Status And Potential Of Commercial Bioprospecting Activities In Latin America And The Caribbean

The increasing availability of new scientific and technological tools have enabled new levels of precision and effectiveness in the identification, collection, processing and utilization of novel substances for applications in medical, agricultural or industrial applications. The present report provides an introductory overview of biodiversity prospecting in terms of the principles and practices which have defined it both historically and currently. Discussion is offered regarding the stakeholders and the issues involved in the formulation of national policy, particularly with regard to the implementation of provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity. These include issues of access and benefit sharing, recognition of indigenous knowledge, prior informed consent, intellectual property protection and others.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is exceptionally biodiverse. It contains about half of the world’s remaining tropical forests, nearly one-fifth of its coastal habitats, and some of its most productive agricultural and marine areas. But agriculture, fishing and other human activities linked to rapid population and economic growth increasingly threaten that biodiversity. Moreover, poverty, weak regulatory capacity, and limited political will hamper conservation. Given this dilemma, it is critically important to design conservation strategies on the basis of the best available information about both biodiversity and the track records of the various policies that have been used to protect it. This rigorously researched book has three key aims. It describes the status of biodiversity in LAC, the main threats to this biodiversity, and the drivers of these threats. It identifies the main policies being used to conserve biodiversity and assesses their effectiveness and potential for further implementation. It proposes five specific lines of practical action for conserving LAC biodiversity, based on: green agriculture; strengthening terrestrial protected areas and co-management; improving environmental governance; strengthening coastal and marine resource management; and improving biodiversity data and policy evaluation.

A comprehensive overview of the key factors affecting the development of Latin American economies that examines long-term growth performance, macroeconomic issues, Latin American economies in the global context, technological and agricultural policies, and the evolution of labour markets, the education sector, and social security programmes.

This book offers a fresh look on a variety of issues concerning herbal medicine - the methods of growing and harvesting various medicinal plants; their phytochemical content; medicinal usage; regulatory issues; and mechanism of action against myriad of human and animal ailments. ‘Medicinal Plants: From Farm to Pharmacy’ comprises chapters authored by renowned experts from academics and industry from all over the world. It provides timely, in-depth study/analysis of medicinal plants that are already available in the market as supplements or drug components, while also introducing several traditional herbs with potential medicinal applications from various regions of the world. The book caters to the needs of a diverse group of readers: plant growers, who are looking for ways to enhance the value of their crops by increasing phytochemical content of plant products; biomedical scientists who are studying newer applications for crude herbal extracts or isolated phytochemicals; clinicians and pharmacologists who are studying interactions of herbal compounds with conventional treatment modalities; entrepreneurs who are navigating ways to bring novel herbal supplements to the market; and finally, natural medicine enthusiasts and end-users who want to learn how herbal compounds are produced in nature, how do they work and how are they used in traditional or modern medicine for various disease indications.

From the Foundations in Global Studies series, this text offers students a fresh, comprehensive, multidisciplinary entry point to the study of the social and cultural aspects of global studies. After a brief introduction to global studies, the early chapters of the book survey the key concepts and processes of globalization as well as a critical look at the meaning and role globalization. Students are guided through the material with relevant maps, resource boxes, and text boxes that support and guide further independent exploration of the topics at hand. The second half of the book features interdisciplinary case studies, each of which focuses on a specific issue.

This book critically engages with how the conservation of tropical rainforests is financed. Beginning with the context of tropical deforestation, alongside an overview of tropical ecology, global environmental policy and finance, the book reviews several conservation financing instruments. These include ecotourism and private reserves, debt-for-nature swaps and government domestic budgetary expenditures for state and national parks. Tropical deforestation and forest degradation are serious global environmental issues, contributing to global climate change, species extinction, and threatening the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. Yet, many leading companies, individuals and governments are making a positive impact on tropical forest conservation to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through the use of conservation finance. Conservation of Tropical Rainforests tells the history of international conservation finance and provides a variety of options for individuals, businesses, and governments to support conservation financing projects.

This work is a comprehensive information on the indigenous bioresources of North Eastern India with the scope of bioprospecting for discovery and commercialization of new sources and products and long-term ecological balance. The exploration, conservation and sustainable utilization of bioresources of world’s Megabiodiversity Hotspots are undeniable. North Eastern India is a recognised biodiversity hot spot where the evolutionary forces are at its optimum, making this region as centre of origin for many species. Although little bit exploratory studies have been conducted in this part of the globe but a scientific exploitation of the bioresources is almost lacking. Unscientific exploitation and overexploitation without proper knowledge of the bioresources may lead to imbalanced ecosystem of this mega diversity region. At the same time, very less exploration and exploitation will hamper biodiversity based development. Today, unscientific dramatic changes are underway in this region. Human activities are changing, degrading and destroying the bioresources in an unplanned manner. Scientific bioprospecting of the bioresources will boost the economy while ensuring conservation. This book offers comprehensive information about various levels of bioprospecting of the gene pool of this Indo-Burma Mega Biodiversity Hot Spot, the North East India, which is endowed with huge biodiversity potential for exploration and exploitation for the benefit of humankind. Also, this book highlights the less and merely explored part of the indigenous biodiversity of North East India with explanation towards their better sustainable exploitation for benefit of the people, economy and environment. The novelty of the book lies in expert coverage of the bioresources of this mega-diverse region including plants, microbes, insects etc. with provisions for their sustainable scientific utilization. This book portrays North East India as a melting pot of bioresources which are little explored and also those resources which are still to be explored. The book mainly highlights the bioprospecting approaches for North East Indian bioresources, and thus, it make itself a unique one in filling the knowledge gap that is there regarding the bioprospecting of the biodiversity of this special region on the earth. The book concludes by the ecotourism potential of this region. The target audiences for this book include biodiversity economists who are working on technology and bioresource management issues, and especially on biotechnology and biodiversity, development economists addressing the issues of bioresources in developing countries. These people may be in academia, in government, in non-governmental organizations and in private companies. The other target audiences group is policy scholars in government/public sectors who are interested in issues of biotechnology, IPRs, and biodiversity. In addition, scholars/experts in both development studies and resource management studies form another group of target audiences. Also, the book will be useful for the interaction between developed and developing nations regarding the issues of biodiversity and bioprospecting, as North Eastern India is the hub of Biodiversity.

"Forest Resource Policy in Latin America" gathers the thinking of a score of experts on sustainable use and management of forests, including incentives for investment. The authors tackle the thorny social issues of property rights, deforestation, and forest management and ownership by indigenous people and take a hard look at the trade and environmental issues in forest production that will affect future directions for sustainable forestry development in Latin America. Some argue that the main opportunity to conserve natural forests lies in recognizing and paying for the environmental services they provide. In addition, compensatory measures such as the establishment and better management of strictly protected areas appear to be the best tools to delay the loss of ecosystems and species. Alternative forest concession policies and trade and environmental issues in forest production are also analyzed.