Already an icon of marine conservation known across the globe, the coelacanth has come to represent a tangible evolutionary link to the past and, through its extraordinary survival as a species, a door to the future.

The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., USA, is currently developing a new marine hall which is scheduled to open in 2008. This will be the largest exhibit on ocean science in the world and, in terms of a Memorandum of Agreement drawn up between the Smithsonian Institution and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), will include an exhibit that features an African coelacanth specimen on loan from the National Fish Collection housed at SAIAB. It will also provide an insight into the coelacanth’s environment and the contributions made by SAIAB’s flagship programme, the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP), towards research that will promote sustainable development on the eastern seaboard of Africa and responsible management of marine resources in the Western Indian Ocean. Currently the museum has 5 million visitors a year and the planned display will represent research in Africa to a large and diverse global audience.

SAIAB has a long-standing association with the Smithsonian Institution. During 2005, Dr Tony Ribbink, Manager of the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP) was hosted by the Institution. In return, in September 2005, ACEP hosted a visit to Grahamstown and SAIAB by Dr Leonard Hirsch, Senior Policy Advisor at the Smithsonian Institution and an intellectual leader in the development of global policy to regulate complex issues associated with bio-prospecting. His responsibilities include articulation and support of the scientific programmes of the Smithsonian with emphasis on global environmental concerns. Dr Hirsch is of the opinion that conservation of and scientific research into global biodiversity is suffering from nations’ “hyper-ownership” of biological specimens. A highlight of Dr Hirsch’s visit to SAIAB was a lecture he presented titled “Bio-piracy, bio-paranoia and the politics of sustainable development” at SAIAB. Dr Hirsch indicated that he was thrilled by the discussions he had at SAIAB and is pleased with the potential for long-term collaboration between the two institutions. The Memorandum of Agreement for the loan of the coelacanth specimen for the new marine display at the NMNH is testimony to this.