Identifier: TFG:756
Authors: Krasimirova Apostolova, Kristina
Abstract:
One of the most serious threats currently affecting biodiversity to the extent that harms indigenous and local populations of many developing and diverse countries, is the so called biopiracy activity. Biopiracy is a practice of illegally accessing the natural resources of developing countries, without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples. This fraudulent activity involves not only the misappropriation and misuse of biological resources, but also of local and indigenous ancestral knowledge about the beneficial effects of plants or animal substances. This practice leads to serious environmental, social and economic impact for the populations of these countries even being considered as a new way of colonialism or illegal usufruct, which generates large profits for multinational exploiting genetic resources (micro-organisms, plants, genes,...) which patent pharmaceuticals, cosmetics or the resulting food and the associated knowledge, marketing them worldwide without the developing countries in tropical and subtropical areas having neither the access to these products nor the reception of benefits or any other form of compensation. The response of the international community to this situation has been the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 and its Protocols. However, as demonstrated in this work, the reality still shows certain lacks which require local, national and international additional responses in order to prevent the loss of biodiversity and eradicate biopiracy.
Repositori URV