NAIROBI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Communities in developing countries that have lost their genetic resources and derivatives from natural resources to the developed world for several decades may soon start benefiting once the internationally binding agreement comes into force.
The negotiators are also pushing for the regime to allow the countries sell their products globally and also to have powers in lodging complaints from countries that trade in the products illegally.
"We strongly recommend an agreement that could help us access, safeguard, manage and benefit from our natural forests globally," Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Deputy Director for Natural Resources Esau Omollo reveals.
Omollo says that once signed and comes in force later in the year (2010), the agreement will safeguard against piracy as it will make it possible for the prosecution of the people involved in illegal trade.
He observes that through the regime, all countries are expected to benefit from the resources through control of their forests.
The developing countries are also looking for mechanisms that could allow them repatriate some benefits from developed countries to their member countries to benefit the communities where the products were taken from.
With the existing international agreement it has been impossible for the producing countries to claim benefits once they leave their boundaries as provisions protecting the country of origin is non existence.
It is believed that the existing agreement has contributed to the indirect exploitation of tourism sector where tourists visit developing countries with the aim of siphoning out a forest product that has value in their countries of origin.
One such forest product that has been prone to abuse in Kenya and other African countries is the prunus africana that is popularly used as a traditional medicine in the continent to treat chest pain, malaria and fevers.
"Internationally it is traded on the market for the manufacture of products used to treat prostate gland hypertrophy (enlarged prostate gland) and the closely related but more serious condition of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)," says Miriam Omollo Programs Officer at the Institute of Economic Affairs
She notes that prostate enlargement currently affects more than 50 percent of men over the age of 50 hence the high demand in Europe and Americas where the ageing population are highest compared to the percentage in developing countries.
Being a hard and durable tree product prunus Africana is locally used in Africa for the manufacture of various household products such as axes, hoes and furniture.
Prunus Africana is exported mainly to Europe, where France is the biggest importer followed by Spain. Extracts are re-imported from France, Spain and Italy.
Omollo reveals that the bark of Prunus and its extracts are traded on a larger scale than those of any other wild-collected African tree. Commercial exploitation started in 1972 and has been going on to date.
"The over-the-counter value of the retail trade in Prunus Africana is estimated at 220 million U.S. dollars a year," she adds.
Its cultivation is restricted in Kenya and Cameroon by the government authorities. Cameroon is the largest prunus Africana producer in the world followed by Madagascar.
In the recent past, lorry loads of prunus Africana from Rift Valley forests has been intercepted by the police and people behind the trade, who are always well connected, arrested and charged in a court of law.
Interestingly the extract from the pulverized bark is incorporated into capsules and sold under various trade names, including Pygenil, produced in Italy, and Tadenan, produced in France as the powerless developing countries, the main producers of the product stares from a distance.
Japan has on behalf of other developed countries opposed the proposal of the developing countries suggesting the strengthening of bilateral agreements between producing countries and those that have interest in the resources.
They fronted for a none legally binding instrument that could favor their companies that already are churning out forests products to the market.
In the previous meeting, the developed and developing countries agreed that the binding agreement include all genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge currently covered under the Conventional on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the benefits resulting from their use.
The developing countries, which coalesce around developing countries from Africa and Asia that have lots of genetic resources in flora and fauna, are keen at having legally binding instrument that could open avenues for prosecution as soon as possible.
In the previous meetings, Kenya, Brazil, Malaysia and Democratic Republic of Congo have led calls for the protection of local patents of the communities whose products have been looted with impunity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes the sovereign rights of States over their natural resources in areas within their jurisdiction.
Parties to the Convention therefore have the authority to determine access to genetic resources in areas within their jurisdiction and also have the obligation to take appropriate measures with the aim of sharing the benefits derived from their use.
Countries such as Kenya have of lately started serious conservation on the degraded forests as they seen the importance of conserving terrestrial reservoir of biodiversity.
The health and vitality of forests such as the Mau complex, and thus the full range of services they can provide, are directly linked to biodiversity -- the diversity of species, genes and ecosystems.
More than 1.6 billion people depend directly on forests and forest products for their livelihoods, materials for shelter, food, medicines, and water filtration.
Many top selling drugs, such as penicillin, cyclosporine and the anti-cancer drug Taxol, have been derived from nature; and traditional medical knowledge can point the way to new drug development.
Future drugs, industrial products and genes for improved crops are being sought from plants and animals, particularly in the genetically rich developing world.
In 2004, Nations adopted the Bonn Guidelines on access and benefit sharing.
These voluntary rules outline the roles and responsibilities of companies and scientists carrying out 'bio-prospecting, alongside those for countries and communities who hold the knowledge and genetic resources of interest.
The guidelines identify the steps in the access and benefit- sharing process, with an emphasis on the obligation for users to seek the prior informed consent of providers.
With this development, communities within regions where such resources are found in plenty are set to benefit handsomely courtesy of the Kenya's just recently passed constitution that paved the way for the creation of County's as an engine to rural development and growth.
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