Abstract
The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits Sharing* (ABS) is an international environmental agreement supplementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of 1993. The protocol came into effect on 12th October 2014 and has been signed and ratified by 104 countries or parties.
The protocol aims to set out an international, transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.1 Given that genetic resources can include live and dead wild animals, gametes and other biological samples,2 the Nagoya Protocol has implications for wildlife veterinarians working with free-living and ex situ animal populations.
From a legislative perspective, zoo research and development are low on the agenda of Nagoya legislators; however, there is a fear that through exclusion, zoos could be used as a legal loophole for exploitation.
This talk will introduce Nagoya and highlight the work undertaken by EAZA to form good practice guidelines for those working within the zoo community to comply with the Nagoya Protocol when undertaking animal health research.
*Also known as: The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank colleagues involved in the formation of the EAZA-Nagoya Protocol good practice document, namely: Daniel Nuijten (EAZA), Kristen Leus (CBSG/EAZA), Danny de Man (EAZA), Zjef Pereboom (KMDA), Kirsten Pullen (BIAZA) and Stephanie Sanderson (EAZWV).
Literature Cited
1. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity UNEP, 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. www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf, Accessed:16/05/2018.
2. Comizzoli P, Holt WV. Implications of the Nagoya Protocol for genome resource banks composed of biomaterials from rare and endangered species. Reprod Feril Dev. 2016;28:1145–1160.