Background
Partners: MOST Biotechnology and Ecology Institute (Lao PDR), MONREC Environmental Conservation Department (Myanmar), VEA MONRE Biodiversity Conservation Agency (Viet Nam), China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center, UNEP Regional Office for Asia Pacific
Duration: 2015 – 2016
The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is implementing a project on Building Capacity of Countries in Support of the Development and Implementation of National (Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Frameworks. Funded by the China Trust Fund through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the project was initiated by the UNEP Regional Office for Asia Pacific (ROAP).
The project aims to provide technical support for selected ASEAN Member States (AMS) in developing national ABS regulatory and institutional frameworks and pilot initiatives to implement the Nagoya Protocol on ABS. The project has a strong focus on promoting regional cooperation, knowledge sharing, and learning on ABS within the AMS and China. The collaboration between UNEP-ROAP and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity involves engaging actively with AMS and China.
Objectives and Approach
The project aims to provide technical support to countries to test approaches for equity in ecosystem management and addressing ABS, development, and climate change adaptation.
The project covers the following activities:
- Review of existing regulatory and institutional frameworks for a harmonized national ABS policy or legal framework
- Training workshops in selected countries in the Southeast Asian region on the Nagoya Protocol for better understanding that is targeted at effective ABS policy implementation
- Building human and institutional capacity of key stakeholder groups, including community representative groups (NGOs), governments, and the corporate sector to promote their participation in the adoption of Nagoya Protocol elements and ratification of the Nagoya Protocol
- Promoting regional cooperation, knowledge sharing, and learning on ABS between countries in the Southeast Asian region and China.
Potential technical support for selected countries and stakeholders may cover new concepts within the ABS context such as community protocols, bioprospecting, and biotechnology research aligned with the Nagoya Protocol on ABS, depending on the needs identified. The technical support is expected to contribute to the countries’ efforts towards the development and implementation of ABS frameworks consistent with the minimum requirements of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS, through the provision of both legal and technical expert support available within the Southeast Asia region and from international institutions and partners.
The expected outcomes of the project will include the following:
- Draft National ABS Regulatory and Institutional Frameworks in line with the Nagoya Protocol on ABS for three selected countries are initiated or further developed;
- Capacity of key stakeholder groups to promote their participation in the implementation of community protocols, bioprospecting and/or biotechnology research aligned to the Nagoya Protocol on ABS are enhanced; and
- Regional cooperation, knowledge sharing and learning on ABS within ASEAN Member States and China are enhanced.