What do Indonesia and SunPatiens Have in Common?

Chris Beytes

SunPatiens come from Indonesia! Well, that’s not exactly accurate; the plant species Sakata used to breed SunPatiens came from Indonesia. And to make sure more cool SunPatiens come to market, the Indonesian government has formally agreed that Sakata may continue to use “indigenous genetic resources” from the country, following the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Now, Sakata and Indonesia have had a basic agreement since the early 2000s; SunPatiens was launched in 2006. Sakata has been paying royalties to Indonesia. With the updated agreement, both parties will implement a joint research project to develop even better cooperative structures “for the utilization of genetic resources and the conservation and utilization of biological diversity as an irreplaceable heritage of humankind.”

For a little background, the CBD was set up to encourage conservation, to develop a method for sustainable development of biological resources, and to require sharing benefits from developing those resources. It also, in blunt terms, helps discourage the looting of natural flora of plant-rich countries such as Indonesia. CBD is an international consensus on how those resources should be explored, utilized and preserved.

South Africa is a good example of a developing country that’s plant-rich. GrowerTalks friend and CBD expert Dr. Brian Corr tells us that we can thank South Africa for gerbera, gazania, gladiolus, sutera, osteospermum, pelargonium, protea, strelitzia, agapanthus, plectranthus and many more.

The U.S. signed but did not ratify the CBD. But any U.S. company that wants to source genetic material from a country that HAS signed the CBD needs to abide by the rules—such as Ball Horticultural, which has had a long-standing agreement with South Africa. That’s how the popular Mona Lavender Plectranthus came about. GT