Policy Framework
International policy-making processes and multilateral agreements related to
biodiversity (listed below) provide the framework in which BioTrade operates. To
support the implementation of these international policies, BioTrade works to
promote the trade and sustainable use of biodiversity. Specifically, the UNCTAD
BioTrade Initiative provides guidance upon request to member states on how to
effectively reflect international policies into their national policies, strategies and
legal frameworks.
In addition, BioTrade provides consultations and support the Secretariats and
Parties of the multilateral agreements through regular contributions. These include
inputs for relevant meetings, participation in expert groups, collecting best practices,
and development of joint technical assistance programmes. These efforts provide
guidance on using trade (and BioTrade in particular) as a positive incentive for
biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
UNCTAD is the focal point on trade and environment in the
UN system. The BioTrade Initiative provides inputs on trade
and biodiversity related issues to the CSD. During the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, for example, UNCTAD
launched three international (type-II) partnerships in support
of BioTrade: the Andean-Amazonian Investor Forum, the
Andean BioTrade Programme, and the BioTrade Facilitation
Programme.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The BioTrade Initiative seeks to support the implementation of
the CBD and works in line with its objectives. It responds to
the trade-related aspects of Article 10 on sustainable use,
article 11 on incentive measures, Article 15 on access to
genetic resources, and Article 8(j) on traditional knowledge.
The Secretariats of the CBD and UNCTAD signed a
Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the
economics of biodiversity. Specific objectives of this
cooperation include institutional cooperation, exchange of
information and experience, and joint action for conservation
and sustainable development.
The experience of the BioTrade Initiative, particularly through
the National BioTrade Programmes, is of great relevance to
the Parties to the CBD. In particular, the experience on trade
as an incentive for the incorporation of conservation and
sustainable use criteria into private sector initiatives is being
analysed and discussed in light of the CBD objectives. In
September 2011, UNCTAD became part of the Heads of
Agencies Task Force for the implementation and achievement
of the 2020 Aichi Targets. For more information, please click
here.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES)
CITES attaches increasing importance to the need of
economic incentives to encourage the conservation or
sustainable use of wild fauna and flora, as well as to
complement the regulatory systems that govern the use of
CITES-listed species.
Cooperation between the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative and
the CITES Secretariat aims to address, in an integrated way,
biological, social, economic and policy-normative aspects of
international trade in wild fauna and flora. Particular attention
is paid to the role that economic incentives play in the
sustainable resource management. Programmes may be
developed that contribute to the sustainable use of
commercially exploited species listed in the CITES
appendices and to an equitable distribution of benefits among
the local communities that have a direct link to these species
and their habitats.
The BioTrade Initiative and CITES have identified several
areas of cooperation including promoting sustainable trade
practices in selected value chains of CITES-listed species
through support of business management of natural
resources and income generation for local communities.
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar)
Taking into consideration the importance of addressing
poverty alleviation, food supply and wise use of water
resources in wetland areas, the Ramsar Convention
recognises the application of incentive measures and the
active participation of local communities, indigenous people
and the private sector in the promotion of conservation and
wise use of wetlands.
In light of the experience of the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative, a
MoU was signed with Ramsar. One early result of this
cooperation is a pilot project on sustainable trade promotion
of products and services from wetlands conducted by the
National BioTrade Programme of Ecuador.
BioTrade Impact Assessment System
As BioTrade activities are being implemented worldwide, there is a constant need
to define and measure its contribution to sustainable development, including the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. To fill this gap, UNCTAD has
developed the BioTrade Impact Assessment System (BTIAS) to measure impacts
related to value chain development, adaptive management and ecosystem
services.
The structure of the BTIAS was finalized and agreed upon by partners in 2010
following a series of meetings, consultations and national and regional workshops
with key partners and experts to agree on indicators and the pilot testing of the
system in Africa and Latin America. Key partners included the Union for Ethical
BioTrade (UEBT), PhytoTrade Africa, national BioTrade programmes and
representatives of the Ministries of Environment of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and
Peru, BioNativa and the Andean Community (CAN). The consultations also
resulted in agreement to use the BTIAS for partners’ monitoring and evaluation
(M&E) systems.
