Bioprospecting
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Biopiracy describes a practice in which indigenous knowledge of nature, originating with indigenous peoples, is used by others for profit, without permission from and with little or no compensation or recognition to the indigenous people themselves. For example, when bioprospectors draw on indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants which is later patented by medical companies without recognizing the fact that the knowledge is not new, or invented by the patenter, and depriving the indigenous community to the rights to commercial exploitation of the technology that they themselves had developed. Critics of this practice, such as Greenpeace, claim these practices contribute to inequality between developing countries rich in biodiversity, and developed countries hosting companies that engage in 'biopiracy'.
See also
- Intellectual capital/Intellectual property
- Natural capital
- Biological patent
- Traditional knowledge/indigenous knowledge
- Plant breeders' rights
- Bioethics
- Maya ICBG bioprospecting controversy
- International Cooperative Biodiversity Group
- Biological Diversity Act, 2002
