World Resources Institute, National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica, Rainforest Alliance, and African Centre for Technology Studies In November 1991, Merck Pharmaceutical Co. announced a landmark agreement to obtain samples of wild plants and animals for drug-screening purposes from Costa Rica's National Biodiversity Institute (INBIO). Spurred by this and other biodiversity prospecting ventures, interest in the commercial value of genetic and biochemical resources is burgeoning. While the Merck-INBIO agreement provides a fascinating example of a private partnership that contributes to rural economic development, biodiversity conservation, and technology transfer, virtually no precedent exists for national policies and legislation to govern and regulate what amounts to a brand new industry. This report is the first to provide systematic guidelines for establishing effective and equitable schemes for biodiversity prospecting. Arguing that biodiversity prospecting ventures won't succeed if they don't promote sustainable development, the authors focus on three institutional elements that will ultimately determine the course of this new industry: organizations, contracts, and national legislation. With detailed chapters on designing institutions to facilitate biodiversity prospecting; biodiversity prospecting contracts; intellectual property rights; research management policies; and science and technology guidelines, this report provides the most comprehensive and strategic analysis to date of what may well be a significant growth industry in the 21st century. 1993 / 340 pages |
| If your country does not appear on the order form list please contact the World Resources full list of Distributors |