits, products and the processes involved therein.

3. This resultant legislation shall not apply to the traditional use and exchange of biological and genetic resources as well as related knowledge, culture and practices carried out by and between Communities based upon their customary and traditional practices, particularly Local and Indigenous Communities as well as Communities holding Residual Titles.


Article 4
Definitions

To provide legal standing and to limit linguistic ambiguity certain terms are defined here in this Act to give them the effect of law. The interpretation and implementation of the Act will be determined by these definitions.

'Biodiversity' or 'Biological Diversity'
Both meaning the same, indicate the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystem and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and ecosystems. Examples of living organisms are plants, animals, fish and aquatic species and varieties and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and ecosystem of which they form a part. They are found in all the ecological zones within the boundaries of Bangladesh - whether naturally occurring or modified in any manner including genetically modified, whether wild or cultivated or domesticated - its parts, products, cell lines, genetic material, properties, and characteristics. For the implementation of this Act the Biodiversity may further be classified into agricultural biodiversity, animal and livestock biodiversity, medicinal plant biodiversity, aquatic biodiversity and other biodiversity.

'Biodiversity related 'Knowledge, Intellectual practice and Culture '
Refers to all knowledges, intellectual practice and cultures related to biodiversity and biological resources and derived through any system including local, popular, informal, indigenous systems, or systems that are beyond structured or stylized presentation and can be in any form - written, spoken, narrative, anecdotal. These knowledges, intellectual practices and cultures can be intuitive and rational, literal and metaphoric, symbolic or graphical, etc. For this Act these knowledges, intellectual practices and cultures are the result of collective innovation. Because of their collective nature they are not exclusive to any one community. All other knowledges shall be considered derived.

'Biological Material'
Refers to the material or any part thereof of plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain, and in relation to plants or plant varieties, shall include a plant species or category of a lower level or any part thereof or germplasm therein, whether domesticated or not, used in accordance with established customs, cultures, practices, moral values and laws by local communities for a particular purpose that requires a prior knowledge of a particular property of the plant such as food, medicine, fuel wood, construction materials and dye.

'Resources', particularly biological and genetic resources
The 'resource' refers to the totality of the various aspects of the biological material including habitat, its relation with other similar or inorganic entities and its various expressions and embodiments in knowledge, intellectual and cultural practices
''Habitat" means the place or type of site where an organism or population naturally occurs. Biological resources include all biological resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic components of ecosystems of Bangladesh. Genetic resources means resources related to the genetic materials. The genetic material means any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity.

Common Property Regimes
Refer to the customs, traditions, community rules, regulations, arrangement or any other forms of relations through which Community ensures access and use of resources that are held in common.

Collectors
Means any individual body of persons, Company, Corporation or Firm or Institution or any one or more of them engaged or involved in the collection of biological and genetic resources and the intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices, whether as a business or in any other forms of activity.

'Commercial Utilization', 'Commercial Transactions'
It means making available any tangible or intangible items, innovation, knowledge or any process or product related to biological and genetic resources for sale in the market for profit or other monetarily gainful purpose. This definition excludes common, traditional and customary exchange and/or transactions within and between Communities if profit making or monetarily gainful intention is not the implicit or explicit purpose, whether money is used or not.

Ecosystem
Constitutes relations and interactions of plant, animal, microorganism and human beings and their non-living environment as a functional unit, which is dynamic and complex.

'Innovation' or Invention
''Innovation" includes any alteration, modification, improvement of collective and cumulative knowledge or technology, and of the use, properties, values and processes of any biological material or any part thereof, and any, or enhanced, use or value as a result of the said cumulative knowledge or technology, whether documented, recorded, oral, written or in whatever manner otherwise existing including thereof, and shall also include derivatives which utilize the knowledge of Communities in the commercialization of any products as well as to a more sophisticated process for extracting, isolating, or synthesizing the active chemicals in the composition of biological extracts used by the Communities. This knowledge is recognized complete only with its rituals and sacredness as practiced by the community.

'Innovator'
Shall mean the human agency, individual or collective, where the Community/State identifies a source of such innovation, in order to recognize and reward the human agent(s) for playing role in a determinate moment in the otherwise continuous social processes of innovation.

The ''Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh" deals primarily with community knowledge and collective innovation and community rights. The "Plant Varieties Act of Bangladesh" will deal with introduction of newly innovated plant varieties in order to recognize and reward the role of human agency, individually or in a group.

'Community', 'Local Community' or 'Indigenous Community"
For this Act the 'Community" shall mean a group of individuals who have any of the following characteristics or falls within any of the definitions below:

a. A group of individuals, whether formal or informal, settled or unsettled, organized or disorganized, monolithic or reticulate, but has a common interest in the utilization, conservation and enhancement of biodiversity, biological and genetic resources and the associated knowledge, intellectual practice and culture.

b. A group of individuals who have settled together in any geographical area, agro-ecological zones, forests, flood plains, coastal areas or in any eco-cultural system such that their livelihood practices are part of that system.

c. A group of individuals settle together under a political and administrative unit of local government with jurisdiction and activities related to biological and genetic resources and related knowledge and culture.

d. A group of individuals who are engaged in a production process and have continuously inherited their production processes and the related knowledge, intellectual practice and culture;

e. A group of people having a long-standing social organization that binds them together.

f. A group of people whose cultural or religious practices have direct implications for the maintenance and enhancement of particular eco-systems, biological and genetic resources and related knowledge and practice.

g. A group of individuals declared as 'Community' by the National Biodiversity Authority in pursuance of the objectives of Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh including, where appropriate, refer to any organization duly registered under the provisions of this Act to represent their interest.

