ONCE passed, the Bill on Access and Benefit Sharing and Related Traditional Knowledge will enable the country to implement the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in Nagoya, Japan in 2010.

The drafting of the bill on ABS for Namibia started last year. “Once this piece of legislation is passed, it will serve as a good basis to promote bio-trade for the benefit of our communities. It will bring these communities into fair and equitable partnerships with the private sector,” said Minister of Environment and Tourism, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the three-day International Conference on Bio-trade held in Windhoek last week. Bio-trade involves the trade in genetic resources. Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia’s rural poor depend heavily on the unique blend of ecosystems for their livelihoods and survival and thus the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of these natural assets is of vital importance.
A newly-published report on the Green Economy handed to the Minister at the conference highlights the importance of bio-trade to the Namibian economy. This sector contributes an estimated 4.5% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and bio-trade was furthermore found to be a critical sector that should be nurtured and supported in order to contribute to national poverty reduction programmes.
The conference forms part of the Capacity Building for Bio-trade Project funded by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and GIZ and is being implemented in Namibia, Brazil, Peru and Nepal. The overall objective of the conference was consider and frame bio-trade in the context of a green economy, poverty reduction, bio-diversity conservation and specifically to explore trade opportunities with a transition to a green economy. UNEP’s Asad Naqvi said a green economy is one that results in increased human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.