20/09/2025
Highlights of the : Biodiversity Monitoring Tool/BioMoT (plenary) - A species and market intelligence tool for public and private use supporting the SA biotrade sector
The tool was presented by Paul Oldham from One World Analytics and then first the private sector represented by Cyril Lombard and then the public sector represented by Neil Crouch from SANBI for the public sector ´both confirmed the utility of this tool. Some reflections on the users and costs of this tool rounded up this very interesting session.
Regional biotrade collaboration (marula) - Growing Southern Africa’s Marula
Industry through regional collaboration, sector development planning, geographical indication advancements, and market access with European Union (EU) Novel Food application.
In this session, all focused on Marula, Dr. Charlene Musiza and Cyril Lombard reflected on the compilation of a regional geographical indication dossier according to EU regulations on Novel Food, which, as Amanda Nyingwa from the AbioSA project presented, is part of the sector development plan and of the third phase of the AbioSA project. An animated discussion under the form of a fireplace talk included several participants to discuss specific aspects, such as the challenges of a regional approach for guaranteeing quality and considering costs and timeframes for registering procedures, as well as crucial aspects such as how the market will then be shared while guaranteeing benefit sharing for knowledge holders.