polo writes:

"US Government's $2.5 Million
Biopiracy Project in Mexico Cancelled

Victory for Indigenous Peoples in Chiapas

After two years of intense local opposition from
indigenous peoples'organizations in Chiapas, Mexico,
the US government-funded ICBG-Maya project aimed at
the bioprospecting of Mayan medicinal plants and
traditional knowledge has been "definitively
cancelled" by the Project's Chiapas-based partner,
ECOSUR - El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. The US
government confirmed today that the ICBG-Maya Project
has been terminated.

"The definitive cancellation of the ICBG-Maya project
is important for all indigenous peoples in Mexico.
Indigenous communities are asking for a moratorium on
all biopiracy projects in Mexico, so that we can
discuss, understand and propose our own alternative
approaches to using our resources and knowledge. We
want to insure that no one can patent these resources
and that the benefits are shared by all."
- Antonio Perez Mendez, indigenous doctor and
secretary of the Council of Traditional Indigenous
Doctors and Midwives from Chiapas
(Consejo de Médicos y Parteras Indígenas Tradicionales
de Chiapas - COMPITCH).

"We see the cancellation of the ICBG-Maya as a
victory, but we also realize that we must develop
capacity to respond with our own economic
alternatives. If not, we will continue to see foreign
projects which seek to privatize our resources and
knowledge." -
Rafael Alarcón, advisor to COMPITCH

ECOSUR's decision to withdraw its support for
ICBG-Maya is the final blow for the ill-conceived
biopiracy project - which not only faced widespread
opposition from indigenous peoples organizations in
Chiapas, but also last year failed to get regulatory
approval from
the Mexican government (that is, permission to conduct
bio-assays on collected plant materials).

The $2.5 million dollar ICBG-Maya project,entitled
"Drug Discovery and Biodiversity among the Maya in
Mexico," was funded by the US
government in September 1998, and included the
University of Georgia-Athens (UGA), USA, the Colegio
de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Mexico, and Molecular
Nature Limited (MNL), a Welsh biotechnology company.
The International Collaborative Biodiversity Group
(ICBG), is a US government initiative involving the
National Institutes of Health, the National Science
Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA).

No Means No!

"Despite all the talk about 'prior informed consent'
and the 'right to say no,' it took two years for the
indigenous peoples of Chiapas to convince the
ICBG-Maya that no means no. The Project was
unacceptable to many indigenous communities in Chiapas
that oppose commercial exploitation of their genetic
resources and
traditional knowledge," explains Silvia Ribeiro of ETC
group. "ECOSUR has made a responsible decision and now
seeks to re-build community support for its public
research programs," adds Ribeiro.

Slow to Go:

The ICBG Maya Project was staunchly defended by its
director, anthropologist Brent Berlin of the
University of Georgia. Failing to win consensus at the
local level, and facing increasing criticism
internationally, Berlin sought to redesign the project
and salvage it. In August 2001 Berlin proposed to
ECOSUR that a re-designed project would seek to define
the risks and benefits of bioprospecting, train
indigenous leaders on ethical norms related to
prior informed consent, and develop an informational
campaign on the risks and benefits of bioprospecting
for indigenous communities.

Although ICBG approved the new project, to be financed
by a re-direction of funds from the first ICBG Maya
proposal, the advisory board of ECOSUR rejected it. On
7 October 2001, perhaps in a last-ditch effort to win
approval for the project, a representative from the US
Embassy in Mexico travelled to Chiapas to meet with
representatives from COMPITCH, the indigenous group in
Chiapas most active in protesting the project. Again,
the local communities said no.

Lessons Learned?

The decisive rejection of the ICBG-Maya, and the
continuing struggles of indigenous peoples in Chiapas
to defend their collective rights over biodiversity
and traditional knowledge, offers valuable lessons for
bioprospectors worldwide, including the
US-government's remaining ICBG projects in Latin
America, Asia and Africa.

Ultimately, neither well-meaning anthropologists nor
civil society organizations can make decisions for
indigenous peoples; nor can outsiders appoint
organizations to determine who will legitimately
represent the interests of indigenous communities. The
collective rights of indigenous peoples must be
respected, as well as the fundamental right of local
communities to veto projects that target their
resources and knowledge.

In a world where biological products and processes are
being privatized and patented, and where Farmers'
Rights are being trampled by intellectual property and
trade agreements, it is not surprising that
proprietary rights are confounding negotiations at the
local, national and international levels. Equity-based
bioprospecting is a myth in the absence of regulatory
mechanisms that safeguard the rights and interests of
farmers, indigenous peoples and local communities.

Unanswered Questions:

What will happen to plant materials collected
in Chiapas prior to the termination of the Project?
While it is understood that bio-assays were not
conducted on these plants, how will the University of
Georgia and ECOSUR insure that any plant collections
are repatriated to the local communities?

For more information, contact: Silvia Ribeiro, ETC
group: silvia@etcgroup.org tel: 52-5563-2664

Hope Shand, ETC group: hope@etcgroup.org tel: (919)
960-5223

In Chiapas: Consejo de Médicos y Parteras Indígenas

Tradicionales de Chiapas - COMPITCH

Antonio Perez Mendez, Rafael Alarcon (52) 967 85438 :

compitch@hotmail.com

The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and
Concentration, formerly RAFI, is an international
civil society organization headquartered in
Canada. The ETC group (pronounced Etcetera group) is
dedicated to the advancement of cultural and
ecological diversity and human rights.

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