2. Unless mentioned otherwise in this Act Community will always mean any groupings with any or all of the above characteristics or any or all the definitions given above. Also for this Act,

a. The 'Local Community' will imply a 'Community' where a definite locality and place can be associated with it.

b. The 'Indigenous Community' will imply a 'Community' where local history of a community can be traced back at least to 100 years, or to a group of individuals who have distinct cultural and linguistic identities.

3. For clarification: a Community may a be a traditional community such as farmers' communities, tribal communities, fishing communities, healers including folk healers, midwives, practitioners of ayurveda, unani, Siddha, bonesetting, and other systems of medicine, indigenous people, women, and other communities such as the scientific community.

The 'State'
The 'State' shall refer to the appropriate government Ministry, Administration or any competent authority assigned constitutionally or legally to act on behalf of the State, as the context implies or admits.

Residual Title
A Community, that lives interactively within an ecosystem and whose lives and livelihoods are results of that interaction and thus constitute the ecology, biodiversity and related knowledge of that system, will be recognized by this Act as the primary ''owner" of the biodiversity and genetic resources and related knowledge, practices and innovations on behalf of all the Communities of Bangladesh. The term 'Residual Title' articulates this right as defined by this Act to make it distinct from individual ownership. Communities holding Residual Titles shall have both the usufruct, as well as the custodial and stewardship titles of genetic and biological resources under question. Therefore, in all cases of proprietary disputes over the legal ''ownership" of such resources and disputes over benefit sharing, the rights of the Residual Titles holders shall prevail over other Communities or over other citizens of Bangladesh.


Specimen
Specimen shall mean any sample of biological and genetic material and/or any material that has a unit of heredity.

Article 5
General Provisions of the Act

1. The Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act recognizes and reaffirms that the people of Bangladesh are constituted into diverse communities and localities, diverse life styles and cultures in various ecosystems in accordance with the fundamental premise of biodiversity and genetic resources and the knowledge, intellectual practice and culture related to them.

2. The Act shall provide legal protection to those who may demand that the State protect their lifestyles and livelihood practices from degeneration, erosion and/or destruction.

3. The Act declares and reaffirms that the patenting of the life forms is against the moral, intellectual and cultural values of the people of Bangladesh. Accordingly, the access and use of biological and genetic resources will be guided by these values. Any privileges, protection and/or rewards, if ever extended to new innovations, will have to remain consistent with this particular provision of the Act.

4. This Act shall be the enabling instrument for the people of Bangladesh to exercise their sovereign and inalienable rights, formal and/or informal, over the biological and genetic resources and related intellectual and cultural knowledge. These rights shall be exercised either through traditional and customary laws, practices, values, moral institutions, community arrangements, institutions or through various laws and regulations of the State, including the new provisions enacted by this Act.
'
5. This Act prohibits violation of Common Property Regimes that include various rights, relations, arrangements and cultural practices whether or not they have legal expressions or recognition through legal precedence by which Communities own, use and have access to biological and genetic resources.

6. This Act shall ensure that no citizen of Bangladesh is prohibited from access and use of biological and genetic resources and the related knowledge, intellectual practice and culture as long as such access and use do not fall outside the cultural, traditional, customary practices and/or do not constitute activity to make economic profit.

7. The Act recognizes that the life supporting and life affirming system of the people of Bangladesh is a matter of national security. This system is traditionally and historically based on biological diversity and constituted by the biodiversity-based regeneration and production activities in order to ensure food, fiber, medicine, energy, construction materials and other vital necessities of life, including nutritional and ecological security, healthy environment and valuable knowledge and culture of survival. Consequently, any development and project activity shall be prohibited and/or deemed illegal if they erode, destroy or become detrimental to the biological and genetic basis of national security.

8. The Act protects and develops systems that are based on biodiversity and genetic resources and related knowledge and culture, such as agriculture, forestry, fishing practices, animal husbandry, medicine and other relevant systems. Any intervention, technological or otherwise, in these systems, causing irreversible damage, destruction, and/or negative short term or long term consequences according to this Act is prohibited and illegal.

9. The Act shall protect and encourage diversity in life and production practices, diverse knowledge and cultural systems, various formal and informal innovations and practices of the Communities, particularly Local and Indigenous Communities and the Communities holding Residual Title, with respect to the conservation, management, use and generation of biological and genetic resources.

10. The Act shall protect, develop and strengthen the integrated, interconnected and unique feature of the biodiversity based agriculture of Bangladesh, which is holistic in spirit and practice and includes fishery, animal husbandry, poultry, use of microbes, forestry and various domesticated and undomesticated plants, animals, birds, fish, microbes and other life forms.

11. The Act shall be the legal basis to protect the biodiversity of forests, wet lands, marine environment, river and other eco-systems.

12. The Act shall be the legal basis to protect the diversity of genera and species of all life forms in general or of particular forms belonging to plants, animals, insects, microbes, fish, birds or others.

13. The Act shall protect and encourage the ingenuity of the various Communities for the national interest as well as for the common good of humanity, particularly the innovative talents of primary food producers such as farming and fishing communities, communities living in forests etc.

14. The Act shall be the legal basis to promote and support different ways of generating knowledge and technology in various forms and contents, by giving priority to the material and cultural development in order to achieve qualitatively higher life standards and happiness of the people of Bangladesh.

15. The Act shall recognize a 'Community', a 'Local Community' or an 'Indigenous Community' as having legal persona and their rights inscribed in this Act as inalienable.

16. The Act prohibits all forms of monopolization of biological and genetic resources and related knowledge and culture

17. By this Act the State shall uphold the Common Property Regimes as against any private claim over the biological and genetic resources and the intellectual and cultural knowledge and practice related to these resources in case of legal conflicts.


