[Kabar-indonesia] Asahi Shimbun in Lombok: Sharing the fruits of developing world's resources

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Asahi Shimbun/Asahi Evening News
Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Sharing the fruits of developing world's living resources

LOMBOK ISLAND, Indonesia -- Most people are drawn to this 
beautiful island resort east of Bali by its endless stretches 
of white sandy beach and blue ocean.

But for a group of researchers who regathered here in July, 
Lombok's attraction isn't the scenery--it's the mold

Armed with shovels, magnifying glasses and insect repellent, the team
painstakingly examined the soil on a hill near the sea looking for
samples that might yield life-saving bacteria

Among them is Katsuhiko Ando, a researcher of the Department of
Biotechnology at the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation
(NITE) in Tokyo, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry. In cooperation with Indonesian
researchers, Ando and other NITE staff have collected soil and sand
from more than half a dozen rice paddies and palm fields in the area

NITE researcher Tomohiko Tamura took a whiff of a shovelful of soil
with satisfaction. "I can smell Actinomycetes," he said, referring to
a kind of bacteria

Just as the breakthrough antibiotic Penicillin was discovered from
blue mold, so other mold and bacteria that are beneficial to our lives
could still be hiding in the ground. The researchers combing the world
looking to find them are known as the "microorganism-hunters." "It is
said that the mankind has discovered 80,000 kinds of mold. Still, they
account for only about 10 percent of all mold that exist on the
Earth," Ando said. It is said that less than 1 percent of all the
bacteria on Earth has so far been discovered. Southeast Asia, with its
rich ecosystem, is believed to be the most promising place for
exploration

However, removing biological resources from their country of
origin--even for research purposes--is frowned on as "biopiracy." In
1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity took effect, asserting
the property rights of countries to living resources discovered inside
their borders. Before the convention, rich countries often took living
resources they discovered from poor countries

As the principals underpinning the convention become more widely
accepted, organizations, such as pharmaceutical companies, which take
living resources from developing countries increasingly return some
share of their profits to the countries to be spent for protecting the
ecosystem. NITE makes contracts with the governments of foreign
countries which permit Japanese companies and research institutes
working to develop new medicines to collect microorganism samples

It took five years for NITE to conclude its first contract with
Indonesia in 2003

"The principal purpose of our research project with NITE is to
discover hidden potential of Indonesia, which has biological
resources," said Bambang Prasetya, a bureau chief of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, an affiliate of the Indonesian government

The contract promises benefits for both Indonesia and Japan. It
includes fees to Indonesia for using samples and a lump-sum payment if
the resources are successfully commercialized

According to the contract, Japanese researchers must share their
know-how on collecting and handling microorganisms with Indonesian
colleagues

Yantyati Widyastuti, who has worked on the project as leader of the
institute team, praised the good relationship Indonesia is enjoying
with Japan

"We have actually succeeded in discovering a new microorganism.
Through that experience, we (Japanese and Indonesian researchers) have
united as one powerful team. We have also started to hire young
researchers," she said

The contract was renewed this year, and Indonesia lifted a quota on
how many samples Japanese researchers can take back to Japan

"Many local people (in Indonesia) are still unaware of the importance
of protecting the ecosystem. We want to tell them about the importance
through our Indonesian counterparts with whom we have established
trusting relationships," said another NITE researcher, Park Ju Young

Recently, NITE has made similar contracts with other countries such as
Vietnam and Mongolia

"It is difficult but important to form a win-win framework for both of
home countries of living resources and resource users," said Koki
Horikoshi, head of the Extremobiosphere Research Center of the Japan
Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. "Once such an
agreement is made, people concerned should work on preserving
microorganisms entirely, including those thought to be useless at this
moment.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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