There remains an urgent need for the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity and
the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of components of genetic
resources. The threat to biodiversity stems mainly from habitat destruction, over-harvesting,
pollution and the inappropriate introduction of foreign plants and animals. There is an urgent need
for Governments and the international community, with the support of relevant international
institutions, as appropriate, to:
(a) Take decisive
action to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems with a
view to promoting sustainable management of biological diversity;
(b) Ratify the Convention
on Biological Diversity and implement it fully and effectively
together with the decisions of the Conference of the Parties, including recommendations on
agricultural biological diversity and the Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological
Diversity, and pursue urgently other tasks identified by the Conference of the Parties at its
third meeting under the work programme on terrestrial biological diversity,27 within the
context of the ecosystems approach adopted in the Convention;
(c) Undertake concrete
actions for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from
the utilization of genetic resources, consistent with the provisions of the Convention and the
decisions of the Conference of the Parties on, inter alia, access to genetic resources and
handling of biotechnology and its benefits;
(d) Pay further
attention to the provision of new and additional financial resources for the
implementation of the Convention;
(e) Facilitate the
transfer of technologies, including biotechnology, to developing countries,
consistent with the provisions of the Convention;
(f) Respect,
preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and
local communities embodying traditional lifestyles, and encourage equitable sharing of the
benefits arising from traditional knowledge so that those communities are adequately
protected and rewarded, consistent with the provisions of the Convention on Biological
Diversity and in accordance with the decisions of the Conference of the Parties;
(g) Complete rapidly
the biosafety protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity, on
the understanding that the UNEP International Technical Guidelines
for Safety in Biotechnology may be used as an interim mechanism
during its development, and to complement it after its
conclusion, including the recommendations on capacity- building
related to biosafety;
(h)
Stress the importance of the establishment of a clearing-
house mechanism by Parties consistent with the provisions of the
Convention;
(i)
Recognize the role of women in the conservation of
biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological
resources;
(j)
Provide the necessary support to integrate the conservation
of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological
resources into national development plans;
(k)
Promote international cooperation to develop and strengthen
national capacity- building, including human resource development
and institution-building;
(1)
Provide incentive measures at the national, regional and
international levels to promote the conservation and sustainable
use of biological diversity, and to consider means to enhance
developing countries' capabilities to compete in the emerging
market for biological resources, while improving the functioning
of that market.