Article 6
Establishment of Sovereign Rights of Bangladesh
Over Biological and Genetic Resources

1. All the biological and genetic resources within the territory of Bangladesh, or originated in Bangladesh, as well as all related intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices among the people of the country, either existing in tangible forms or in various intangible forms and expressions, belong in perpetuity to the people of Bangladesh and is held for past, present and future members of the country. Therefore all such biological and genetic resources as well as all related intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices are being declared by this Act as wealth held in common and constitute the Common Property Regimes of the country and cannot, therefore, be alienated irrevocably nor can its enjoyment be impaired.

2. The people of Bangladesh, constituted as Communities and living in various geographical locations and localities, shall become the general owners, custodians and stewards of these resources and they will always enjoy individual and collective rights over these resources held in common as wealth belonging to all the citizens of Bangladesh. In all legal disputes over ''ownership", the common ownership will prevail and will be upheld by law.

3. Biological and genetic resources and the related knowledges, practices and culture are commonly owned and used. Therefore all these resources, knowledge and practices cannot be made subject to any exclusive private monopoly rights, and will always remain outside patenting or the patent regime. Any violation of the access and the use rights of citizens of Bangladesh will not be recognized by the State and will be constituted as a violation of this Act.

4. The State will, nevertheless, recognize the original rights of indigenous and local communities, farming and fishing communities, and other communities that are directly linked through their livelihood practices to particular ecosystems and to the related knowledge, innovation and culture specific to that livelihood. These rights will be considered inviolable due to the role of these communities as custodians and stewards, thereby establishing their primary and Residual Title over the resources remaining aware of the rights of women in particular, to
the formal or informal communal systems of innovation through which they produce, select, improve and breed a diversity of crop, fish, poultry and livestock varieties;
the plant varieties, micro-organisms, fish and aquatic life forms, livestock, traditional medicines, agricultural practices and devices, and technologies produced through these systems;
the human genetic diversity;
all species and varieties of life forms and genetic resources covering the whole range of biological diversity of all genera and species, including microorganisms; and
any other life form not explicitly included above.

In determining the access and use rights of the communities the rights of the Residual Title holders will prevail over other Communities.

5. The State shall recognize, establish and protect the rights of the Communities to collectively benefit from their knowledge, innovations and practices acquired through generations (past, present and future) and to receive compensation for the conservation of biological and genetic resources in accordance with the provisions of this Act and subsequent regulations as well as in accordance with the rights and obligations enshrined in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

6. The State recognizes the knowledge and explicit and/or implicit innovations of various Communities of Bangladesh as well as formal and informal contributions of researchers and scientists in maintaining, conserving and broadening the base of genetic variability by way of creating, upgrading, collecting and evaluating and preserving, conserving and keeping biological diversity. All citizens will have unencumbered access to their biological wealth for their survival needs and traditional uses.

7. The State will enact appropriate mechanisms to reward the innovator, as defined by this Act, where it is necessary to recognise the role of any individual or any group for the common good within the context of this Act.

8. The intrinsic, unknown, undisclosed, non-apparent value of the biodiversity, biological and genetic resources and the knowledge and culture related to it will be recognized, known, and articulated by this Act as Real Value. The Real Value can never be evaluated in any form of economic and trade transactions and cannot be expressed in monetary and/or financially quantitative terms.

9. Access and use of the biological and genetic resources will be guided by consideration for the protection and maintenance of the Real Value as against the value in economic transactions and trade. All economic transactions related to biodiversity and genetic resources and related knowledge of the Community/ies will be based on mutually agreed terms beneficial both to the economic agents and the community. The protection of the Real Value will be treated, after this Act, as the security concern of the people of Bangladesh.

10. Since all innovations or inventions, either individually or collectively generated, are social, and since there can never be any innovation outside society or the community and/or without the utilization of the existing knowledge, intellectual resources and culture, all innovations or inventions shall be deemed by this Act as social, collective or generated by the Community. Nevertheless, individual moments of the social process may be recognized, by the Community, if necessary, in order to reward an individual or a group of individuals or a particular Community for the common social goal of new innovations or invention and progress. Accordingly the Act shall recognize innovations or inventions only through and by the Community.


Article 7
Prior Informed Consent

1. The sovereignty of the State over the biological and genetic resources and the related intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices will always be given effect through the Communities. The State, but only through Communities, shall at all time and in perpetuity be the lawful and sole owners, custodians and stewards of biological resources, knowledge and innovation related to these resources.

2. No biological or genetic resource and no intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices related to them as well as innovations arising out of them, shall be sold, assigned, transferred or dealt with in any way whereby the status of the Communities as the common owners, custodians and stewards of the resource or the innovation, or the integrity of the resource or the innovation, is impaired.

3. The State, local and indigenous community, people's organization or organizations representing their specific interest or the common interest of the Communities shall have the standing or locus to enforce, monitor and further the Communities' innovation, resource and/or innovation and any matters in relation to its utilization, exchange or impairment, whether in Court or elsewhere provided always that the Local community and/or Residual Title holders shall take precedence.

4. The biological and genetic resources and the intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices as well as any innovations arising from these shall not be sold, assigned transferred or dealt in any manner without explicit Prior Informed Consent and effective participation of the Communities concerned. The Communities will always have the right to refuse transaction based on gainful intent or any commercial utilization, exploitation and exchange.

5. The State shall ensure that at least a defined percentage of benefits, not less than 50 percent of the net monetary gain, obtained from a direct or indirect commercial use of biological and genetic resources in which the Communities are the common owners, sole custodian and stewards be paid to the concerned local community or the group constituted as a Community.

6. The State will ensure that the ecological or environmental costs that are incurred in direct or indirect commercial use of biological and genetic resources are transparently and accurately calculated and the Communities are compensated separately for these costs.

7. Subject to the above paragraphs of this Article, the State shall, through the National Biodiversity Authority, take regulatory measures to establish a system of collective/community intellectual rights and Residual Titles through a transparent process and effective participation of the Communities, which include the following considerations:

(a) identification of the types of common and collective achievements and intellectual rights that are recognized in each case.

