Vietnam hopes to become one of the official members of the Nagoya Protocol in 2014 in order to increase access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources, heard a workshop on November 20 in Hanoi.
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| A man feeds an Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), which has been listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in central Nghe An Province's Pu Mat National Park. |
The country faces many challenges such as limited awareness about genetic resources, inadequate State and management capacity and a lack of legal tools or a database on genetic resources, according to the Vietnam Environment Administration.
Hoang Thi Thanh Nhan, Deputy Head of Biodiversity Conservation Agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said that documents were ready to submit to the Government for ratifying the Nagoya Protocol.
Doing so would offer Vietnam the opportunity to conserve biodiversity, contributing to the national goals of hunger elimination and poverty reduction and allowing Vietnam to provide genetic resources to the international market, said Pham Anh Cuong, head of the agency.
The country planned to set up a stable legal system for protecting the rights and obligations of genetic resource providers in Viet Nam.
Under the road map, this legal system would be finished and management capacity would be improved by 2018.
At the event, participants from 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Timor-Leste discussed how legislation could accelerate access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources to benefit millions of people who rely on biodiversity for their livelihood.
The workshop, part of a regional project on building the capacity of Southern Asian countries to work together in promoting access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources through national legislation, was funded by the United Nations Environment Programme – Global Environment Fund.
The protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement that aims to share the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way.
It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.
