The access and use of natural resources in the Region for scientific purposes will be now subject to an innovative legal scheme, whose proposal, presented by the Regional Government, was unanimously approved at Regional Parliament on Tuesday.

When presenting the document, the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures explained that the initiative, which follows the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol signed in late 2010, aims to "safeguard the natural and genetic heritage" of the Azores, so that it can "bring benefits to the Region."

According to the government official, this legislation is intended to establish in the regional law, "a set of rules and parameters to protect our resources from any location whenever there is a transfer of heritage to a place outside the Region."

For José Contente, is not acceptable that a researcher visiting the Azores takes a sample from Furnas hot springs, storing it in a simple test tube, and then uses this sample in a research and development activity conducted in a business context that generates added value to these countries, but not to the archipelago.

"This situation has happened and it is obvious that it still happens elsewhere," said the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructure.

The government official further explained that this legislation, which has not been implemented at a national level yet, only concerns the collection of the aforementioned scientific samples. It is not related to the use of other tools used in the exploration of mineral resources or natural resources on a large scale, for which there is other type of legislation."

In order to safeguard the archipelago's natural and genetic heritage, this legal document stipulates "a set of rules, prior authorisations and certificates of compliance" for the mutual sharing of resources and knowledge from the samples collected in the Azores.

The Regional Secretary also said that, under this legislation, the Region will produce its own labels to certify scientific samples leaving the archipelago. This measure will prevent, for example, the selling of fossils from Santa Maria in Lisbon.