Preface

The conservation of biological diversity in the context of rapid technological change and the commercialization of biological resources raises many fundamental scientific, economic, socio-political and ethical questions.

Most of the world's biological diversity is located in countries of the South. The North and its private industry is increasingly using these countries as reservoirs of biological and genetic resources to develop new products such as crop varieties, drugs, biopesticides, oils and cosmetics. The diversity of the living world - biodiversity - has become the raw material of the new biotechnologies and the object of patent claims.

The Convention on Biological Diversity aims to conserve the variety of genes, species and ecosystems which sustain life on Earth. This internationally legally binding instrument also seeks to facilitate the just and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of biological resources.

However, the negotiations around the Convention have highlighted major differences in interest and priorities among stakeholders. For example, Southern countries demand ready access to the new biotechnologies in compensation for the use of biological resources that originate within their territories. The Northern countries, for their part, insist on the recognition of intellectual property rights for their technologies and payment for genetic products derived from materials they have often obtained from the South. Indigenous peoples and other rural communities are also demanding that their knowledge of the uses of plants and animals, as well as their innovations and intellectual contributions to the maintenance and development of biodiversity, be acknowledged and rewarded. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry is interested in the hereditary characteristics of indigenous peoples: patent claims on cell-lines of indigenous communities from developing countries are pending.

What are the likely impacts of these trends on the self-determination of peoples (and ultimately on human rights); biodiversity conservation; the relationship between science and society; the growth of the biotechnology industry; and development models in the North and the South? Can the conflicting perspectives of different social actors be reconciled' and, if so, under what conditions and with what implications for conservation and development?

The international symposium Patents, Genes and Butterflies offered a lively context in which these important questions and concerns could be discussed and relayed to a wider public by the media. The event was organized jointly by SWISSAID, WWF Switzerland and WWF International and was held on 20-21 October 1994 in Berne, Switzerland. The symposium brought together some of the leading thinkers on these issues as well as policy makers, journalists, industry representatives and grassroot activists engaged in the debate on the uses and abuses of biodiversity, both in the North and the South.

This book presents the contributions of the main speakers and also reflects the collective learning and sharing of views which took place during the symposium workshops. In editing these proceedings, we decided not to put individual names to ideas, arguments, information and analysis offered by the workshop participants. But to reflect the participative nature of the hook's creation, some sections have been left unauthored.

Miges Baumann
Swissaid
Janet Bell

Editor
Florianne Koechlin
WWF-Switzerland
Michel Pimbert
WWF-lnternational