BDCP Second International Congress on
"the Utilization of Tropical Plants and
the Conservation of Biodiversity."

DOUALA, CAMEROON OCTOBER 23-27,,1995

Preamble:

The Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) organized its Second International Congress in Douala on October 23-27, 1995 with the theme: Utilization of Tropical Plants and the Conservation of Biodiversity. Prior to this congress, a training course on Ethnobiology and Field Taxonomy was organized in Limbe, Cameroon on October 16-23, 1995 for field personnel. On the first day of the Congress, a meeting of the African Scientific Cooperation on Phytomedicine and Aromatic Plants (ASCOPAP) was held.

The opening ceremony of the congress was performed by the representative of the Governor of the Littoral Province of Cameroon which has Douala as its headquarter. The key note address was presented by Dr. Tom Carlson on behalf of the President of Shaman Pharmaceuticals, Lisa Conte. Present at this ceremony were: The Paramount Traditional Ruler of the Canton of Deido, Douala; Director of BDCP, Prof. Maurice Iwu; President of BDCP-Cameroon, Prof. Johnson Jato; Members of BDCP-Cameroon; Delegates from South Africa, Guinea Conakry, Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Gabon, Tanzania and Cameroon; Representative of various government and private organizations in United States of America, Cameroon and Nigeria notably: Shaman Pharmaceuticals, National Cancer Institute, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Forgaty International Center of National Institute of Health, Bastyr University, Healing Forest Conservancy, Micro-Development Corps, Plantecam, Limbe Botanical Garden and West African Pharmaceutical Federation.

After a lively and enriching debate in five scientific sessions from October 24-26, 1995 covering various aspects of the theme of the congress, the conference participants came up with the following resolutions concerning the future action of all partners in the development and conservation of biodiversity.

Resolutions
- Considering our unquestionable obligation to future generations to conserve and develop biodiversity in a manner that is harmonious with the needs of the riverain populations; - Considering the need to discover and develop pharmaceutical products from natural sources and to promote sustained economic activity in developing countries;
- Considering the need to maintain the biodiversity where it exists and to seek to recreate one where it has already been lost;
- Considering the recurrent phenomenon of the loss of biomedical information on our medicinal plants and a long lapse of time between the dispatch of samples to foreign laboratories and the receipt of partial results of the analysis of these plants; - Considering the acceleration of the depletion of our biological resources especially in the rainforest and tropical savannas and the total disregard for the cultural, spiritual, psychological, social and economic needs of the inhabitants of those areas; - Considering the fact that plant pest control can Often be achieved by appropriate exploitation of biodiversity in agriculture; - Considering that foreign expertise and capabilities should supplement rather than replace or control local expertise in the development of African countries;
- Considering that three quarters of the whole worlds population still depends almost exclusively on traditional medicine for primary health care; - Considering the low sensitivity to biodiversity conservation and development issues among our population;
- Considering the lack of understanding on the part of governments and their institutions, international/ bilateral institutions and governmental organizations, the private sector and pharmaceutical companies on the need to conserve and develop in a sustainable manner, the local environment.

The congress participants hereby resolve to call on, the following partners in biodiversity conservation and development to play the following specific roles:

1. GOVERNMENTS AND GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

-Create an enabling environment to facilitate the conservation and development of biodiversity and on-the-spot extraction of active medicinal compounds from plants;
-Environmental assessment should be done for arrears of high biodiversity to be conserved;
-Develop and implement an appropriate policy for the agricultural development of plants which have been identified as containing important medicinal compounds and whose principal natural sources are either insufficient or endangered;
-Stabilize appointments to posts of responsibility in scientific fields to allow time for sustainable development policies to be designed, implemented and impacts tested;
-Create Scientific Consultative Committees to inform and advise them on important policy issues relevant to Biodiversity development and conservation;
-Set up control mechanism;
-Open faculties of Pharmacy with specialization on pharmacognosy in Universities where they are lacking to study and develop our medicinal plants on the spot;
- Create one stop center for obligation of authorizations to carry out sustainable development of biodiversity related scientific work; -Train more plant taxonomists and provide them with the means to carry out their work;
-Organic farming should be encouraged to reduce the negative environmental impact of inorganic application;
-Set up a control mechanism to ensure that results of sample analysis by foreign collaborating scientists be forwarded to source countries. -Research results should not be communicated to pharmaceutical industries without the prior consent of the source country;
-Land tenure systems should be streamlined in a manner that facilitates Biodiversity conservation and development while respecting the village community ideas;
-National Income accounting systems should reflect the renewable natural resources. -African governments should create the environment for adding value to natural products before exports. Provide the ethnomedical information produce a phytomedicine catalogue, encourage companies to undertake local processing and refining.

2. INTERNATIONAL/ BILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

-Encourage private initiative in terms of research; -African bilateral NGO's to avoid competition among themselves;
-To continue appreciating the value of workshops, training, seminars and conferences;
-Communicate International policies to local people.

3. PRIVATE SECTORS IN GENERAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES IN PARTICULAR

-Respect their obligations towards local communities and the government; -Make adequate compensation to areas where there has been destruction of biodiversity and forestry products;
-Promote the sustainable exploitation of medicinal plants;
-Finance research, training, regeneration and sustainable management activities in biodiversity conservation.

4. BDCP

-Use international conventions to which governments have already subscribed to bring pressure to bear on them to play a more active role in Biodiversity development and conservation;
-Use all available means to close up the existing gap between the government, the private sector and the village community;
-Maintain closer collaboration among scientists in the field of biodiversity conservation and the inclusion of collaborating traditional doctors in property rights documents; -Involve representatives of village communities in ,BDCP activities and creating a forum to have their voices heard;
-Propose a standard model of compensation for indigenous knowledge on a short and long term basis. Here the local people should be dealt with directly in terms of infrastructure and services for local community is preferable; -Lay stress on the use of microbes in the development of medicine; -Studies on ethno-veterinary medicine should be emphasized;
-Inventory of endangered useful plants should be undertaken and key plants protected through the establishment of herbaria in local areas-Draw up an organizational structure that is more functional, having a plan of action with priority areas or activities;
-Come up with an expansionist strategy and assisting other African countries in creating branches of BDCP.

Biological Resources is published monthly by The Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme. The information contained here is intended to contribute to the development of an integrated approach to biological resources management in which human needs and habitat conservation can both be accomodated.

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