The BTIAS includes ten indicators, divided into environment (5 indicators), socioeconomic (4 indicators) and governance (1 indicator) and can be implemented for
BioTrade activities related to flora and fauna. Through the system, data can be
disaggregated by geographical coverage (region and global levels), type of activity
(agriculture, NTFP, aquaculture, etc) & industry (food, cosmetic, handicrafts, etc),
origin of the species (flora, fauna, CITES) and hectares for reporting purposes. In
order to support partners in using the BTIAS, UNCTAD developed a series of
guidelines on the concept of the system, including technical guidelines per indicator
to measure and track the social, environmental and economic impact of their
activities. For more information, please read the BioTrade Information System
technical paper (INSERT LINK HERE?)
As part of the work being implemented within the BTIAS, UNCTAD became an
Affiliate Partner of the "2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership" since April 2010.
Log-in for BTIAS link….
Climate Change
Biodiversity is the source of many products and services that support human wellbeing, thus ensuring its sustainable use is fundamental to guaranteeing long-term
sustainable development. Biodiversity resources are located mainly in rural areas,
where over 70 per cent of the world's poor live and are directly dependent on such
resources to supply 90 per cent of their needs in terms of food, fuel, medicine,
shelter and transportation. Indeed, some 1.6 billion people depend on forest and
non-timber forest for their livelihoods and over three billion depend on marine and
coastal biodiversity.
Climate change represents a serious threat to biodiversity, as shifts in global mean
temperatures can result in changes in species distribution, population sizes, the
timing of reproduction or migration of events, among others. Given the impacts that
such changes will have on development, especially for the world’s poorest and
most vulnerable, it is clear that addressing climate change requires an integrated
and strategic approach such as the integration of biodiversity-based strategies in
climate change mitigation.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has introduced a
targeted measure to address the related challenges of climate change and loss of
forests worldwide. This measure, known as Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), which includes efforts on
“conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest
carbon stocks”. REDD+ offers financial incentives for developing countries to
reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable
development. Through REDD+, there exists an opportunity for developing
countries to create synergies between BioTrade activities forest areas and climatefriendly policies, thereby strengthening local economic activities in forest buffer
zones.
In this context, UNCTAD BioTrade will be implementing a project to address the
potential link REDD+ and BioTrade. This project is being developed with the
financial support of the United Nations Development Account and aims to
strengthen the capacities of developing countries in formulating and implementing
mutually supportive trade, environment, and sustainable development strategies in
line with BioTrade and REDD+ practices. Activities will include capacity-building
through technical assistance and training (traditional learning and e-learning) for
policy-makers and business leaders and the establishment of a South–South
platform for sharing of information and best practices in the formulation and
implementation of BioTrade strategies and REDD+ projects. This will help
developing countries to align their efforts on the implementation of biodiversity and
climate change-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) such as the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Peacebuilding
The Joint Partnership on BioTrade and Livelihoods Recovery in crisis-affected
countries is a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative to develop environmentally and
socially sound livelihood options in post-crisis settings.
Discussions to explore areas of mutual support between UNCTAD BioTrade and
UNDP BCPR started in October 2008. The main goal of the proposed collaboration
is to build on both programmes’ expertise and comparative advantages to enhance
their work on supporting peacebuilding, recovery and sustainable development
through the development of BioTrade value chains in areas recovering from crisis.
The project works at the global level between UNDP and UNCTAD headquarters
as well as through local BioTrade partners and UNDP Country Offices in selected
areas.
Due to the rich biodiversity of many post-crisis settings, UNCTAD BioTrade and
UNDP BCPR are exploring and/or implementing ways to use BioTrade for the
reintegration process. Specifically, efforts are focused in developing and
strengthening the value chain of specific products that are linked to ex-combatants
and associated groups.
