Call to protect traditional skills

One of the priorities of 'mega-diverse countries' should be to evolve effective mechanisms for developing legal instruments that will ensure regulated access and a benefit-sharing regime in the traditional knowledge sector so that illegal access and transfer of genetic resources by organisations/ individuals with vested interests can be prevented. This was pointed out in a paper 'common approaches to access to and benefit sharing of genetic resources and associated knowledge - some examples from India,' co-authored by P. Pushpangadan and K. Narayanan Nair from the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, presented at a recent conference on streamlining India's traditional knowledge.The paper argues that the second priority of such countries should be to build upscience and technology capacity building and human resource development programmes on a regional and national-level for harnessing the wealth of bio-genetic resources and traditional knowledge shared by these countries. In 2002, Ministers of environment and representatives from 13 countries had decided at a conference in Cancun, Mexico, to set up what is called the 'Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMC). Collective efforts of such groups will help countries challenge rising threats of bio-piracy and misappropriation of intellectual property rights of their biodiversity and traditional knowledge systems by power biotechnology lobbies, it concludes.

The Hindu, 7^th July , 2008