Directors Speech On the Opening of Second ABS Capacity Development Workshop for Africa: 3rd to 7th December 2007, Nairobi, Kenya Dutch-German ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa 3rd December 2007 Protocols Ladies and Gentlemen May I first of take this opportunity to welcome you to our beloved country Kenya. It is a land of diversity and there is plenty to enjoy. Ladies and Gentlemen Kenya is a country of diversity and is endowed with a wealth of biological diversity ranging from the micro organisms to mega fauna that reside in equally diverse habitats ranging from deserts and semi-arid lands, savanna grasslands, woodlands, alkaline lakes of the rift valley, inland fresh water lakes, dry moist rain and montane forests, alpine moorland, marine habitats, mangrove forests to coral reefs among many others. Kenya wildlife Service (KWS) whose mission is “to sustainably conserve and manage Kenya’s wildlife and its habitats in collaboration with stakeholders for posterity” was established by an Act of Parliament, through the the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act ((CAP 376) No. 16 of 1989). The overall mandate of KWS is to conserve and manage wildlife in Kenya with sole jurisdiction over National Parks, supervisory role in the management of National Reserves, local and private sanctuaries and is also mandated to license, control and supervise all wildlife conservation and management activities outside the protected areas among other. Ladies and Gentlemen While serving as a great national heritage, wildlife contribution to the national economy is of great importance. It represent over 70% of the tourism product which contribute 12% of the national economy. It provides employment and business opportunities. Conservation of wildlife and its habitats ensures continued supply of ecosystem services such as a sink to carbon among many aesthetic, recreational and spiritual values. Kenya Wildlife Service manages key ecosystem that are water towers for the country. In the same note, economic gain through bioprospecting in the protected areas is increasingly becoming important particularly as a result of the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Kenya being a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, undertake strategic biodiversity conservation approaches including In situ conservation approaches through eestablishment of protected areas (Parks and Reserves) and Ex situ conservation approaches that includes genebanks, zoos, arboreta. Value addition to biodiversity resources is also important to conservation and in particular with the aim of benefiting the local communities who bear the cost of conservation. Njogu_Speech_ABS_Workshop_Dec_2007.doc Page 2 of 5 Ladies and Gentlemen With regard to In situ conservation, approximately 10% of the country’s land area has been set aside as conservation areas comprising about 59 areas of biodiversity importance and gazetted as National Parks and Reserves With regards to biotechnology research for conservation, the Kenya Wildlife Service (biotechnology) initiative date back to year 2000 under its core mandate, ideally to add value to genetic resources that are component of biological diversity. These initiatives are in context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that Kenya ratified on 11 June 1992. Kenya is concerned with losses of biological diversity, including the invisible biological resource misappropriated through biopiracy. Such cases of misappropriation that had been detected include Genencor – bacteria enzymes poached from Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria, Bayer – Some bacteria poached from Ruiru dam and Novozymes – Bacteria poached from Lake Nakuru, Lake Magadi and Lake Bogoria. The detection of this misappropriation was a major breakthrough that regards biopiracy. There could be many more other case that may have not been detected to-date or perhaps even ongoing. It is on this basis that KWS formed the Biotechnology section. Biotechnology in Kenya is fairly new and is challenged by limited technology or capacity and is a long term undertaking that does not necessarily lead to definitive results hence (regarded as bioprospecting). Initial stages include inventorying of organisms and classifying them accordingly. Lack of technological capacity in Kenya, necessitates partnerships with Research and Development (R&D) organizations, industrial firms and institutions of higher learning. In Kenya, the same arrangements have been applied in agricultural biotechnology which is fairly advanced compared to that related to conservation of biological resources. Major breakthroughs and discoveries of novel product have been made in Kenya including the production of Mondia Tonic and Naturub ointment and balm developed under Kakamega Forest Reserve Community conservation program and through Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) collaborations with University of Nairobi (UoN), International Centre of Insect physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) and communities living adjacent to Kakamega forest reserve. Other endeavours include search for natural products particularly enzymes and other natural biological chemicals that can be useful for biodiversity conservation and development. These activities represent major initiative in biotechnology and biological diversity conservation R&D initiatives. Njogu_Speech_ABS_Workshop_Dec_2007.doc Page 3 of 5 Bioprospecting and biotechnology provides great opportunity to tap economic value from genetic resources and to counter cases of biopiracy. KWS, through its mandate, seeks to advance the Millennium Development Goals without undermining the ecological capital. KWS is strategically placed to spearhead the development of biotechnological applications that support conservation through biotechnology programmes that focus on biodiversity and development. In this regard KWS recognizes the need to develop capacity and relevant policies and strategies to sustainably exploit this rich resource and curtail biopiracy often done under the guise of tourism within its areas of jurisdiction. It is in this regards that KWS applauses the Dutch-German ABS Capacity Building Initiative for Africa. Ladies and Gentlemen It is worth to note that, unregulated bioprospecting can speed the destruction of species or alter the genes of a population, particularly for the invisible biodiversity. These collaborations as advocated under the CBD are means of regulating access to country’s genetic resources. Kenya is currently in an advanced stage in developing national policy and law on Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources and Folklores. A taskforce of which KWS is a member, under the Copy Right Office of the Attorney General Chambers is undertaking this activity. Ladies and Gentlemen There are numerous benefits in engaging in biotechnology for biodiversity conservation. In particularly: It is part of domestication and implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kenya and particularly the Article on Access and Benefit sharing (ABS) Serves as an example aiming at curtailing biopiracy and learning experience for future collaboration explore and promote collaboration in biodiversity research and development opportunities and education as well as capacity and institutional building in: i. Environmental conservation ii. Sustainable development, and iii. Capacity and institutional building Njogu_Speech_ABS_Workshop_Dec_2007.doc Page 4 of 5 exchange information, including selected data, methodologies, techniques, and technologies (technology transfer) Ladies and Gentlemen This workshop is very important, noting that it is the second of its type. I note that it is an initiative to assist in building capacity in Africa for purposes of using an International Regime on Access Benefit Sharing provided for within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)/ Bonn Convention. It is therefore critical for the participants to explore experiences with bioprospecting cases for implementation of ABS regulations and build a broad and sound basis for development of best practices for ABS in Africa and use case studies available to review agenda items of the future meetings of the Ad Hoc Open –ended Working Group on Access and Benefit sharing (WGABS-6,XXX) relevant to Africa Ladies and Gentlemen May I at this point thank the initiators of this process and organizers particularly the donors, Germany and the Netherlands through the Dutch-German ABS Capacity Building Initiative for Africa. Thanks to ICIPE and NEMA for their role in organizing this workshop and the participants from various parts of Africa and the world in general. Ladies and Gentlemen I am delighted to now welcome you Nairobi National Park free of charge. I do hope you will enjoy the diversity of wild animals and plants in this important park that is next to a city. Lastly, may I wish you the best in your deliberations. Julius Kipng’etich Director KWS Njogu_Speech_ABS_Workshop_Dec_2007.doc Page 5 of 5 .