"Therefore, the Nagoya Protocol is crucial for us."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Environmental Affairs Minister Balthasar Kambuaya stated that his ministry is currently processing a bill on the ratification of the Nagoya Protocol, which the Parliament is expected to deliberate next month.

The ratification of the Nagoya Protocol is crucial for Indonesia as one of the world`s mega-biodiversity nations, said the minister here on Wednesday.

Indonesia signed the protocol a year after it was adopted in 2010.

According to Kambuaya, other countries have exploited Indonesia`s biodiversity for years, without appropriate conservation or compensation.

This has threatened the sustainability of Indonesia`s biodiversity, he continued.

"Therefore, the Nagoya Protocol is crucial for us. The bill has been drafted and we hope it will be passed into a law soon," the minister remarked.

The ratification of the protocol will benefit the traditional communities and help preserve their environmental wisdom, he added.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable manner.

It was adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its tenth meeting held on October 29, 2010 in Nagoya, Japan.

The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources is one of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Nagoya Protocol addresses traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and includes provisions on access, benefit-sharing and compliance. It also deals with genetic resources where indigenous and local communities have the established right to grant access to them.
(Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR/S012)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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