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Hawaii may become first state to stake claim to biological resources
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| Contributor | Gerald Farinas |
| Last Edited | Gerald Farinas Mar 28, 2004 06:26pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Sunday, March 28, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Hawaii may become first state to stake claim to biological resources
The Indianapolis Star
Hawaii could become the first state to stake a legal claim to hundreds of potentially valuable animal and plant products discovered on state lands, under a bill being considered by the state Legislature. Hawaii is a good place to establish a system to protect government property rights to its plants and animals, supporters of the bill say. Of more than 22,000 known species on the islands, 8,850 are found only in Hawaii, said Naomi Arcand of the Hawaii Audubon Society. "Rather than selling the exclusive rights to our natural resources, we should focus initially on the method to achieve sustainable, equitable use," Arcand said.
State Rep. Glenn Wakai, the primary architect of the bill, said an estimated 5,000 bioprospecting projects are under way in Hawaii's rain forests, volcanic fields, reefs and deep ocean chasms between the islands. He proposed a statewide inventory of them. "We have no idea what these individuals and these companies are doing here, so this is a step to finding out," he said.
Hawaii follows last year's lead by China, Brazil, India and nine other of the world's most biodiverse countries, which signed an alliance to fight "biopiracy" and press for rules protecting their people's rights to genetic resources found on their land. |
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