An initial list of benefits from the UNDP-UNCTAD Partnership include:
• Sharing of best practices in BioTrade, particularly experiences related with NonTimber Forest Products (NTFPs) and sustainable tourism that BioTrade has
achieved elsewhere;
• Assessing BioTrade potential in selected crisis-affected countries (e.g. Indonesia,
Aceh, Burundi) and the development of selected value chains;
• Sharing of methodologies to develop BioTrade for inter-agency training
opportunities;
• Exploring ways to assist UNDP’s livelihoods recovery efforts for smallholders/
programme beneficiaries.
In Aceh Selatan, Indonesia, UNDP and UNCTAD have been working to promote
the development of nutmeg value chains since 2010. Through seed funding
facilitated by UNDP, the project was implemented according to the UNCTAD
BioTrade value chain methodology, starting with an assessment of the region to
identify and select promissory products/chains and later a workshop and field visit
allowed the definition of intervention components. As a result, a Nutmeg Forum has
been established to coordinate extension services for nutmeg farmers, liaise with
potential buyers and to facilitate capacity building to improve the value chain. Initial
findings of this pilot project were also presented in a UNCTAD side event during
the Tenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the Convention on
Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010.
In Uganda, activities carried out have assessed the feasibility for a BioTradeReintegration initiative in Northern Uganda with three promissory value chains
(Shea butter, Gum Arabic and Aloe spps.). Funding is currently being sought for
this intervention. Furthermore, the Partnership is informed by the experiences of
the Colombia BioTrade Programme in supporting value chains in its confictaffected Amazon region.
Private Sector Engagement
In order to respond to alarming rates of biodiversity loss and failure to meet the
2010 Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UNCTAD
BioTrade Initiative regularly engages businesses and key BioTrade industry actors
in more than 15 countries and three continents. This work demonstrates how
working together with private sector, governments, universities, trade promotion
organizations, chamber of commerce and regional and international organizations
can be effective and mutually beneficial.
Ultimately, BioTrade is about business going beyond the mitigation of negative
impacts on the environment and on the welfare of populations and embracing a
more holistic approach to sustainable business that values biodiversity and
ensures its conservation while also creating opportunities to improve the lives of
some of the most marginalized and poorest populations into the global economy.
For example, under BioTrade local communities in Bolivia have successfully
implemented sustainable management plans resulting in exports of skins and
products derived from the Caiman Yacare, a species of crocodile, to Italy,
generating over US$1.4 million in sales (a 282% increase over 2003). Exports of
these products to the United States now total US$500,000 (up 364% over 2003).
Management plans adopted by the communities ensure that harvesting of the
species does not exceed its rate of reproduction, and ensure that the communities
maintain a clean environment that enables the species to thrive.
BioTrade’s contribution also highlights the importance of having enabling policy
and legal frameworks in place and the need for further involvement of the private
sector in the formulation and implementation processes of policies. The work of
BioTrade in the revision process of the European Union (EU) Novel Foods
Regulation exemplifies this. This regulation aims to establish rules for the placing of
novel foods in the EU with a view to ensuring a high level of human health and
consumers’ protection. The regulation affects initiatives that relate to sustainable
use and conservation of biodiversity in the food sector as well, since many native
foods of developing countries are becoming more established in international
markets. As such, some of the foods falling under this regulation are important
development drivers. For instance, in Southern Africa, the development of products
derived from native biodiversity, such as the baobab tree, kalahari melons, mobola
plum, among others, have already benefited some 30 thousand producers. In the
Peruvian Amazon, approximately 3,000 rural families participate in the extraction
activities of Camu-camu - a tree native to the region. In Namibia, Marula trees grow
widely and they are easy to harvest and represent therefore a great opportunity for
women. Eudofano Women’s Cooperative, for example, brings together
approximately 4,800 rural women.
