Intellectual property rights and biodiversity conservation
Tim Swanson editor, 1995.
Hardback. ISBN 0 52147112 5. Cambridge University Press.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has been ratified by more than 130 governments. At the Conference of the Parties held in Jakarta last November, those present called for further information on the links between biodiversity conservation, its sustainable use for the development of natural products, trade, and intellectual property rights (IPR). As many countries develop policies and legislation on access to genetic resources and IPR, this volume is a timely addition to the literature on property rights and biodiversity.
The issues tackled by the book are highly controversial, for while there is growing recognition of the need to address them, political consensus on how to do so remains elusive. Behind the controversy lies considerable difference of opinion over the demand for access to biodiversity for product development, relative values of raw materials and the value added through research and development, the historical basis for access to genetic resources and allocation of benefits to local communities. Opinion is also sharply divided on the role that IPR can or should play in promoting conservation and the sharing of benefits required by the CBD. The volume does not seek to resolve these differences, but presents a range of perspectives by authors involved in natural products chemistry, drug discovery, ethnobotany, economics, legal and institutional analysis of property rights and biodiversity policy.
Many disciplines are involved in the conservation and use of biodiversity, and few readers will be familiar with them all. A major strength of the book lies in the accessible language in which most of the authors describe the issues that they deal with. Non-scientists should have few difficulties understanding the chemical diversity of plants and the pharmaceutical discovery process, explained with admirable clarity by Linda Fellows and Anthony Scofield, and Georg Albers-Shonberg, respectively. Similarly, a scientist unfamiliar with the law and role of property rights will find Ian Walden's chapter a good introduction to the basic principles, explained from the practitioner's perspective.
In relatively few pages, the volume provides the reader with a host of interesting facts and case studies - on plants and the medicines made from them, on the strategies and drug discovery programmes of companies, on cases in which the legal limits of intellectual properly protection were tested, and on indigenous use of plants from Ghana to China and Ethiopia.
Each author presents his or her own interpretation of the challenges of biodiversity conservation and IPR in his field. Consequently, the volume is a collection of individual opinions, with little attempt to place these in context or set out the range of other opinions held on same subjects. For example, mention is made in various chapters of sui generis property rights, for which several proposals have been mooted, but with the exception of informational resource rights (of which more below), examples of these are not elaborated. Since many of the proponents of sui generis property rights find current IPR regimes ethically unacceptable or ineffective in compensating intellectual contributions and internalizing the costs of conservation, examination of the range of proposals could inform the reader of the level of dissatisfaction with the status quo and a broader range of proposals for improving the situation. Again, the authors' views on the role of ethnobotany in drug discovery, and the economic value of plant-based pharmaceuticals reflect only some of the often contradictory opinions held.
The debate on conservation and IPR raises profound issues of ethics, human rights, and the practical and political feasibility and cost effectiveness of policy options. Intergovernmental negotiations and literature on the subject do not always tackle these issues head on. Since they are currently taxing many good minds in government, business, NGOs and academia, it would be optimistic at the very least to expect a slim volume to provide answers to these questions. It could, however, have offered a more penetrating inquiry into the role of IPRs, their relationship to human rights, self-determination and governance, the challenges of partnerships between providers and users of biodiversity, the roles of different sectors of society in moving towards solutions, and the source of finance for conservation if tools such as IPRs and other market mechanisms will only make a modest contribution.
Several of the authors completed their work on the book some time ago, and the period before publication of books of this nature can be relatively long. This poses a problem in fast-moving areas such as biodiversity and intellectual property rights, where the policy situation is developing rapidly and the number of countries, institutions and individuals contributing ideas is constantly growing. Information and suggestions that are just a few months old can already seem out of date. One consequence for this book is that it appears long on interesting factual information, but relatively short on new ideas. An honourable exception is Timothy Swanson's proposal for informational Property Rights - a mechanism to 'appropriate the value of evolution-supplied information' (i.e. create an economic incentive to conserve the useful genetic information contained in plants and other biodiversity) by allocating territories in Northern product markets in exchange for conservation of designated territories in Southern natural habitats. I remain to be persuaded of the efficacy and political acceptability of such a solution, but it is far easier to criticize new ideas than to generate them, and the author deserves credit for his inventiveness and the courage to propose a fundamentally new mechanism.
'Intellectual property rights and biodiversity conservation' is an interesting read. Dr Swanson's introductory chapter, while rather abstract, offers some thought-provoking observations on 'social sustainability' and trends in development in areas such as transport and communications that foster homogeneity rather than diversity. The chapters that follow, from several different disciplines, provide a cross-section of some of the facets of biodiversity conservation and intellectual property rights. For those wishing to grapple with a fascinating but complex set of issues, this volume is a good introduction.
Kerry ten Kate,
Environmental Strategies, Hampshire, GU13 0SS, UK
