Letter from the Chairman
I recently had the opportunity to call on the Prime Minister of Samoa and the Prime Minister of Tonga as I was passing through the South Pacific. In Samoa, I introduced the Prime Minister to the President and the Scientific Director of the Aids Research Alliance (ARA) of California. ARA has recently licensed Prostratin, from the National Cancer Institute. I was pleased to help the ARA and the Government of Samoa reach an agreement to return benefits from this ethnobotanically-derived drug to Samoa: 20 percent of all of ARA's profits from the drug will be given to the Samoans. Although there are considerable uncertainties in drug development, the ARA and many scientists around the world are enthused at Prostratin's apparent ability to expose hidden virus and to prevent healthy cells from invasion by the virus. Time will only tell if Prostratin will make it through the considerable regulatory hurdles necessary to approve a drug, but if it does, the framework is now in place for returning a significant share of the profits. The Prime Minister was surprised when he learned that the royalty payments would be made even if Prostratin is commercially synthesized and no mamala trees are ever harvested from Samoa. "That's the return on indigenous knowledge," I explained. "I better start asking my grandmother about what remedies she knows," the Prime Minister replied.
My subsequent visit to Tonga, where I met with the Prime Minister and the Director of Agriculture, was similarly positive. To honor the King of Tonga's personal commitment to protect flying foxes, Seacology has commissioned a granite monument to be placed near the Kolovai flying fox colony. The monument includes a drawing of a Tongan flying fox and a description of the 1996 Seacology Prize which was awarded to His Majesty. As I told the Prime Minister of Seacology's willingness to help build an ecotourism project focused on flying foxes in the Ha'avakatolu-Kolovai area of Tongatapu Island, he thanked me for our effort to build the island's economy, but then said, "Increased tourism revenues would be appreciated, but the major reason to do this is to protect these precious pollinators." Seacology is based on the premise that island peoples and their leaders usually possess the wisdom and the motivation to protect their precious habitats and cultures. Rather than adopt strident approaches, Seacology works with indigenous peoples to achieve solutions that have permanence because they truly reflect local knowledge and sensibilities. This approach appears to be paying off throughout the world.
"Several months ago," Seacology Executive Director Duane Silverstein writes, "I became aware that Mangaia Island has a beautiful and environmentally important lake and that the local village might be willing to sign an agreement to protect the lake in exchange for some benefit provided by Seacology. After two days of very friendly negotiations, which took place in Maori at the village hall, the village chiefs agreed to provide permanent protection of the lake if Seacology would provide them with the funds needed to build a boardwalk, construct signage, etc. It is not only the village chiefs that are excited about this potential development. Everywhere I went on Mangaia I was stopped by people saying, 'Aren't you the guy who has come to help us save our lake? This is the best thing that has happened on this island in 20 years.'"
Thank you for making Seacology's work possible. Thank you for continuing to help to save the world, one island village at a time.
Paul Alan Cox, Chairman