(b) identification of the Communities to be recognized as Residual Title holders as defined by this Act.

(c) identification and definition of the requirement and procedure necessary for the recognition of the collective achievements and intellectual rights and the title to the same.

(d) definition of a system of collective biodiversity registration and specific rights and obligation that arise from the entitlement.

(e) criteria and mechanisms for the standardization of procedure related to the tasks described above.

8. The State shall, through the National Biodiversity Authority, provide supports to Communities in order to identify and characterize their livelihood and relations within an ecosystem as well as innovations, achievements and other activities mentioned above.

9. The State shall, through the National Biodiversity Authority, ensure that Communities have the right not to allow the collection of biological and genetic resources and the access to traditional knowledge and technologies in their custody, as well as to demand restrictions upon such activities.

Article 8
Co-ownership of Biological Resources,
Knowledge and Innovation

1. Co-ownership with other communities:
(a) Nothing in this Act shall prevent any other Community/ies wherever situated within Bangladesh from establishing their rights by proper legal procedures to the biological resources and/or innovation. In such event the different communities will be co-owners of the resource and/or innovation.

(b) Co-ownership shall carry with it the same rights, duties and obligations as set out above save that, these rights shall be co-terminous and enjoyed together with the co-owners.

(c) All benefits that accrue to one co-owner shall accrue to benefit all other co-owners.

(d) Each co-owner shall hold in trust all rights, obligations, rewards, remuneration, etc. for the other co-owners.

2) Co-ownership with the State:

a) The State shall act as co-owner of the biological and genetic resources of the entire territory of Bangladesh and shall not have power to negotiate access to biological and genetic resources by foreign/commercial interests without the full participation of other co-owners.

b) The State shall ensure payment of royalties or compensations to the Communities where applicable. The State shall also ensure equitable disbursement of such payments where applicable.

3) Regional Cooperation:

a) The principle of co-ownership may be extended to the Communities belonging to other countries on the basis of reciprocal recognition of rights inscribed in this Act, provided that such recognition is promulgated as an act in both the countries.

b) The State, through National Biodiversity Authority or other appropriate representative, shall take all necessary efforts to promote and strengthen regional co-operation to achieve the spirit and objectives of this Act.


Article 9
Free Exchange Amongst Communities

1. Any member belonging to any Community or citizen of Bangladesh shall at all times be entitled to grant free access to its biological and genetic resources and innovations, knowledge and practices without any payment or reward provided always that such resources and innovation is not acquired for commercial purposes and/or profit in cash or kind.

2. Such acquirer shall make the said resource and/or innovation available to any other Community/ies on the same terms.


Article 10
Reclaiming and Regaining Resources

1. This Act may be extended to the biological and genetic materials and/or germplasm or any resources taken out of this country or as denoted by this Act as Specimen, belonging to the people of Bangladesh, whether deposited in International or National Gene Banks or in any other private or public ex-situ or in-situ collection. The State shall not limit its sovereign jurisdiction in this regard in any forms and in any dealings of international relations including Treaties and Agreements.

2. Communities shall always and at any time have the right to reclaim and regain any time the germplasm or other biological resources taken from them and to withdraw the Specimen from a gene bank.

3. Communities shall always enjoy the immediate right of access and use of Specimen deposited in any national or international gene banks and/or other centers.

4. The Sate shall reclaim all ex-situ collection of biological and genetic materials and resources and related intellectual and cultural knowledge collected before the signing of the Convention of Biological Diversity and establish transparent and direct custody upon them.

6. The Convention of Biological Diversity, being effective in Bangladesh since 12 May 1994, shall also be interpreted to mean the sovereign right and the right to establish direct and transparent custody over the biological and genetic resources and/or germplasm taken out of the country before the enactment of this Act.

Article 11
National Biodiversity Authority

1. A national inter-sectoral body at the highest level, composed of relevant representatives from the public sector, scientific and professional organizations, people's organizations, women's organizations, development and environmental organizations, and representatives of local and indigenous communities, shall be created as a regulatory body to ensure proper implementation and enforcement of the provisions of this legislation.

2. This body will be called as The National Biodiversity Authority and will function as an independent and autonomous body.

3. A Chairperson with a Management Committee of 14 more members will head the National Biodiversity Authority for smooth and efficient implementation of this Act. It shall be constituted as follows:

Seven Ex-officio members
One member for the Parliament
Six representatives from different Communities

The National Biodiversity Authority will select the last six persons from among their own members or from outside, as the situation demands. The following shall be the criteria for selection:

a. A citizen of Bangladesh

b. A competent person by education, technical knowledge and experience as required and demanded by this Act

c. A person with no financial or any other connection, direct or indirect, with interest groups involved in commercial exploitation and/or profitable economic transactions of biological and genetic resources and related knowledge and culture and/or with any involvement in such business.

d. A person who is not working with any company, corporations, business or interest groups of the categories mentioned above for the last 10 years, who provides in writing that he or she shall not seek employment with such groups for at least 5 years after the assignment is over.

e. The responsibility will be honorary and no financial benefit can be derived from the position and the person should remain committed to offer full time to deliver his/her responsibility.

f. In addition to the criteria described above the Chairperson shall be an eminent scientist with considerable social reputation with experience not less than 10 years or a person with proven competence, experience and contribution in the field for not less than 15 years.

4. The seven ex-officio members will be the following:

1. Director General, National Plant Genetic Research Institute
2. Director General, Seed Wing, Ministry of Agriculture
3. Director General, Livestock Sciences
4. Director General, Fisheries Research Institute
5. Director General, Forestry Research Institute
6. Director, Bangladesh National Herbarium
7. A representative from the University Grant Commission not below the rank of a professor

The Director General of the National Plant Genetic Research Institute shall act as the Member Secretary of the National Biodiversity Authority.

