In Brief

KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE LAUNCHES CLAIM AGAINST PROCTER & GAMBLE

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has launched a claim against Procter & Gamble and the biotechnology firm Genecor International for a share of the profits acquired from enzymes extracted in Kenya. During a 1998 research mission by scientists from Genecor and the University of Leicester, research samples from the soda flats of Lake Bogoria, Kenya, were taken without the approval of the KWS. Genecor later found the samples to contain valuable extremophiles, so called because of their ability to thrive in extreme conditions. Genecor cloned the highly alkaline enzymes and later sold them to Procter & Gamble, who went on to use them as a key ingredient in Tide Alternative Bleach Detergent and "stonewashing" material. KWS has enlisted the scientific support of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) and legal assistance from the Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors (PIIPA) in launching the claim under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD affirms the sovereign rights of signatories over the biological resources found on their territories and commits parties to "fair, equitable sharing of the benefits accruing from the utilisation of genetic resources". The claim could involve millions of dollars and could also put a halt to the illegal extraction of the country's biological resources.

"KWS Seeks Millions from Procter & Gamble," EAST AFRICAN, 23 August 2004; "Extremophiles: they like it hot, cold, salty, and acid," EAST AFRICAN, 23 August 2004; "Kenya to Sue Two US Companies," NATION, 26 August 2004.

EXPANSION OF SOYBEAN CULTIVATION THREATENS ENVIRONMENT - REPORT

The expansion of soybean cultivation threatens to destroy almost 22 million hectares of forest and savannah in South America by 2020, a WWF study reports. The high demand for soybeans in the EU and China -- where soybeans are used to feed pigs, chickens and cattle -- has nearly doubled production in the past 10 years in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. This expansion further increases the threat to the Atlantic Forest in South Brazil, which nearly disappeared in the 1970s and '80s. Also threatened are millions of hectares of Argentine's Chaco and Brazil's Cerrado savannahs as they are quickly converted into soy plantations. WWF expects the demand for soy to increase by 60 percent in the next 20 years, which would mean the destruction of an additional 16 million hectares of savannah and 6 million hectares of tropical forest. The report suggests that this expansion could be reduced to 3.7 million hectares by growing soy on existing pastures and alternating soybean cultivation with cattle ranching, stressing that for such an initiative to work, soy producers, investors, buyers and regulators should support, adopt and promote more sustainable practices.

"Soy Boom: Doom or Boon for South America's Forests and Savannah," WWF, 3 September 2004; "South American Soya Explosion Threatens Forests," REUTERS, 6 September 2004.

BRAZIL MAPS COFFEE GENOME, HOPES TO CUT COSTS AND IMPROVE QUALITY

After two years of research, Brazil -- the world's largest coffee producer -- has cracked the code and created the first DNA map of the coffee plant. The success of the Coffee Genome Project is expected to help reduce production costs and create bigger beans with a richer flavour. Experts say that genetically engineered plants could double coffee production per hectare, enabling Brazil to reduce production costs by 20 percent. The DNA map contains information on the 200,000 DNA sequences and 35,000 genes that create different aromas and caffeine levels in coffee beans. Armed with such information, Brazil intends to increase production of gourmet, organic and new caffeine-free beans within two years. Initially only six Brazilian public institutions will have access to the genome database. After five or six years, the private sector and possibly foreign companies will be able to access the database.

Lowering the production costs through DNA mapping may also help coffee producing countries such as Brazil to better confront the current coffee crisis. While the coffee industry in developed countries has prospered in recent years, today's rock bottom prices are causing hardship in countries where coffee is a key economic activity. While the value of retail sales of coffee, largely in industrialised countries, has increased from US$ 30 billion to 70 billion over the last decade, earnings by coffee producing countries fell from US$ 10-12 billion to 5.5 billion. Prices on world markets, which averaged around 120 US cents/lb in the 1980s, are now around 50 cents, the lowest in real terms for 100 years.

"Brazil Maps Coffee Genome to Create 'Super Beans'," REUTERS, 12 August 2004; "Brewing Better Coffee with DNA," AP, 11 August 2004; "Coffee Crisis," ICO, September 2004.

CITES GRANTS CAVIAR LICENSES TO BLACK SEA COUNTRIES

On 7 September officials from the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) published 2004 caviar export quotas for a number of Black Sea countries. Contrary to news coverage that suggested otherwise, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia and Montenegro were all granted licences to export caviar from sturgeon stocks monitored by CITES. CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers said that it was "encouraging that these sturgeon range States have collaborated successfully in order to comply with the conservation requirements that governments must now meet before they can obtain their annual quotas". A number of other shared sturgeon basins, including the Caspian Sea, the Great Lakes of North America, the Azov Sea and the Amour River, have yet to supply the required conservation information and thus have not received 2004 export licences from CITES. Lisa Speer, senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council and spokesperson for Caviar Emptor, a coalition of three organisations seeking to protect and restore endangered Caspian Sea sturgeon, said the coalition was "very concerned that critically needed long-term conservation measures have yet to be implemented in the Caspian region". In November 2002, the member governments of CITES developed a list of conservation measures that now apply to all of the world's sturgeons and the Caspian states were granted quotas under these measures for both 2002 and 2003 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 2 April 2004).

"CITES authorizes sturgeon export quotas for the Black Sea," CITES, 7 September 2004; "Caviar Faces a Ban," NYT, 1 September 2004; "U.N. agency says nations need to improve conservation," MSNBC, 1 September 2004; "Wildlife Officials Shut Down Global Caviar Trade," CAVIAR EMPTOR RELEASE, 1 September 2004.