Can prior informed consent create virtuous cycle between biodiversity conservation and genetic resources utilization?

This study attempted to predict the effectiveness of prior informed consent (PIC) as a mechanism under the Nagoya Protocol (NP) through the case of Japan, a developed country with a wealth of genetic biodiversity. The NP to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims at creating a virtuous cycle between biodiversity conservation and the utilization of genetic resources through fair and equitable benefit sharing. As PIC is a crucial component of the NP for promoting fair and equitable sharing, this study investigated whether introducing PIC creates a virtuous cycle. Considering the limitations of empirical data, this study adopted a policy Delphi comprising experts in an iterative group communication process that used consecutive questionnaires to reveal diverse issues as input for policymaking. We identified six related issues that were evaluated for the case of introduction and three for the case of no introduction of PIC. Their relative importance as a policy concern was measured through best-worst scaling to narrow down policy-relevant issues. This study revealed that contrary to the NP's intent, the overall contribution to the virtuous cycle is limited. In designing PIC mechanisms, policymakers must pay particular attention to bequest and research and development. This study identified three paths through which the negative impacts on research and development further negatively affect bequest, that is, slackening the identification of important genetic resources and ecosystems to conserve, disincentivizing biodiversity conservation for genetic resource use, and dampening ex-situ conservation efforts.

Ecological features benefiting sustainable harvesters in socio-ecological systems: a case study of Swiftlets in Malaysia.

A major challenge in biodiversity management is overharvesting by unsustainable harvesters. If a scenario could be created where sustainable harvesters benefit more than the unsustainable ones, even in the short term, the issue of overharvesting would be solved. Everyone would then follow the lead of sustainable harvesters. However, creating such a scenario is not an easy task; the difficulty is intensified if the habitat is open access and there is no property rights system. Swiftlets in Sarawak, Malaysia, present a special case where sustainable harvesters are believed to be more beneficial than unsustainable harvesters. Edible nests built by adult Swiftlets are used as ingredients for a traditional luxurious soup in Chinese cuisine. A rise in nest prices has increased the instances of unsustainable harvesters wrongfully collecting nests along with the eggs and fledglings, which are then abandoned. Swiftlets live in caves and build nests on cave ceilings. It is known that Swiftlets escape from cave ceilings when these harvesters take the nests, never to return to the same place. This ecological feature appears to work as the Swiftlet's indirect punishment against unsustainable harvesters. This study constructs a stage-structured population model and examines the effect of property rights and the indirect punishment by Swiftlets on the population dynamics of the bird, and on the economic return of both sustainable and unsustainable harvesters. Our findings are as follows: the indirect punishment by Swiftlets provides sustainable harvesters a higher short-term return than unsustainable harvesters under the property rights system, as long as Swiftlets return to their original cave after escaping from the unsustainable harvesters. While previous studies regarding the management of the commons have stressed the importance of rules and regulations for sustainable harvesting without considering the ecological uniqueness of each species, this study suggests that ecological exploration and the discovery of ecological features are also essential for designing a sustainable framework.