5. To conduct executive functions of the National Biodiversity Authority Directors and other executives shall be appointed by the Chairperson. All appointed executives shall remain accountable and liable to the Chairman. The Chairman with the Management Committee shall remain liable to the National Biodiversity Authority.

6. Chairperson shall be changed in every six years and the members of the Members of the Management Committee every three years, except the ex-officio members.

7. For this Act, all decisions taken by the Chairman with the Management Committee shall be constitute the final decision of the National Biodiversity Authority.

8. The National Biodiversity Authority shall also be the implementing agency of the New Plant Varieties Act of Bangladesh as well as other Acts related to biodiversity and innovation in other areas.

9. The National Biodiversity Authority will set up a technical secretariat and/or advisory body, which shall equally be inter-sectoral and composed of representatives as mentioned in Article 10.1.

10. The National Biodiversity Authority shall establish a National Biodiversity Information System.

11. The National Biodiversity Authority shall take necessary measures and regulations to prevent illegal and unauthorized transactions of biological and genetic resources and exploitation of related knowledges and culture.

12. In cases of disputes or conflicts at the national or international level, the National Biodiversity Authority will be responsible for providing legal evidence of prior community knowledge related to biological and genetic resources of the country and the knowledge, culture and practice related to these resources, either through the Community Biological Diversity Registers or National Biological Inventory, or other means.

13. The National Biodiversity Authority shall have, inter alia, the following functions:
(a) ensure that the minimum conditions for agreements with Collectors are strictly observed and complied with,
(b) ensure that the rights of Communities, wherein the collection of or research on biological and genetic resources are being conducted, be protected.
(c) verify that the requirement of Prior Informed Consent by the Communities are complied with,
(d) study and recommend policies and regulations on the utilization of biological and genetic resources including intellectual property rights and community rights in accordance with this Act.
(e) recommend policies and mechanisms for coordination between the entities and organizations competent in matters of biodiversity, genetic resources and bio-safety;
(f) establish lists of endangered ecosystems and threatened biodiversity.
(g) issue and update every year, a report on the threats to the national biodiversity and their possible impacts to the security and the livelihood of the people, and every five years a detailed report on the State of Biodiversity and Genetic Resources and the Knowledge, Intellectual Practice and Cultures of Bangladesh
(h) establish mechanisms to enable the identification and dissemination of information regarding threats to biological and genetic diversity,
(i) develop and monitor plans, strategies and policies to conserve and enhance biological diversity and ensure the sustainable use of its components,
(j) take measures towards the repatriation of biological and genetic materials and resources taken out of the country;
(k) take measures to regain information, knowledge, technology and intellectual and cultural expressions that are not available within the country;
(l) monitor the importation and introduction of genetically modified organisms and the research and processes of biotechnology and genetic engineering in order to protect the environment and safeguard the citizens from biological pollution, hazards and dangers of such technologies.
(m) execute the responsibilities assigned under the Plant Varieties Act of Bangladesh;
(n) protect new innovations of the Communities from external claims of innovation and intellectual rights and ensure that the rightful innovator(s) are duly recognized and rewarded; and
(o) perform such other functions as may be necessary to implement this legislation.

14. The National Biodiversity Authority shall have the following powers:

(a) to take decisions and measures as well as draft and implement rules, regulations and administrative procedures that are required by this Act.

(b) to determine whether any biological and genetic materials and resources and intellectual and cultural knowledges are being collected, exploited or taken out of the country without the Prior Informed Consent of the Communities, and/or being culturally abused in conflict with their local and indigenous use and practice, and/or commercially exploited against the provisions of this Act.

(c) to determine whether the individual or the people involved in activities that are illegal according to this Act should be prosecuted under criminal laws or in other courts consistent with the relevant laws of the country without any prejudice of the rights of Communities to seek justice.

(d) to declare unlawful any materials, research facilities and experiments or processes as mentioned in this Article 11.7(l) related to genetic engineering and genetically modified organisms, that exist within the territory of Bangladesh outside the knowledge of National Biodiversity Authority and without its explicit written permission and to seize and closed down.

15. The National Biodiversity Authority will conduct all its activities and decision making process in an open and transparent manner for public scrutiny.

16. Any citizen of the country or the Community shall have the standing or locus to challenge any decisions of the National Biodiversity Authority.


Article 12
National Biodiversity Information System (NBIS)

1. The National Biodiversity Information System shall have the following functions:
a) Community Biodiversity Registers:
i. All biological and genetic resources in their diverse manifestations or expressions and the intellectual and cultural knowledge and practices shall be registered, documented and permanently kept in Community Biological Diversity Registers.
ii. The responsibility of documentation and maintenance of the record will be vested in the National Biodiversity Information System.
iii. The National Biodiversity Authority will involve Local Government bodies as well as Communities, particularly local and indigenous communities to develop, maintain and manage information and National Biodiversity Information System will make the documentation up to the date when necessary.
iv. Copy of Community Biodiversity Registers will be kept at the Union and Thana level related to that locality or upon the request of Communities in public offices or libraries as decided by the National Biodiversity Authority.

(b) National Biological Inventory: A complete inventory of all the biological wealth of the nation will be documented with special and detailed emphasis on the species and genetic diversity. The NBIS will immediately make a National List of selected species and varieties that shall be prohibited to take out of Bangladesh.

(c) National Scientific Systems of Identification and Classification: The NBIS shall use all available and appropriate scientific techniques and procedures in order to identify and classify biological and genetic resources, such as, molecular technique of identification

(d) The National Biodiversity Information System shall collect all instances of use or mention of knowledge, practices and cultural expression in any media, including international, national and local language, vernacular, dialect, folk tale, song, drama, epics, punthi, jari, or any other forms of communication. This shall provide the basis to recognize the community/ies' ownership rights to the resource and/ or innovation and will constitute legal evidence of "prior knowledge".

