Biodiversity And The Law: Intellectural Property, Biotechnology And Traditional Knowledge

How do we promote global economic development while simultaneously preserving local biological and cultural diversity? This authoritative volume, written by leading biological and social scientists and legal experts from around the world, addresses this question in all of its complexity.The first part of the book examines biodiversity and examines what are we losing, why we are losing it and what is to be done. The second part addresses biotechnology and looks at whether it is part of the solution or part of the problem-or perhaps both. The third section examines traditional knowledge, explains what it is and how, if at all, should it be protected. The fourth and final part looks at ethnobotany and bioprospecting and offers practical lessons from the vast and diverse experiences of the contributors.This volume is an indispensable reference for all legal practitioners, regulators and policy makers, scientists and conservationists and professionals in pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.