Developing Bioprospecting Guidelines

Photo: Rachel Wynberg

The EEU has been contracted by the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa to develop a set of guidelines which will provide practical help to stakeholders implementing the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing (BABS) Regulations, which fall under the South African National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (No. 10 of 2004). The Regulations, which came into force in April 2008, set in place a permit system relating to research, bioprospecting and export of indigenous biological resources and conditions for the exchange of indigenous biological resources between providers and users through benefit-sharing and material transfer agreements.

They also require prior informed consent to be obtained from traditional knowledge holders and biodiversity resource owners before any activities are pursued. However, both users and providers of indigenous biological resources and traditional knowledge have encountered obstacles in complying with certain aspects of the Regulations; and regulators at a provincial and national level have indicated that further direction is needed for implementation. The guidelines are being developed in conjunction with the non-governmental organisation, Natural Justice and with Mandy Taylor, a legal specialist in the field. The draft guidelines will be workshopped with various stakeholder groups to evaluate their practicality and are due to be published by March 2011.