South Africa

The bodiversity of southern Africa depends on water as does the regional economy. Water flows through every economic sector: agriculture, energy, industry, mining, tourism, and fisheries. However, this vital resource is under threat from environmental degradation due to population growth, poverty, climate change and pollution.

For centuries, genetic resources not protected by Intellectual Property Rights were collected and used without any regulation. They were a free good available for everyone. Huge profits were made but never shared with the custodians of biological diversity. "Access to genetic resources" underscores the importance of informed national approaches to enforce access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing provisions of the Convention on biological diversity.