2015/05/04 by Myrna E. Watanabe · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #International Maritime Law Issues #International Environmental Law and Policies #Space exploration and regulation
paper · doi:10.1093/biosci/biv056
openalex publication_date 2015/05/04 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
When researchers take genetic resources—organisms, tissue, DNA—from another country, what obligation are they under to share potential benefits, if any, of their find with the country of origin? How about natural history museums that accept new specimens for their collections? According to the Nagoya Protocol (NP), collectors of genetic resources should share the benefits with the countries where the materials originate, which often are in poorer regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Although 59 parties have ratified this agreement, few of those affected by it in the museum, botanical garden, and collection communities in the United States have even heard of it. Gregory Watkins-Colwell, of Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History, holds a preserved sample of,an Arfak Mountains frog (Hylarana arfaki), from Papua New Guinea. The specimen was collected by R. Storez in 1969, predating the Convention on Biological Diversity. Photograph: Sally Pallatto, Graphics Department, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The agreement—whose official name is 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—has been in the making since 1998. It clarifies the access and benefit-sharing (ABS) portions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD, which came into force on 29 December 1993, is an international treaty to support “the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.” It allows for benefit sharing between those who take genetic resources from the environment and the countries that harbor those genetic resources. One of the concerns leading to the CBD was that foreign commercial interests (mostly in the Northern Hemisphere), such as pharmaceutical companies, could take natural product sources and traditional knowledge from less developed countries without compensating them. The NP, which came into force on 12 October 2014, addresses these and related concerns. Sitting in the middle of this Southern–Northern agreement are natural history museums, botanical gardens, microbiological collections, universities, and research institutes that often send researchers to biodiversity-rich countries to make collections for research—not for commercial purposes. Some of them had no idea that this extra level of documentation and agreement was in the works. “I first became aware of it at the SPNHC [pronounced “spinach,” for The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections] meeting in 2014 in Cardiff [Wales],” said Gregory Watkins-Colwell, collection manager of herpetology and ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Andrew Bentley, president of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, sees the collections community as being supportive of the Nagoya Protocol but confused about its requirements. Photograph: Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas. Andrew Bentley, president of SPNHC and ichthyology collection manager at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, in Lawrence, noted, “The whole collections community is a little surprised by the impact of this.” He continued that there is “a lot of confusion in the community about how we’re going to change our practices and what we’re going to have to put in place.” Botanical gardens are similarly unaware of the NP. Kate Davis and colleagues (see the “Additional resources” box) carried out a survey to determine whether botanical gardens were familiar with the CBD, ABS, and the NP. Many respondents in the United States reported that they had “never heard of” the NP, although botanical gardens in the global North (more developed countries, minus the United States) and global South (less developed countries) were more familiar with it. Davis, a consultant on ABS from Ottawa, Canada, who serves as an adviser to Botanic Gardens Conservation International, pointed out that, unlike the European Union, which has ratified the NP, neither the United States nor Canada signed it. “There's no support or guidance from government [in the United States] from a user country perspective, unlike in EU member states,” she stated. In fact, because the United States has not ratified the CBD, it cannot now sign the NP. According to Margo Bagley of the University of Virginia School of Law, in Charlottesville, Senate ratification “appears unlikely in the near term.” But, noted SPNHC's Bentley, “Even though the US has not ratified the CBD and signed onto the Nagoya Protocol, it's pretty much a given that the US supports the principles contained in it.” The NP covers procedures for accessing genetic resources, benefit sharing between those accessing the resources and the country that “provides” the resources, and guaranteeing that the use of resources is legal. It also covers the acquisition and use of traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources obtained from indigenous and local communities. According to Dirk Neumann, ichthyology collections manager of the Bavarian Natural History Collections, in Munich, Germany, and his colleagues from collections across Europe (see the “Additional resources” box), “Because the NP governs genetic resources (GR) in general, it applies to any organismal research or collection storing organismal life.” Not only does it cover biological collections, but it also covers “research disciplines indirectly linked to biosciences, such as earth or climate science (GR in drill cores, water, or soil samples) and archaeological sciences (archaeobotany, archaeozoology, and archaeology),” and, Neumann added in an e-mail, “if these samples are approached for sequencing, e.g., for ancient DNA.” Article 5 of the NP refers to the sharing of “benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources as well as subsequent applications and commercialization.” Therefore, one goal of the NP requires an economic agreement between a provider country that allows potential exploitation of its genetic resources for commercial use and someone bioprospecting for a corporate entity, with the provider's goal of financing protection of biodiversity. This makes some in the museum community think that they are being caught up in a large net meant for commercial interests. Luiz Rocha, associate curator of ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco, stated that the NP is “all about the profit. The big bioprospecting companies get permits and will make money out of it.” California Academy of Sciences ichthyologist Luiz Rocha, who conducts field research