BioTrade has been one of the main platforms used to bring together policy makers,
regulators, governments of exporting countries and companies to effectively
formulate a regulation that will meet its health protection objectives and avoid
hindering important advances in environmental conservation. Business has been a
main driver in these discussions. Unfortunately, BioTrade does not provide all the
answers to all the challenges and complexities of conserving biodiversity, but being
the longest running United Nations Initiative on business and biodiversity, it
provides an interesting case for advancing in the effective engagement of business
in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
National Programmes
Bolivia
The BioTrade Programme of Bolivia (Programa Nacional de Biocomercio
Sostenible - PNBS) was launched in 2003 with the objective of stimulating the
production and trade of biodiversity products and services following ecological,
social and financial sustainability criteria. Thought this, it aims to strengthen local
economies related to biodiversity and to create linkages with national and
international markets. Currently, the Programme is being incorporated into the
activities of the Bolivian Vice-Ministry of Biodiversity and Natural Resources.
Morever, Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN), that managed the Programme
from mid-2005 until 2008, continues supporting BioTrade value chains through
their BioTrade Department. The National BioTrade Programme in Bolivia and its
practitioners have played an active role in the regional activities developed under
the Andean BioTrade Programme, the Amazon BioTrade Programme and both
phases of the BioTrade Facilitation Programme (BTFP).
To date BioTrade sectors being supported in Bolivia include:
o Fauna: caiman yacare, tegu lizard, peccary and capybara
o Food and nutraceuticals: native cocoa (Theobroma cacao), maca (Lepidium
meyenii), native honey, palqui (Acacia feddeana), among others
o Cosmetics: majo, cupuazu, cusi, isotonbo, copaibo; and
o Rustic constructions (bamboo and jatata).
For further information, please visit:
- Ministry of Environment and Water from Bolivia/Viceministry of Environment,
Biodiversity, Climate Change and Forestry, under the "Dirección General de
Biodiversidad": http://www.mmaya.gob.bo
- BioTrade Department/FAN: http://www.fan-bo.org/es/biocomercio.php
Colombia
In Colombia, the Sustainable BioTrade Programme (Biocomercio Sostenible), was
launched in 1999 as a pioneering initiative. It was created with the support of
UNCTAD, the Ministry of Environment, housing and Sustainable DevelopmentMAVDT (previously the Ministry of Environment) and the Alexander von Humboldt
Institute. Its objective is "to create and foster mechanisms that enhance the
investment and trade of biodiversity-based products and services that use
sustainable criteria, and complements and supports local and regional
development efforts for the progress of Colombia". The Programme has
established an efficient and team-oriented network throughout Colombia, especially
in remote areas, through which technical assistance is delivered to rural
communities and small and medium-sized enterprises. Biocomercio Sostenible has
evolved in the past years and is currently being managed by the National Technical
Committee on Biodiversity and Competitiveness (CTNBC) (created by Presidential
Decree 2828 of 23 August 2008). Within Biocomercio Sostenible, the "Observatorio
de Biocomercio" (BioTrade observatory) or OBIO was developed as to promote
BioTrade in Colombia.
Other key actors working in Colombia are:
o Fondo Biocomercio Colombia (BioTrade Fund): created in 2006 to help
businesses implement their BioTrade activities and access to national, regional and
international markets.
o Sinchi Institute: an independent research institution associated to MAVDT and is
focused in the Amazon region of Colombia
o Corporación Biocomercio Sostenible: is an NGO that seeks to promote the use of
biodiversity and environmental conservation to support sustainable development,
with an emphasis on BioTrade.
Biocomercio Sostenible is actively involved in the regional BioTrade programmes
for the Andes and the Amazon regions, including those activities implemented by
BioCAF, BioCAN and UNCTAD. To date, Biocomercio Sostenible focuses its
efforts on the following sectors:
o Natural ingredients
o Helicons and foliage
o Amazonian fruits o Honey and derivates
o Sustainable agriculture
o Guadua
o Accessories and handicrafts
o Ecotourism
o Fauna: caiman, flowers, etc.
