Latest Resources

7 October 2007
Drug Companies Looting SA’s bounty of Medicinal Plants
The government has stepped in to save a tiny South African plant, pelargonium, from extinction after hundreds of tons were harvested for foreign drug companies, one of which has patented its use to fight HIV/Aids. Now traditional healers, who have used the plant for centuries, are trying to win back the patent which they claim […]

6 September 2007
World Bank Projects on Biosafety Harmonisation
In Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Mali, Senegal A disclaimer addressed to the attention of GEF CEO and GEF council members by the Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage (COPAGEN). Read more here.

28 July 2007
Stealing South Africa’s Secrets…..
Pelargonium, a plant used in cold and flu remedies, has become a new battleground in the campaign to protect South Africa’s indigenous flora and traditional knowledge from bio-pirates. An interview with Mariam Mayet published by the Mail & Guardian written by Yolandi Groenwald on 15 January, 2007.

27 July 2007
ACB Submission on Bioprospecting & ABS Draft Regulations, 2007
SUBMISSIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: BIODIVERSITY ACT, 2004: REGULATIONS ON BIOPROSPECTING, ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING. Read here.

27 July 2007
ACB Submission on IPRs from Publicaly Funded Research Bill, 2007
Currently, South African intellectual property legislation is highly fragmented, a situation that gives rise to a number of gaps and anomalies that undermine the rights of indigenous people. “Indigenous people” is not clearly defined by NEMBA or it Draft Regulations except to refer to such people as residing in a defined geographical area to which […]

27 July 2007
Rural Communities Express Dismay: “land grabs” fuelled by Biofuels Strategy
More than sixty people met in Durban on March 5th 2007, to discuss the South African government’s Draft Industrial Biofuels Strategy, which is open for public comment until the end of March. The undersigned NGOs, individuals, farmer organisations and rural communities from KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga who attended the workshop, express our extreme […]

20 July 2007
Submission on the Draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy
By: Earthlife Africa eThekwini Branch – African Centre for Biosafety – GRAIN – SAFeAGE – Ekogaia -The Third World Investment Gateway Trust To: Department of Minerals and Energy 31 March 2007 Read submission here.

11 February 2007
South Africa – Biosafety Policy
Submissions On Draft Biosafety Policy, Government Notice 1576 Of 2005, Published By The Department Of Agriculture, 26 August 2005 Mariam Mayet, Sep 2005. Read here.

11 February 2007
Mauritius – GMO Legislation
The Mauritian Paradox Selva Appasawmy, April 2004 OVERVIEW Mauritius has introduced legislation to regulate genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and its associated activities. This legislation perhaps represents the most stringent precautionary regulations yet on the African continent. As a Party to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Biosafety Protocol), the Mauritian government can also be said to […]

11 February 2007
Ghana – GMO Legislation
Ghana – GMO Legislation Read here.