STAND. COM. REP. NO.1483

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.C.R. No. 55

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Science, Arts, and Technology, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 55 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BIOPROSPECTING ADVISORY COMMISSION TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE PRESERVATION AND USE OF THE BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES OF THE TRUST LANDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to establish a temporary Bioprospecting Advisory Commission, which will then create a plan to preserve and conserve the natural resources of Hawaii's trust lands.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Maui County Council, the `Ilioulaokalani Coalition, the Waikiki Hawaiian Civic Club, and six concerned citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of the measure was submitted by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and the O`ahu Council of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs. The Pacific Basin Indigenous Expert for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues submitted comments.

Your Committees find that one of Hawaii's most valuable resources is its biodiversity, with 8,850 species in these islands not found anywhere else in the world. The State of Hawaii has a trust obligation to ensure the preservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits of Hawaii's biological resources. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has the statutory responsibility to foster the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians and Hawaiians, and is therefore the correct place to house a commission to study the preservation of Hawaii's natural resources, which will also serve to preserve the Native Hawaiian culture.

Your Committees have amended the resolution to reflect the international policy that Native Hawaiians, as indigenous peoples, have ownership and first rights to natural resources in Hawaii, to create a sharing mechanism for those rights between Native Hawaiians and other Hawaii residents, and to add an expert in indigenous peoples' rights to the commission.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Science, Arts, and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 55, as amended herein, recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 55, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Science, Arts, and Technology,

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DAVID Y. IGE, Chair

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair