From: csc@web.net (CS Canada)
OUR NUMBERS GROW
"BioTalk" Volume 4, Number 1
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This year's COP is marked by a dramatically expanded presence of civil
society in the CBD process. Over the last week, as many as 800 indigenous
people, campesinos, NGO representatives and other observers have
participated in meetings and discussions in preparation for COP III. In
addition to the large delegations of indigenous peoples' representatives
from various regions, many observers have expressed surprise over the many
delegates present from Via Campesina, a worldwide movement of peasant
farmers which is active on both sides of the Atlantic this month at the
Food Summit and the CBD.
A critical issue now facing the COP is whether or not the members are
willing and indeed able to benefit from this opportunity to expand the
participation of indigenous peoples and civil society in the CBD process.
Apart from the question of the limited time allocated to indigenous
peoples, women and farmers, there is also the logistical barrier of
insufficient space and other facilities at the COP meeting. (Of course,
this assumes that anyone's voice will be heard over the sound of incoming
jets.)
Overcoming these barriers is particularly urgent given the discussions
around implementation of Article 8(j) on this year's agenda. As one
participant in the Global Biodiversity Forum told BioTalk the
effectiveness of the indigenous peoples' participation in that forum "made
an absolutely convincing case" that the COP could greatly benefit from the
expertise of indigenous peoples.
Onel Arias, a representative of the Organici=F3n Napguana from Panama,
said the strong presence of indigenous peoples in discussions around COP
III shows that indigenous peoples intend to be more than onlookers in work
of the Convention. "Los Pueblos Ind=EDgenas del mundo estamos exigiendo
una plena participaci=F3n en proceso de la implementaci=F3n."
At the same time, Arias said it is critical that COP clearly recognize
that its work is developing within the context of a broader movement at
the international and national levels to recognize and implement the
rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities over cultural and
biological resources. "El convenio de la diversidad biologica debe ser
coherente con los convenios internacionales que se refieren a los pueblos
ind=EDgenas, tales como el convenio 169, y la declaracion de los derechos
fundamentales de los Pueblos indigenas del mundo, que se discute en la
subcomision de los derechos humanos de las naciones unidas."
Among many others, critical points in common that are being put forward by
indigenous peoples' organizations, campesino groups, NGOs and other
sectors of civil society:
* Recognition that the rights of indigenous peoples and farming
communities are central to the Convention;
* A call to address these rights as a preliminary step in implementation
of the various obligations under the Convention;
* Recognition of food and food security as a human right;
* The desire to link issues of agricultural diversity under the CBD with
the nearly parallel Food Summit in Rome;
* Opposition to intellectual property regimes leading to the appropriation
of indigenous peoples' and other traditional knowledge;
* A clear rejection of modes of biodiversity conservation that would
undermine or disrupt indigenous peoples' and farming communities' access
to the land;
* A growing opposition to any form of bioprospecting in the absense of
clear implementation of the rights of indigenous peoples, farmers, and
women.
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BioTalk is a publication of the Coalition Against Biopiracy. The Coalition
Against Biopiracy (CAB) was formed at a meeting of indigenous peoples and
NGOs prior to the COP II in 1995. BioTalk was first published in Jakarta,
and since then at FAO meetings in Rome and SUBSTTA in Montreal. CAB's
founders include Apu Agbibilin Community Incorporated (AACI), Baram
Self-Development Association (BASDA), Community-Based Native Seeds
Research Center (CONSERVE), Ilkerin Loita Integral Development Project
(ILIDP), International Association of the Mataatua Declaration on the
Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples (IAMD),
Nepal Federation of Nationalities (NEFEN), Partners of Community
Organizations in Sabah (PACOS), Pesticide Action Network Philippines
(PANPHILS). NGOs participating in CAB include Cultural Survival Canada,
RAFI (Canada), and SEARICE (Philippines).
This excerpt from "BioTalk" has been posted as part of a project to help
publicize the events at the Third Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity (COPIII).
Posted by: Liaison Committee of the Indigenous Peoples' Biodiversity
Information Network (IBIN).
IBIN Liaison Committee
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Kamloops, British Columbia
Canada, V2H 1H1
Telephone: 1-604-828-9791
Fax: 1-604-828-9787
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