(e) The National Biodiversity Information System shall develop an effective data base for monitoring the causes of the loss of biological diversity.

(f) The National Biological Information System will create other documents, facilities, or instruments that it finds necessary and relevant to maintain an up-to-date system of information about the state of conservation, use, management and research regarding the biological and genetic resources of the country.

2. Nothing in this Act or outside this Act shall prevent Communities who have not registered their resources, knowledge, and innovations from establishing their rights to their resources, knowledge and innovations as recognized and enacted by this Act. In case of conflict of interest the task of the National Biodiversity Authority shall precisely be to defend the community ownership rights of biological resources that lawfully belongs to the citizens of Bangladesh over any and all private claim of ownership.

3. The National Biodiversity Authority will make sure that the National Biological Information System focus adequately the cultural, intellectual, spiritual and ritualistic aspects of documented information so that the nuances of the community's ingenuity are not lost in technicalities and dry "scientific" descriptions.

4. National Biodiversity Authority shall maintain all information, materials and products of National Biological Information System so that they are accessible to any citizen of the country without reservation.


Article 13
General Provisions for Access and Collection


1. Access to biological and genetic resources shall only be given to undertakings being carried out within Bangladesh.

2. Undertakings outside Bangladesh involving the collection of Specimen, knowledge or information collected from the country may only be allowed in cases where the National Biodiversity Authority can ascertain benefits in terms of the enhancement of biodiversity and genetic resources.

3. Conducting research or bioprospecting activities shall be denied if it is done in countries, which are Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Collector who is accused of irregular and unauthorized transaction and is known to have collected Specimen in any country without the Prior Inform Consent of the Community, shall not be permitted any access to the biological and genetic resources of Bangladesh.

4. Access to biological and genetic resources shall be allowed only with the written Prior Informed Consent of the National Biodiversity Authority as well as the concerned Communities. No agreement will be valid unless National Biodiversity Authority has adequately publicized the collection to the Community or Communities from where the biological materials, resources, information, etc are going to be collected.

5. In case of a Community having Residual Titles the National Biodiversity Authority shall ensure that explicit consent to the undertakings has been clearly communicated, understood and agreed by the Community.

6. The National Biodiversity Authority shall make sure that political representatives (i.e. MP, Chairman of Union Parishad) of the Community or the representative citizens belonging to the Community, who are permanently living in the area from where the Specimen are collected, be informed adequately about any proposal for research or bioprospecting activities for commercial purposes.

7. Collector(s) must provide written commitment that all research reports and results associated with the Specimen collected from Bangladesh is provided to the National Biodiversity Authority and the concerned Communities in Bangla language, failing which, access will be denied.

8. The request to have access to biological and genetic resources and intellectual and cultural knowledge of the Communities of Bangladesh shall require written application. The application shall be in Bangla language in a simple and easy style.

9. The requirements and conditions to have access are the followings:

(a) The Collector shall request the National Biodiversity Authority for access to biological and genetic resources by application in writing that contains information, inter-alia;

i. the identification of the applicant and the documents which testify to his/her legal capacity to contract;
ii. detailed and specific information about nature of access sought and Specimen to be collected;
iii. present and potential uses including its sustainability and the risks, which may arise from access and collection;
iv. whether any collection of the biological and genetic resource endangers any component of biological diversity, and/or ecosystem, and/or livelihood of any Community holding Residual Title;
v. the purpose for which access and collection is requested including, where it is appropriate, the type and extent of commercial use expected to be derived from the undertaking;
vi. proposed mechanisms and arrangements for benefit sharing including knowledge, technology and/or financial transfer to Bangladesh to the concerned Communities, and the manner and extent of intended involvement of Bangladesh in the necessary research and development;
vii. assignment of the national scientific counterpart institution, which will participate in the research and be in charge of monitoring the process;
viii. precise sites where the Specimen is/are located as well as the places where the proposed research and development activities will be carried out;
ix. all information about the ex-situ center of conservation in the case of ex-situ genetic resources;
x. clear indication of the primary destination of the resource and its subsequent destinations;
xi. indication of the benefits, whether economic, technical, bio-technological, scientific, cultural social or otherwise, that may derive to Bangladesh and the concerned Communities;
xii. description of the knowledge, innovation and/or practice associated with the undertaking and indicating clear reference to the prior knowledge of the Community;
xiii. presentation of anticipated environmental and ecological impact and impact on the livelihood of the Communities holding Residual Titles;
xiv. any other information deemed relevant by the National Biodiversity Authority.

10. Once the application is completed the National Biodiversity Authority shall keep the application in a place that is easily and readily accessible by any citizen of Bangladesh for a period of at least 30 days.

11. The National Biodiversity Authority shall make sure that the Collector has deposited the application to the relevant Local Government (Union Parishad) in order to make it available to Communities in the offices of the relevant Union Parishad. The application will not be considered unless it is deposited in the Local Government office and remained available to the local communities to see, read and study for at least thirty days from the day the document(s) are available.

12. Upon determination that the application has fulfilled all the necessary requirements of this Act and subsequent regulations issued for its effective implementation, the National Biodiversity Authority may approve the granting of access to the material requested with or without conditions.

13. An agreement shall be signed between the Collector and the National Biodiversity Authority on behalf of the community/communities as well as the State as soon as the application is granted.

14. The agreement shall always be specific to the Collector who has originally applied. Any form of subcontracting by the Collector will constitute a violation of this agreement unless specifically approved by the National Biodiversity Authority.

