Fighting to Prevent Theft of Bio-Resources from the Amazon Basin
8/21/97
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Headline: Fighting to Prevent Theft of Bio-Resources from the Amazon Basin
Source: IPS News Reports
Date: 8/21/97
Author: Mario Osava
BRAZIL-BIODIVERSITY: Crackdown on Eco-Pirates
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 14 (IPS) - Brazilian environmentalists,
fighting to halt the wholesale theft of bio-resources from
the Amazon basin, are taking a non-governmental
organisation (NGO) to court for illegally stealing the
knowledge of indigenous peoples.
Another French NGO has cited the world famous perfume
manufacturing firm of Chanel for endangering the existence
of a rare Brazilian tree used in its products., Selva Viva
(Living Rainforest) an NGO founded by Ruediger Von
Renighaus, a native of Switzerland, is the defendant in
Brazil's first eco-piracy trial. The NGO stands accused of
selling knowledge about roots, shells, and seeds obtained
from the peoples of the northeast Brazilian state of Acre,
to foreign pharmaceutical firms. A court in Acre is
expected to issue a decision momentarily to respond to
formal accusations by both state and federal prosecutors.
Chanel is accused of contributing to the extinction of the
''palo rosa'', a Amazon tree whose Latin name is Aniba
Rosoeodora. Chanel No. 5, one of the best known perfumes
in the world, is made with oil from this tree, according
to an NGO called ''Robin Hood'' which had called for a
worldwide boycott of the company.
The case against Selva Viva was brought to the Acre public
prosecutor's office by the local Roman Catholic Church
officials, the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and
the Indigenous Nations' Union of Acre (UNI-AC).
The group accused Selva Viva of passing on information
recognized as the property of native peoples to large
multi- national pharmaceutical corporations, such as Ciba-
Geigy, Johnson & Johnson, Hoechst, Sandoz and Lilly in
return for medicines and money.
The charges are the latest of many such accusations against
other firms and individuals involving the knowledge and
genetic resources of the Amazon region being usurped by
multinational corporations.
But ''for the first time, public officials are acting
effectively and even the Federal Police has ordered field
investigations,'' said David Hathaway, an environmental
consultant for environmental and agricultural international
NGOs, with relief.
In the past Brazilian authorities have always ''talked a
lot about the sovereignty of the Amazon'' but did little to
end the looting of the region's environmental patrimony,
according to Hathaway.
He said the main issue involved the knowledge that has
been developed by indigenous communities or subsistence
farmers being obtained by companies or persons who may try
to patent them as their own. In addition, the extraction
of certain natural resources may result in environmental
damage.
Acre has been turned into something of an environmental
battleground. The state legislative assembly approved a law
last month which will protect biodiversity and imposes
harsh penalties against foreigners who claim rights to
Amazonian forests.
The Biodiversity law sought to end to ''neo-colonialism -
the invasion which in no way benefits our region'', stated
Deputy Edvaldo Magalhaes, author of the bill and a member
of the Brazilian Communist Party. But the legislation,
which parliament may extend to other Amazon states,
provoked extreme reactions.
Sergio Ferreira, ex-President of the Brazilian Society for
Scientific Progress, criticized the law, calling it
inefficient. But Aziz Ab Saber, a geographer and
environmentalist, felt it could contribute to stepping up
the fight against the ''alarming situation'' in the Amazon,
prior to its complete decimation and the plunder of its
resources.
Hathaway lamented that in addition to the initiative's
limitations, it was rushed through and did not receive the
lengthy discussion the issue deserved. A better solution,
he said, may come out of a national bill which is being
sponsored by Senator Marina Silva that seeks to codify the
Biodiversity Agreement signed at the Environmental Summit
of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. The Acre legislation was
inspired by an earlier proposal by the Senator, which was
modified after two years of debate in the Senate.
One major point at issue is the right of indigenous
communities or small subsistence farmers to protect the
knowledge they have developed over generations. This is a
problem of international proportions, says Hathaway.
At present, international patent laws only recognize the
rights of companies or individuals, and do not recognize
the right of intellectual property belonging to an entire
community. What's missing is a way to guarantee indigenous
communities non-commercial rights to their knowledge which
govern use of such knowledge, with access to it shared or
remunerated, he said.
In any event, Hathaway considers the moves in Acre a
positive step against eco-piracy which has carried on
unhindered until now, despite being almost universally
condemned.
He noted that Chico Mendes, the distinguished and
internationally-known environmentalist, was the original
leader of the Acre ''Amazon forest people'', who are in the
forefront of the fight against eco-piracy. Mendes was
assassinated in 1988.