For further information, please also visit:
- OBIO (Observatorio de Biocomercio): http://www.obiocolombia.com
- MAVDT:
http://www.minambiente.gov.co//contenido/contenido.aspx?conID=3661&catID=87
3
- Fondo Biocomercio Colombia: http://www.fondobiocomercio.com/
- Alexander von Humboldt Institute: http://www.humboldt.org.co/biocomercio/
- Corporación Biocomercio Sostenible: http://www.biocomerciosostenible.com/
- Sinchi
Institute:http://www.sinchi.org.co/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Costa Rica
The National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) led the formulation process of the
BioTrade National Program of Costa Rica with technical support from UNCTAD
and with political support from the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)
of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). The formulation process was
developed from 2005 to 2006 and included:
o The recommendation on the structure of an Advisory Board to the project with
key representatives from the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC),
the Ministry of Foreign Trade (COMEX), SINAC/MINAE and INBio
o Two national workshops with different stakeholders for the conceptualization and
validation of the definition, principles and criteria of BioTrade in the Costa Rican
context
o A study of the “Offer and Demand of Goods and Services from Biodiversity” and
a workshop involving private sector representatives to identify potential demands
based on the existing offer of products and services
o The undertaking of an assessment of the legal framework for BioTrade in Costa
Rica The elaboration of a national assessment focused on relevant BioTrade
products and services condense the results of the activities that have been
accomplished to date. The final product is a proposal for a BioTrade National
Program of Costa Rica. The following have been envisaged as important BioTrade
sectors at the national level: Butterflies and Ecotourism
For further information, please visit:
http://www.inbio.ac.cr/es/inbio/inb_biocomercio.htm
Ecuador
In 2001, Ecuador launched the National Sustainable BioTrade Programme Ecuador, PNBSE (Programa Biocomercio Sostenible Ecuador) as an initiative of
the Ministry of Environment and UNCTAD. The programme coordination is
implemented by the Export and Investment Promotion Corporation (CORPEI) in
strategic alliance with the environmental NGO EcoCiencia. The Programme's
mission is to "facilitate sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in
line with the objectives of the CBD, through the promotion of trade and investment
activities which boost the use of Ecuadorian resources".
The PNBSE acts as a facilitator entity, which works under the value chain
approach guided by market demand. It provides its support to strengthen sectors
that use native biodiversity through technical assistance and coaching, contacts,
information and co-funding in each stage of the value chain. It has worked on
issues business and commercial strengthening, associativity, access to the market,
costs analysis, quality improvement, sustainable management of biodiversity,
compliance with national regulations and principles of ecological, social and
economic sustainability, among others. This is achieved through local and national
organizations which are grouped under the BioTrade Network, hence it uses
existing knowledge and expertise in order to optimize the use of resources. It
currently works in the following sectors: food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals,
sustainable tourism, and handicrafts. The Programme has been involved in
projects with the Dutch Embassy, the Organization of American States, the
RAMSAR Convention and the Global Mechanisms, among others. It is involved in
UNCTAD activities as well as in the Amazon and Andean BioTrade programmes,
and the BioCAF and the BioCAN projects in particular.
For further information, please visit:
- Ministry of Environment: http://www.ambiente.gob.ec/?q=node/764
- CORPEI: http://www.corpei.org
- EcoCiencia: http://www.ecociencia.org/inicio/index.php?sid=143
Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the megadiverse countries and therefore has also a lot of
potential to implement BioTrade activities. In order to identify and assess relevant
BioTrade value chains to be supported, a national assessment is being
implemented since late 2010 using BioTrade's value chain methodology. The final
product of this process is a proposal for a BioTrade Programme in Indonesia. As
BioTrade represents a way to integrate the sustainable use of natural resources to
support economic development in areas of high biodiversity, it has the potential to
contribute significantly to the economic livelihoods work being supported by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For this reason and in addition
to the work carried out at the national level, a pilot project on BioTrade and
Livelihoods Recovery is being implemented in Aceh Selatan, Indonesia (see
section on BioTrade and Peacebuilding). This pilot supports the economci
development of conflict-affected groups, particularly women (widows and female
former combatants) and minority groups, through the development of value added
products (e.g. nutmeg) sold to local, national or international markets. This initiative
is implemented by UNDP - Indonesia with the support of UNDP/Bureau of Crisis
Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) in Geneva and UNCTAD.