15. The agreement signed between the National Biodiversity Authority and the Collector shall contain as a minimum requisite:
(a) terms and conditions of equitable sharing of benefits derived from the contracted activities with specific and detailed agreement on the transfer of technology and the sharing of research results. This will have to be endorsed by the Community/ies involved in the undertakings;
(b) terms and conditions of sharing finacial benefits with the Community involved in the undertakings from where the Specimens are going to be collected;
(c) a limit on the sizes of the Specimen that the collector may obtain and/or export;

(d) guarantee of a deposit of subsamples from all Specimens collected with a duly designated governmental entity such as gene banks of BRRI, BARI, BJRI, or any other relevant institutions as instructed by the National Biodiversity Authority;

(e) if a commercial benefit and/or product is derived from such undertaking a commitment by the Collector to inform the National Biodiversity Authority as well as the concerned Community/ies of all discoveries from the research and development;

(f) guarantee by the Collector of the participation of Bangladesh in the economic, social and environmental benefits accruing from the products and processes obtained through the use of biological and genetic resources found in the national territory;
(g) commitment to submit regular status reports and the final report of research and where appropriate the ecological state of the species, varieties or the relevant geographical area of research to the National Biodiversity Authority;
(h) commitment to abide by this Act and other relevant rules and legislation of Bangladesh particularly those regarding sanitary control, biosafety and the protection of the environment, ecology, knowledge and culture;
(i) commitment to abide by the values and customs of the Communities relevant with the nature of the undertaking;

16. The collector cannot under any circumstances transfer the Specimen or any resources, knowledge and information to any third party without the authorization of the National Biodiversity Authority and without the knowledge and consent of the local community/communities with whom the undertaking is related.

17. In cases where commercial benefits derived or commercial products resulted from the undertaking of the Collector a separate agreement will have to be signed with the State and the relevant Communities.

18. No entry of any biological and genetic resources shall be allowed to the country unless the National Biodiversity Authority confirms that a Prior Informed Consent has been obtained from the relevant community(s) of the country of origin,

19. The National Biodiversity Authority reserves the right to unilaterally withdraw its consent and terminate the agreement and/or further use of the biological and genetic resources concerned whenever it has become apparent that the collector has violated any of the mutually agreed terms, or in case where the overriding public interest so demand.

20. The State, in whose jurisdiction the Collector shall operate, in cases of undertakings outside Bangladesh, must guarantee that the Collector comply with the mutually agreed terms and conditions as instituted by this Act and provide indication as to how it intends to enforce it.

21. Any claims by the Collector upon biological and genetic resources obtained or used in violation of the provisions of this Act or mutually agreed terms and conditions shall not be recognized. Any certificate of intellectual property or similar certificates and licenses upon resources or products and processes resulting from any undertakings or access will be invalid and illegal.

22. The National Biodiversity Authority may, when it deems it necessary, establish restrictions to or prohibitions on those undertakings, which are directly or indirectly related to access to or introduction of biological and genetic resources, particularly in cases of:

i. endangered taxa, species, subspecies, or varieties,
ii. endemism or rarity;
iii. adverse effects upon the quality of life including human health or the cultural identity of any Community or Communities;
iv. Undesirable environmental and ecological impacts difficult to control in urban and rural ecosystems;
v. danger of genetic erosion or loss of ecosystems, their resource or their components, because of undue or uncontrolled collection of germplasm;
vi. non-compliance with rules on bio-safety and food security;
vii. use of resources for purposes contrary to national interest and to international agreements entered into by the country;
viii. undesirable social, economic and political consequences
ix. detrimental to the livelihood of the Communities holding Residual Titles

23. If the Collector or its Principal is a foreign person or entity, it must be stipulated that scientists who are citizens of Bangladesh already active in the country must be substantively involved in the research, collection and decision making process. This involvement shall be at the cost of the Collector.

24. The Collector and/or its Principal shall be encouraged to avail of the services of Bangladesh universities, academic institutions and NARS, etc., where applicable and appropriate. The Commercial Collector and/or its Principal shall be required to transfer relevant equipment to a Bangladesh institution or entity.

25. A fixed fee for prospecting must be paid to the National Biodiversity Authority. The Authority will formulate the schedule of fees on consideration like geographical regions, economic importance etc.

26. The maximum term for a Research Agreement involving access and collection of Specimen shall be for three years and renewable upon review by the National Biodiversity Authority.

27. In case of endemic species, the Collector must commit that the technology is made available to one or more designated Bangladesh institution for public purposes without paying royalty to a Collector or Principal, provided, however, that where appropriate and applicable, other agreements may be negotiated.

28. All Specimens for collection as well as any biological and genetic resources are subject to regulation and need authorization before they can leave the country.

29. The National Biodiversity Authority shall issue instruments such as Licenses to Collectors as a proof that the Collector is engaged in lawful activities.

30. The National Biodiversity Authority may at any time revoke such instruments if the collector:

(a) is carrying on his/her undertaking in a manner detrimental to the interest of the people of Bangladesh or particularly to any Community;
(b) have insufficient assets to cover his/her liabilities;
(c) is contravening any of the provisions of this Act; or
(d) has ceased to carry on the undertaking.

31. National Biodiversity Authority may give the opportunity to the Collectors to be heard for reconsideration according to the rules and procedures to be developed by the National Biodiversity Authority.

32. The National Biodiversity Authority will monitor all undertakings in order to see that the Specimen collected from the Community has been used in accordance with the research protocol

33. The National Biodiversity Authority will have to be informed by the Collector at any point of research if it is seen that the undertaking has potential commercial use. The National Biodiversity Authority will treat the undertaking as belonging to commercial endeavor and will instruct the researcher accordingly. In exceptional cases National Biodiversity Authority may take specific decision on a particular case depending on the nature of the research.


