Access and use

Access and use of CWR

There is overlap between the Nagoya protocol, which applies to wild species, and the ITPGRFA, which is applicable to most crops (and their wild relatives). Where this happens, ITPGRFA takes precedence and it is the procedures of the Treaty that need to be followed. For CWR taxa not included in Annex 1 of the multilateral system of the ITPGRFA, the Nagoya protocol applies unless the contracting party has decided otherwise (Figure 12).

The resource owners within the genetic reserve are crucial and should be fully recognized. For instance, the landowners will normally also be the owners of the plants growing on the land, especially if they are wild plants. Unless the ownership and use of all CWR plants growing in the wild has been nationalized by the law of their ‘resident’ country, the international treaties do not change the normal rule that they (and their plant material components, etc.) are likely to be owned by the landowner on whose land they are growing.

Depending on the nature of the genetic resource (i.e., seeds vs clonal material) and the particularities of each country, users may have an easier access toin situ genetic resources from the backup placed in their partner ex situ gene banks. This way, gene banks that are familiar with ITPGRFA or Nagoya protocol procedures, can facilitate user accesses (Maxted et al., 2020).

Locally the materials held in the reserve may have traditionally been used in construction, craft, adornment or food. This form of traditional utilisation of the reserve by local people should be encouraged, providing it is sustainable and not deleterious to the target taxon or taxa, as it is essential to have local support for conservation actions if the reserve is to be sustainable in the medium to long-term (Maxted et al., 2020)