TERMS USED IN THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, THE NAGOYA PROTOCOL, THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL & OTHER CONVENTIONS, PROTOCOLS, TREATIES, AGREEMENTS
The Dictionary is destined for researchers, postgraduate students, master’s degree students, students of higher educational institutions, specialists of research and environmental institutions, ministries and other stakeholders.
The Dictionary is published under the UNDP-GEF Project “Strengthening of human resources, legal frameworks and institutional capacities
to implement the Nagoya Protocol in the Republic of Belarus”.
Registration with the Ministry of Economy of March 30, 2018 No. 2/18/000874
PREFACE
Biological diversity, genetic resources, related traditional knowledge and biosafety are intertwined areas associated with the study and preservation of wildlife. Objects of wildlife are used in the production activity, especially in agriculture and for food, scientific research to identify organisms with genetically valuable traits and their use in plant and animal breeding, the pharmacologic and cosmetic industry, and also by the population to secure nutrition and maintain human and animal health, using traditional knowledge every nation strives to preserve.
Natural (genetic) resources and traditional knowledge associated with them provide not only the well-being of people, but also are the backbone for the survival of humanity, safeguarding of civilization and its development. Declined species and ecological systems’ diversity can lead to the destabilization of biota, jeopardizing the integrity of the biosphere and its ability to maintain the essential qualities of the environment necessary to preserve life on Earth.
On 5 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, the countries signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, the objectives of which are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Benefits can be derived by providing access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with them, technology transfer with due regard to such resources and technologies. Thus, the Nagoya Protocol was developed to provide international support to countries with a view of enhanced national legislations, regulating communication across them. Ensuring the conservation of biological diversity in the conditions of intensive development of biotechnologies is also one of the most important tasks the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety was designed to bring into action.
Currently, countries are pooling their efforts to preserve biological diversity under a number of International UN Treaties the texts of which are available in six official working languages of the United Nations (English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French). The UN Secretariat has two working languages: English and French.
The Dictionary is designed to provide a better understanding of the texts of international treaties and any other documents or sources of information relevant to biological diversity, genetic resources, biosafety, biotechnology, traditional knowledge associated genetic resources, natural and cultural heritage or related to the specified areas.