Article 14
Access and Collection for National Scientific Research

1. In order to enhance scientific and technological capacity the access to biological and genetic resources and related knowledge, practices and culture shall be allowed to any citizen of Bangladesh contributing to the national scientific research with clear and transparent objective to scientific, social, economic and cultural development of the people of the country.

2. All intellectual and cultural knowledge, products or outcomes of national research described above shall always remain a public property and Communities will have free and unhindered access to the research results and the benefits resulting thereof irrespective of whether they have been carried out privately or through public institutions.

3. The National Biodiversity Authority may provide comprehensive rules and protocols for public research and academic institutions. In such cases, the university, academic institutions and governmental or semi-government institutions shall ensure that all the terms and conditions stipulated in this Act are complied with by the affiliated scientist or researcher. In all cases, the university or institution or governmental entity must ensure that affected communities have given their Prior Informed Consent for the activities to be undertaken and benefits of the research are equitably shared.

4. The maximum term for a research agreement for public research institutions shall be for five years and renewable upon review by the National Biodiversity Authority.


Article 15
Citation of Award for Innovation and Contribution

1. This Act will not in any way limit the rights of any Community including farmers as innovators and as innovator the right to be recognized and rewarded individually or as a group, or both, for the innovation.

2. Potential awardees shall apply for the Citation of Award under the Biodiversity and Community Knowledge Protection Act of Bangladesh and will be entitled to receive the award through National Biodiversity Authority. The National Biodiversity Authority shall determine the criteria, rules and procedures.

3. This shall not prohibit the farmers to apply for rights stipulated in the Plant Varieties Act of Bangladesh.

4. The individual, a Community, or a juristic person who intends to apply for Citation of Award for the innovation of new variety, or for New Plant Variety Certificate or Commercial Permit shall have to apply according to the Plant Varieties Act of Bangladesh.


Article 16
Access and Collection for Commercial Purpose

1. Access and collection for commercial purpose or any bioprospecting activities with direct or indirect intention for commerce shall have to meet all requirements of general provisions for access and collection stipulated in Article 13.

2. The Collector shall have to provide all necessary documents and proof that he/she or
the business organization as a juridical person has met all legal requirements to conduct commercial activities in Bangladesh.

3. The Collector shall have to agree by writing to National Biodiversity Authority that any damage that may be caused knowingly or unknowingly by the commercial activity or activities will be compensated by the Collector within 90 days to National Biodiversity Authority, or to the affected Community as decided and directed by the Authority.

4. The National Biodiversity Authority, in accordance with the nature of collection, shall determine whether the Collector is financially sound to meet damage claims in accordance with the nature of collection.

5. The Collector shall have to pay a fee for commercial collection to be decided by the National Biodiversity Authority

6. In addition to fair and equitable benefit sharing in terms of technology transfer and the sharing of knowledge and scientific skills, at least 50 percent of the commercial profit generated in such activities will have to be shared with the Community/ies.

7. No commercial collection will constitute a legal operation unless the Collector obtains the License for Commercial Collection and displays the document openly and transparently in a place where any citizen has access to examine it. The collector will have show the License for Commercial Collection demanded by any member of the Community/ies from where the Specimen is collected.


Article 17
Funding

1. The funds required in undertaking activities towards implementing the provisions of this Act should be obtained through the establishment of a national trust fund for which resources may include:
(a) allocation of state revenue budget;

(b) a portion of the benefits shared by appropriate and concerned sectoral departments; and,
(c) incomes and fees imposed on bioprospecting agreements for research as well as for commerce.

Article 18
Appeals

Decisions regarding approval, disapproval and/or cancellation of agreements regarding the prospecting of biological and genetic resources may be appealed through appropriate administrative channels. Recourse to the courts shall be allowed after exhaustion of all administrative remedies.

Article 19
Duties, Obligations and Accountability

1. While the duties and obligations of the State have been inscribed in this Act, the communities and the individuals belonging to communities or in their individual capacity as citizen have obligation to protect, defend, maintain and enhance the biological and genetic resources and related knowledge, practice and culture of which they are the human product.

2. National Biodiversity Authority will have the power to take action against Communities, juridical person like company or corporations, etc., if any of their activity/ies constitute violation of this Act.

3. Any individual as citizen, or any Community or any group, as a member of the collective owners, user and custodian of the biological and genetic resources of the country, shall have legal standing to bring public interest litigation in the Supreme Court in case they feel that the rights of the community as enacted in this Act has been violated by any individual, community, group or juridical person including the State or State agencies. The remedial measures the National Biodiversity may undertake in such cases shall not prejudice in any way the decision of the Supre Court to accept such appeal.

4. The National Biodiversity Authority shall remain accountable to the Parliament. In the absence of active session of the Parliament, it shall remain accountable to the President.

5. In case of a complaint against the Authority by a Community/ies or any members or representatives thereof, the Authority shall take all necessary measures to provide satisfactory answer(s).

6. If all efforts to get a satisfactory resolution from the National Biodiversity Authority fails within 90 days or are not satisfactory to the plaintiff, the issue can be taken to the Supreme Court in session. Neither the National Biodiversity Authority nor the Supreme Court should provide representatives for any ad hoc committee for treatment of the individual case. All such cases must be given due legal hearing by the Supreme Court for redress and transparency.


Article 20
Sanctions and Penalties

1. Without prejudice to the exercise of civil and penal actions, which may arise from violations of the provisions of this legislation and subsequent regulations, sanctions and penalties to be provided may include:
(a) written warning/ show cause;
(b) fines;
(c) automatic cancellation/revocation of the permission for access;
(d) confiscation of collected Specimen, equipment, document or any information recorded in any media;
(e) perpetual ban on prospecting of biological and genetic resources in the country.

2. The violation committed shall be publicized to national and international media and shall be reported by the National Biodiversity Authority to the secretariats and implementing agencies of all relevant international agreements/treaties and regional bodies including UN bodies