Peru
The Peru National BioTrade Promotion Programme (NBPP) was launched with
institutions from the public and private sectors. The Ministry of Trade and Tourism
(MINCETUR) is the President of the NBPP. The Peruvian Export and Tourism
Promotion Board (Promperu) and the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP)
managed jointly the Technical Secretariat of the NBPP. Other members are the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Production and of Environment, the National
Council for Science and Technology (CONCYTEC), the Peruvian Export
Association (ADEX), the Peruvian Institute of National Products (IPPN), among
others. The mission of the Programme is to promote the creation and consolidation
of native biodiversity businesses in Peru, as an incentive for its conservation. The
latter applying environmental, social and economical sustainability criteria in line
with the objectives of the National Biodiversity Strategy and the Convention on
Biological Diversity (ENDB & CBD). The NBPP aims to contribute to the economic
development of rural areas in the country through an adequate management of
their biodiversity and by capturing the market demand for these products.
The NBPP has defined four strategic lines to implement its activities:
o Development of a competitive supply in Peru
o Promotion and Market Access
o Fostering Research and Innovation
o Political Advocacy and Institutional capacity-building.
It is in through these strategic lines that the Programme offers assistance to
productive companies and organizations for the development of projects and
activities that fulfill BioTrade principles and criteria. For example, PeruNatura trade
fair is the main promotion platform for the products developed under the BioTrade
framework. This fair is organized during the Expo Alimentaria Peru Fair with the
support of Promperu and the PeruBiodiverso Project (SECO/GTZ). In its last
edition in 2010, 27 BioTrade initiatives participated and reported sales of US$5.725
millions for the next 12 months. To date, the NBPP is focused in the natural
products and ingredients sector. The Peru National BioTrade Promotion
Programme partners with many international organizations including the Andean
Community (CAN), Andean Developmetn Corporation (CAF), Global Environment
Facility (GEF), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNCTAD, Swiss
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the German Development
Corporateion (GIZ).
For further information, please visit: http://biocomercioperu.pe
Uganda
The BioTrade Programme in Uganda (BTIU) was initiated through a bilateral
understanding between UNCTAD and the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry
(MTTI) in 2003. The BTIU is the first national programme of the UNCTAD BioTrade
Initiative to be launched in Africa. After an assessment of the country's potential in
relation to BioTrade, four sectors were selected to be promoted and supported by
BioTrade Initiative Uganda: a) Natural ingredients; b) wild-life trade; c) eco-tourism;
d) carbon trade. This assessment was the basis for launching the BTIU in 2005
aimed "to facilitate and promote trade in biological goods and services for
employment creation, increased trade and to contribute to poverty alleviation and
the sustainable use of Uganda’s natural resources". The BTIU is implemented
under the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB) and responds to the country
export diversification strategy and integration of trade into environment
conservation. The Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB) aims to facilitate the
development, diversification, promotion and coordination of all export related
activities that lead to export growth on a sustainable basis. Since its establishment,
the BTIU has been working with the MTTI (as a policy focal point), Uganda
Integrated Programme (funded by Norway), as well as with technical agencies
such as the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and Eco-Trust. Activities have also
been developed jointly with UNCTAD BioTrade, the International Trade Centre
(ITC) and the Dutch Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries
(CBI) among others.
To date the Programme focuses its efforts on the following sectors:
o Natural ingredients for food, cosmetics and pharmaceutics
o Ecotourism o Wildlife
For further information, please visit: http://www.ugandaexportsonline.com/biotrade
Vietnam
The activities in Vietnam are implemented with the kind support of the Swiss State
Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) under the project "Development of
BioTrade activities within the natural ingredients sector (Period 2012 - 2014)". The
projects contributes to Vietnam becoming a recognized supplier of natural
ingredient products traded through supply chains that conform to the principles of
BioTrade and the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This
project aims to support the development of value chains based on native the
medicinal species which can be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food
sectors. The BioTrade Programme in Vietnam was officially launched in May
2012during the kick-off workshop were national and international stakeholders
participated. It is implemented by Helvetas/Swiss Intercooperation – Vietnam and
the National Institute of Medicinal Materials (NIMM), as the national partner, will
also support the development of BioTrade in Vietnam.