all over the world, prepares to dive in Hawaii to explore deep reefs for as yet unknown species of marine life. Photograph: California Academy of Sciences. To some in the museum, botanical garden, and other collections communities, it seems as though the CBD and NP inadvertently put them in the middle of a place where they do not quite belong. Said David Skelly, director of the Yale Peabody Museum, “We’re not using what we find to patent anything. It's not a source of economic exploitation.” According to Andrew Wyatt, vice president of horticulture and living collections at the Missouri Botanical Garden, in St. Louis, “We do not commercialize any material collected and our agreements clearly state that… any use commercial or otherwise not agreed upon would require us to ask for specific permission to move forward.” This includes material obtained from other collections under a material acquisitions agreement and materials in their collection shared with other collections via a material transfer agreement (MTA), Wyatt explained. He said, “Our… agreements cover our uses of material, and most are happy to sign.” “If a country ratifies the NP, it is absolutely obliged to implement it,” according to Davis. “However,” she continued, “there is room for slightly different interpretations of the protocol and certainly different legislative/administrative/policy measures.” According to the NP, the country must carry out certain responsibilities related to it, including entering information about its agreements in the ABS Clearing-House, such as a certificate of compliance, which is “evidence that an agreement has been made… [but] not the precise terms of the agreement,” said Davis. “Each party must establish at least one checkpoint,” an event that triggers a need to prove that the genetic resources were acquired legally from the country of origin, said Davis. As Neumann and his colleagues explained, noncommercial users of genetic resources, such as museums and other collections, along with commercial users, usually negotiate a prior informed consent (PIC) agreement and mutually agreed terms (MAT) before starting fieldwork in a country that restricts access. Work cannot start without agreements that state what work will be done “with the final disposition and use of the specimens” and “how any benefits of the work are to be shared.” Neumann said that these benefits “could also be nonmonetary, such as teaching, education,” and so on. These agreements must be negotiated with the national government. “The MAT and PIC do not include collecting permits, and vice versa,” said Neumann. For work in indigenous areas, there may be a need for additional agreements with the local community. The agreements will spell out exactly what collecting will be allowed, what work will be allowed to be carried out on any specimens, and where the specimens will reside at the end of the project. They will often spell out who the in-country cooperating institution is (Brazil, e.g., requires an in-country cooperator) and the terms for publication of research results. Andrew Wyatt, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, reaches for a mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera). He was on an expedition to conduct plant conservation of threatened flora of Mauritius. Photograph: Jennifer Smock. Ichthyologist Henry “Hank” Bart Jr., director of the Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute, in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, is carrying out research in Kenya, collecting fish from rivers and streams. “In many cases, the species are unknown species,” Bart noted. “We have to get permits for all the work we’re doing in Kenya. The way we’re approaching that is entering into the agreements with the Kenyans that basically agree… with the Nagoya Protocol.” Tissue samples taken in the field are shared equally with the National Museums of Kenya, following the wishes of the museum administrators. “We collaborate in the published results,” continued Bart, “so that we give the Kenyans authorship of the work.” In accordance with the wishes of the Kenyans, all specimens were deposited into the National Museums of Kenya. The Kenyans made subsamples of the material and gave them to Bart on a permanent loan. “When I want or need stuff for study, they will either loan it to me on a temporary or permanent basis,” he said. The Kenyans further agreed that type specimens will be distributed to other museums. But specimens owned by the National Museums of Kenya, no matter where they are, will be credited in Tulane's database as provided by the Kenyan museums “so the Kenyans will always be credited as providing that sample,” said Bart. Scott Schaefer, associate dean of science for collections at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in New York City, explained that Brazil has “instituted specific procedures and practices” that have been carried out over the last 10 to 15 years. Therefore, an MTA is required to export “tissue samples and preserved biological specimens from Brazil.” The MTA “specifies the conditions by which the materials will be exchanged and studied, in recognition of CBD and Brazilian law on genetic heritage management.” Wyatt explained the Missouri Botanical Garden's procedure: “When we work in a foreign country, the premise of CBD and NP is that you ask permission [because] the material is owned by the people of that country. All of our agreements clearly state how we are going to use the material at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and if we share the material with a third party, we will determine to the best of our ability that the third party will also use the material as agreed.” Despite the general lack of knowledge about the NP, some organizations around the world were prepared for its complex requirements. For example, entries into the ABS Clearing-House, which was launched in concert with the NP's coming into force, include legislation, identification of the national authority for permitting, PICs and MATs, codes of conduct and best practices, and much additional relevant information. These must be in metadata form—use of a controlled vocabulary to make it easier to retrieve information from the database—some of which is generated as the database user enters its information. E. Margaret Cawsey holds a specimen of a galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) in the bird vault of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) National Facilities and Collections in Canberra, Australia. Photograph: Robert Palmer, Collection Manager, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, National Research Collections of Australia. Said Bentley, “The Darwin Core is the uniform data standard for sharing data online” used by natural history museums. “I get the