During an impressive ceremony hosted by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in Polokwane last week, EcoProducts was one of three companies who were awarded a bioprospecting permit. The permit was handed over to Dr Sarah Venter and two community representatives, Ms Sophiah Nemutshenzheni and Ms Livhuwani Tshivhiyahuvhi by the MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Limpopo Province, Mr Moloto.
The permit means that Sarah and her communities have the blessing of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs for their activities. They are only one of 11 companies who are now compliant with the new legislation on bioprospecting and the utilization of our indigenous biological resources.
The Biodiversity Act which promotes the "fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources". In this way the act is founded on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing which arose from the Convention on Biological Diversity.