For further information on: BioTrade Vietnam Kick-off event, May 2012
South-South exchange of experiences between BioTrade Vietnam and Peru, 25
June 2012
Regional Programmes
Amazon
The Amazon BioTrade Programme is a partnership between the Amazon
Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and UNCTAD. The Amazon Cooperation
Treaty Organization is a cooperation and political mechanism involving the eight
Amazon countries that has selected the UNCTAD BioTrade Initiative as one of its
main partners to promote sustainable use of biodiversity in the Amazon region, At
UNCTAD's Eleventh Session, held in São Paulo in June 2004, UNCTAD and
ACTO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of assisting the
Amazon countries in promoting trade and investment in biodiversity-based
products and services through a regional programme.
The UNCTAD-ACTO Partnership aims to promote the sustainable use and
conservation of biodiversity through regional actions that favour trade and
investment in biodiversity products and services in the Amazon region with
emphasis on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. The Amazon BioTrade
Programme focuses on four strategic lines: 1) Enabling policy and legislation; 2)
Research and technological development; 3) Market development; and 4) Financial
mechanisms. The beneficiaries are the eight Amazon-basin countries, namely
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The
programme is financially supported by the government of the Netherlands (DGIS)
and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GIZ). The programme's
formulation phase was developed with the financial assistance of the United
Nations Foundation (UNF) and the technical support of GIZ. The Sala Andes and
Amazonia has been a concrete output of this collaboration and aims to differentiate
BioTrade products and services derived from the Amazon and Andean regions.
Since 2007, the Programme has been implementing the specialized showroom
"Sala Andes Amazonia" that promotes dialogue, dissemination of community
experiences and articulation of sustainable businesses. This showroom has
allowed the participation at ExpoSustentat trade fairs from 2007 to 2009, of over a
hundred businesses and initiatives that are working with biodiversity-based
products and services. It has benefited over 3,500 families that include indigenous
peoples, traditional communities and farmers from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru. The Sala is a joint effort of National BioTrade Programmes in
the region, ACTO, UNCTAD, Ministry of Environment of Brazil, German
Government (BMZ/GTZ), Government of the Netherlands (DGIS) and General
Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN).
Andean Region
The Andean BioTrade Programme was launched in September 2002 during the
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This regional programme is a
partnership between UNCTAD, the General Secretariat of the Andean Community
(SGCAN) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF). The Andean BioTrade
Programme aims to:
• Support the Andean Regional Biodiversity Strategy;
• Support national BioTrade programs in the Andean countries (Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru);
• Foster the development of biodiversity markets in accordance with the principle of
sustainable use;
• Build capacity for the introduction and adaptation of new technologies for the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;
• Support the creation of an enabling institutional environment for the development
of markets for biodiversity products and services; and
• Support the mobilization of additional financing sources for bio-businesses in the
Andean region.
The Andean BioTrade Programme holds regular regional coordination meetings to
promote the sharing of experiences, knowledge and visions among the Andean
countries. CAF, through the BioCAF programme, is implementing the
GEF/CAF/UNEP project "Facilitation of financing for biodiversity-based businesses
and support of market development activities in the Andean Region". This project
started in April 2009 and aims to aims to protect and sustainably use biodiversity in
the Andean region through support to the BioTrade sector. Beneficiary countries
include Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The SGCAN, with the support of the
Government of Finland, started the implementation of the Regional Amazon
Biodiversity Programme for the Member States of the Andean Community BioCAN (in Spanish: Programa Regional de Biodiversidad en la Amazonía de los
Países Miembros de la CAN ).