Subnational | PANORAMA

Holding activities to build capability and improve awareness

The ABS project has been widely promoted throughout Guangxi, with about 50 promotional activities, 20 training sessions and related meetings, and more than 10,000 participants online and offline, to help with Guangxi ABS legislation and benefit-sharing.

These activities not only enhance the capacity building of relevant personnel, but also raise public awareness of biodiversity conservation and benefit-sharing.

Public awareness of - and public support for - program activities ensures success.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

National

Promote benefit-sharing between enterprises and local communities/residents

Guangxi negotiated and implemented agreements on access to genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing of Siraitia grosvenorii and Camellia nitidissima in Guilin and Fangchenggang, promoting the signing of more than 10 benefit-sharing agreements between enterprises and farmers in demonstration areas through measures such as value-insured recovery, benefit sharing, technology training, and enhanced resource protection. From 2019 to 2021, the campaign benefited more than 5,000 farmers in the major producing areas of Siraitia grosvenorii and Camellia nitidissima, helping nearly 300 poor households escape poverty.

From 2020 to 2021, the demonstration enterprise Guilin Monk Fruit Siraitia Grosvenorii Biotechnology Inc. has increased the returns from purchasing and recovering Siraitia grosvenorii by 50% year-on-year.

It is necessary to negotiate and implement access and benefit-sharing agreements for genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

Protect biogenetic resources and related traditional knowledge

The protection for wild genetic resources has been formalized, and 20 protection sites for chrysantha have been constructed; guidance is provided for demonstration enterprises to expand the nursery of Siraitia grosvenorii and Camellia nitidissima, which cover an area of 2,000 square metres and 500 square metres respectively.

The project helped to increase the area allocated for growing seedlings of Siraitia grosvenorii and Camellia nitidissima genetic resources, and planted Camellia nitidissima in the wild.

Reducing the utilization of wild resources is key to project success.

Conduct a baseline survey on biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge

The project team investigated, collected, and summarized the protection, development, utilization, and benefit-sharing of 30 exemplar genetic resources in Guangxi, carried out case investigations and research on the development and utilization of traditional knowledge related to genetic resources of five ethnic minorities in Guangxi Zhuang, including Zhuang, Yao, Maonan, Mulao and Jing ethnic groups.

The establishment of a database for biogenetic resources and their related traditional knowledge in Guangxi, together with the Survey on the Status Quo of Biogenetic Resources and Their Development and Utilization in Guangxi and the Management Requirements, Guangxi Traditional Knowledge Case Study Report and Guangxi Traditional Knowledge Cataloging Report.

The provision of scientific guidance is required for the proper protection, development, utilization and sharing of biogenetic resources in Guangxi.

Promote the implementation of benefit-sharing policy

On September 24, 2021, with the consent of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Measures for the Administration of Access to Biological Genetic Resources and Related Traditional Knowledge and Benefit Sharing (for Trial Implementation) was promulgated and implemented by the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which becomes the first provincial regulation on access to biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing in China.

Access to biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing in Guangxi have been standardized and legalized.

The consent of governmental bodies and local communities are necessary to ensure success.

Improve the construction of the access and benefit-sharing system for biogenetic resources

Guangxi establishes a cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation mechanism and a stakeholder coordination mechanism. A management mechanism for access and benefit sharing of biogenetic resources is established under the comprehensive governance of the department in charge of ecology and environment and the supervision of the departments related to development and reform, agriculture and rural areas, forestry, etc. The project management is carried out at the provincial, municipal, and county levels so joint efforts can be made in ensuring the access and benefit-sharing of biological heritage resources.

Experts from 31 universities, research institutes, and other relevant units, such as Minzu University of China, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Guangxi University, were hired to form a provincial technical expert team to provide consultation and technical support for the access and benefit-sharing of biogenetic resources in Guangxi.

It is necessary to improve the construction of the access and benefit-sharing system for biogenetic resources.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

National

Oceania

Devil’s Advocates: Helping Tasmanian Devils Stay Ahead of a Devastating Disease

Mina

Adabag

North and Central Asia

Developing and Implementing the National Framework on Access to and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge

Andrea

Egan

Improve the construction of the access and benefit-sharing system for biogenetic resources

Promote the implementation of benefit-sharing policy

Conduct a baseline survey on biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge

Protect biogenetic resources and related traditional knowledge

Promote benefit-sharing between enterprises and local communities/residents

Holding activities to build capability and improve awareness

Collaborative and Comprehensive Training

WAB-Net brings together stakeholders from diverse sectors and backgrounds to participate in uniquely detailed and thorough capacity-building and hands-on trainings. Field teams consisting of ecologists, government officials representing health and environmental ministries, and students and academic faculty are trained to carry out research while keeping themselves and the bats safe. A bat ecologist will spend several weeks each year in the field teaching the team how to capture, handle, sample, and release bats with biosafety considerations woven throughout each step.

A bat ecologist familiar with the unique aspects of the taxonomic group and biosafety practices works in collaboration with regional project partners to design standardized field protocols and subsequently implements the field trainings in each country. This uniquely hands-on approach to training field teams ensures the standardization of field protocols across cultures and disciplines in the region.

WAB-Net serves as the central coordination point for these trainings across the Western Asia region. There is a wide diversity of stakeholders participating, including in their backgrounds and areas of expertise. WAB-Net facilitators learn from the individuals they’re training, creating more culturally relevant lessons. By bringing lessons from one country to another, WAB-Net can enable conversations and collaboration over areas of shared interest, furthering partnerships that would have otherwise been politically difficult to build.

One Health Proactive Approach

WAB-Net takes a One Health approach in conducting collaborative research and training programs in West Asia, bringing regional expertise that are otherwise siloed in sectors of human, animal, and environmental health. Samples taken from bats across the region are screened for known and novel coronaviruses; human behaviors that could present a spillover risk are identified. WAB-Net serves as the unifying point of virology, bat ecology, and public health initiatives in the region. By coordinating conversations between experts in diverse fields of study, opportunities for novel research questions, more comprehensive agendas, and better-informed policy recommendations are created and implemented.

EcoHealth Alliance, with experts on global One Health research and policy, serves as WAB-Net’s facilitators and instills a One Health lens on all of its work. Previous experience with bringing together experts from diverse fields and finding commonalities across topics enables them to effectively carry out multi-disciplinary endeavors in a politically volatile region.

As demonstrated by the COVID-19 global crisis, mitigation efforts after a spillover event occurs often are more costly to both public health and the global economies. A proactive approach to pandemic prevention is made possible through WAB-Net’s work of monitoring both potentially zoonotic viruses in bat populations and human behavior. WAB-Net’s focus on both research objectives and training efforts enhances biosafety throughout all steps of the research process. The collaborative nature of the One Health approach creates more comprehensive and effective recommendations for public health, conservation efforts, and disease management.