Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Diversity and sustainability: evolution, information and institutions
- Part A Plant communities and the generation of information
- Part B The value of plant-generated information in Pharmaceuticals
- Part C The institutions for regulating information from diversity
- Part D The importance of cultural diversity in biodiversity conservation
- 9 Medicinal plants, indigenous medicine and conservation of biodiversity in Ghana
- 10 Biodiversity and the conservation of medicinal plants: issues from the perspective of the developing world
- Index
10 - Biodiversity and the conservation of medicinal plants: issues from the perspective of the developing world
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Diversity and sustainability: evolution, information and institutions
- Part A Plant communities and the generation of information
- Part B The value of plant-generated information in Pharmaceuticals
- Part C The institutions for regulating information from diversity
- Part D The importance of cultural diversity in biodiversity conservation
- 9 Medicinal plants, indigenous medicine and conservation of biodiversity in Ghana
- 10 Biodiversity and the conservation of medicinal plants: issues from the perspective of the developing world
- Index
Summary
Introduction
In recent years, genetic resources have increasingly been brought under the spell of intellectual property rights, as conceived in the industrialised countries. The unique property regimes enjoyed by traditional communities in many developing countries have been sidelined in favour of Western-derived patent systems. With a widening interest in medicinal biodiversity, the developing countries are likely to derive little or no benefits from their biotic heritage after years of conservation. The recent case of endod, derived from an Ethiopian plant, now being patented by an American university to control zebra mussels, dramatically illustrates the lopsidedness of existing patent regime vis-à-vis the genetic resources conserved in developing countries.
This chapter will focus on two main issues. First, I address the place of medicinal biodiversity in the folk cultures of some communities in the developing countries. In this context, I will provide a review of the conservation efforts made by some countries that have recognised the significance of medicinal biota.
Second, I will explore the impact of uniform patent protection on biodiversity conservation in developing countries. The pressure by industrialised countries to make intellectual property regimes uniform is likely to undermine conservation efforts directed at biodiversity in general. The new diplomatic moves stem from the growing recognition of medicinal biodiversity as vital resources for therapeutic clues.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity ConservationAn Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Values of Medicinal Plants, pp. 232 - 253Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995
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