impression that the Europeans and the Australians and a couple of other countries are way ahead due to necessity, as legislation in those countries is more advanced.” In Europe, Neumann and his colleagues began to push to form a working group, beginning around 2011. “The main thought behind it was, ‘Wouldn't it be good to have a solution ready by the end of 2015 instead of [to] start thinking [then]?’” recalled Neumann. “If yes, why not try to develop a common standard that brings providers into the boat and is suited to promote rather than to hinder biodiversity research?” E. Margaret Cawsey, metadata curator at the Australian National Wildlife Collection of the National Research Collections Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, National Facilities and Collections, in Canberra, is in the middle of adding metadata for their tissue samples “to deal with the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol,” she wrote in an e-mail. She continued, “The implications of the protocol extend not only to ensuring that our collecting/export/import/ethics permits are in order, but to storing the information in our collection database metadata so that we can assure ourselves and our colleagues that our specimens and samples have been collected legally, in compliance with the protocol.” They will be using “the new genomic extension to the Darwin Core metadata standard…, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network data standard,” Cawsey explained. The Missouri Botanical Garden's Wyatt claimed, “I believe we’re the only botanic garden in the world to have such a sophisticated permit tracking system as part of our data set. It enables us to track individual accessions back to specific agreements.” This puts them in a good position to abide by the NP requirements. The fungus Uncinula necator, which causes grape powdery mildew, is an economically important species that is maintained in microbial culture collections. Photograph: Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms, Mycothèque de l’Université Catholique de Louvain, Cony Decock, Philippe Desmeth. Microbial culture collections hold specimens that are important to biomedical research. For example, the filamentous fungus Cunninghamella elegans is used for metabolic studies. Photograph: Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms, Mycothèque de l’Université Catholique de Louvain, Cony Decock, Philippe Desmeth. The World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) was forced to digitize early because of the nature of the organisms within the collection. Its living microorganism collections date back more than 100 years, explained WFCC President Philippe Desmeth, in Brussels, Belgium. These microorganisms “needed more labeling and information because they can't be seen without a microscope, [so] there was more description,” Desmeth stated. “The concept of a minimum data set goes back with projects coming 30, 40 years ago.” This minimum data set for scientific purposes, he said, hews closely to the information needed for administrative purposes by the collection. The WFCC's many years of data collection have led to a program called “Gaining TRUST, Building TRUST,” with the acronym standing for system of which includes a complex database system that will with the ABS Clearing-House, a of an system for the transfer of genetic resources, a to for material, the of this microbial in and a of of “We need to be user Desmeth noted. and “The Nagoya Protocol is out of date from the get maintained Davis, clearly cover utilization of genetic and, information is what we get and what we Although some people are certain that the NP requirements began for specimens obtained on or 12 October 2014, even that is Davis that for purposes of a permit in an specimens may be to be and Cawsey explained there were no on how to with the CBD, some may that we need to back to before the CBD came into force, on the legislation of a country or in in which there are from countries that to specimens or from or or not a country is a it will have to with legislation from provider countries, scientific may require that a specimen was obtained and other Neumann said some US collection think that the which in taken and may force to obliged to implement ABS on a even if the US does not the NP. US researchers want to in a country that restricts it that have and ABS as researchers often are not to sign such agreements for their Yale's David in the of the museum to ancient of the collection. Photograph: Yale of and Bagley The Nagoya Protocol and at the for to the Convention on Biological University Convention on Biological Diversity. The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Davis access and benefit-sharing survey for botanic they prepared for the Nagoya South of Neumann Access and benefit implications for biodiversity collections and collection arising from the Nagoya SPNHC is that the of of in such as will make bioprospecting a need to into the field They can make all their he This would research noncommercial PICs and This would be a if of the species obtained from specimens from different countries were taken for commercial purposes, as could with species that have “Even if those companies are required by law to share the with the country of origin, how can you prove the species to “The of the community of sharing data as well as data field may additional data as traditional knowledge or associated to communities for are concerns that may be or the of permits researchers from working on a Yale's pointed out that if there are with or with and of researchers will to countries with less or a more that if provider their of the make it more and it will have an in the of In museums that have collections of of biological it any by the NP, does it have to be collected with does one do a specimen with no permits is to the “We a and it's an said WFCC's Desmeth. we we cannot it or to be a way to put “a that was in the into the some researchers are quite about the of with researchers in other “We are working with countries to them to use data in and data to the of that will now include species and their closely related species,” said David of the for the of at the National Museum of Natural History. a of Wildlife from the Wildlife on samples at the and Research in The is under the for the of and to work on samples in country, export of biological Photograph: of Wildlife Bart is the Kenyans on how to their the US for for in Research program his Kenyan to and them of practices to make will be in Kenya. all have the to make the people who will be of the specimens have the noted Bart. Missouri Botanical Garden's Wyatt is large international this is a complex you can get countries about biodiversity is a good SPNHC's Bentley, “The collections community supports what Nagoya to