The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Environment Science and Technology Commission (BEST) yesterday hosted a biodiversity workshop for law enforcement officials as part of its Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) project, an initiative geared towards ensuring the country benefits from scientific discoveries made using local resources.

BEST Commission Acting Director Rochelle Newbold said the goal of the event was to “capture the attention” of the country’s national law enforcement agencies and inform them of the “emerging changes relative to biodiversity management, environmental laws and regulations.”

“Through the (ABS) project we are intending by November of this year to put forth legislation that will deal with the genetic resources that are being exported from the country under the issue of research…(or) that are being taken out of the country by virtue of smuggling,” Ms Newbold said.

“This is a significant problem...people are coming in, they’re getting our information and our resources, they’re making money and they’re going. They’re not sharing any of that with us even though it’s our stuff.”

Ms Newbold said since March of last year, Cabinet has agreed to ban all exports of any biological resources from the country.

“If nobody’s eating it, it can’t leave,” she said. “That is to allow us to put in place the necessary legislation that will allow the government to be able to enact on anybody who may smuggle, take, (or) accidentally carry our stuff out of the country to do whatever research on it, develop some sort of chemical and then send it out to market.”

Ms Newbold said although the first “marketable substance” from the marine environment came from The Bahamas, the country did not receive any benefits.

“The sea grass in Bimini has an algae that grew on it,” she added. “That has been patented as a cancer curing drug, but we in The Bahamas are not benefiting from something that has been found in our waters.”

Ms Newbold said despite the fact that it came from the country, local cancer patients still have to pay the same market price or use some sort of generic drug.

“We’ve asked people to come in and to identify for us the things that we may not have the technology…to investigate,” she added.

“But while we are a very giving and open people, what we have been remiss in doing is being diligent in the stewardship responsibility that comes with such precious resources.”

Ms Newbold said she believes the current permitting process needs a “major overhaul” because of the gaps in the system.

She also said law enforcement agencies must work together to help address the discrepancies.

“We need to stop working in silos and we have to be (more) interconnected,” she said.

“In our permitting system, people who may have come in and have disrespected us in one way ...and have been banned as far as an agency or department is concerned...are still being given the rubber stamp of approval by entry agencies to come in and do whatever they want to do because they are not aware of what the other agencies may be aware of.”

Ms Newbold said she wants law officials to understand that nothing can leave the country without proper permits.

She insisted that something as common as the sand found on local beaches has a variety of microbes on it that have the potential to contribute to cancer, hypertension and diabetic medication.

“We have suffered smuggling for particularly our iguanas for years,” she added. “Our iguanas are unique to us and when this population crashes there will be no more of these iguanas in the world.

“We need law enforcement to understand that that is a crime. It’s a crime internationally and it’s a crime nationally because those things are protected.”

Ms Newbold also said the workshop will be followed by a national campaign to address the public.

“We already have scheduled the Parliament, Senate and Cabinet. Everybody needs to understand this is a serious thing… and nothing can leave this country unless it has a proper permit that gives them a special exemption for export.”

The workshop, held at Breezes resort, continues today.