From 6 - 10 July, 2009, in the Nature Protection Academy of the Federal Office for Nature Protection on the Island of Vilm, experts and advocates of indigenous populations will discuss what a future agreement on access and benefit sharing of biological resources (ABS) could look like.

The Conference of Parties to the <link http: en.wikipedia.org wiki convention_on_biological_diversity external-link-new-window external link in new>Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), in May last year, in Bonn, set a deadline of 2010 for the establishment of an internationally binding regulation under the CBD covering the access to and just benefit sharing of natural resources.

The expert meeting in July will seek to develop recommendations, such as how the just distribution of profits arising from the use of traditional knowledge can be better considered in a future ABS regime.

The meeting will also give representatives of indigenous groups the opportunity to prepare their content and position for the upcoming negotiations in November 2009, in Montreal when the next meeting of the ABS working groups occurs.

Source: <link http: www.bmu.de pressemitteilungen aktuelle_pressemitteilungen pm external-link-new-window external link in new>German Ministry of Environment