Biodiversity Uses, Value and Linkages with Intellectual Property Rights

Our country represents one of the richest biodiversity Nation. Unfortunately, with the advent of area development projects and the related activities, this diversity declining at a fast pace. The extinction of many animals from the forest/grazing lands has further added to the fragility of ecosystem and erosion of biodiversity. However, in spite of biotic pressures like overgrazing, deforestation etc, this rich biodiversity is still visible in the remote and tribal areas.Uses and values of biodiversity - Indigenous knowledge of biodiversity, information about its usage and values considered one of the Intellectual properties. Plant species provide a variety of products like food, medicines and raw materials. Some plant extracts are used in the manufacture of glue, soaps, cosmetics, dyes, lubricants and polishes. The plants also provide an important source of renewable energy. Indigenous knowledge about biodiversity is important to humanity. This has been advocated during the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. There is uncertain status of the indigenous knowledge that reflects many generations of experience and problem solving by thousands of ethnic groups across the world. A fraction of such valuable information has been recorded so far. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) in biodiversity become part of the economic and policy landscape. This paper will assess the linkages between biodiversity and intellectual property rights (IPRs). The urgent need to ensure the conservation of biological diversity is now widely recognized, but practical measures to protect endangered species and habitats are still small-scale and generally limited to developed countries. This volume offers a detailed analysis of the economic and scientific rationales for biodiversity conservation. It discusses the justification for, and implementation of intellectual property rights regimes as incentive systems to encourage conservation