Annotated bibliography on

7(1): 37-54.

Indigenous peoples have accumulated an enormous body of knowledge about biodiversity and peasant farmers have been selecting and improving seeds for a long time. This knowledge has almost never been valued in economic terms. It is now being proposed that access to genetic resources should have an economic price and that farmers’ rights should be recognised. In opposition, a growing popular ecological movement seeks to defend agro-biodiversity, not through the market, but through political and social movements favouring ecological agriculture.

Maskus, K. E. (1998). “The International Regulation of Intellectual Property.” Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv(June).

The WTO-TRIPS Agreement will usher in a markedly stronger global system of defining and protecting IPRs. This paper analyses TRIPS as a global regulatory device. It first discusses the concept of intellectual property and the need for its protection and regulation. It presents evidence on the wide variations in IPRs across countries and discusses how TRIPS will affect these differences. Theoretical predictions about how this stronger system will influence global trade, investment, and technology innovation and diffusion are ambiguous, but limited empirical evidence suggests a modest positive effect overall. However, the distribution of costs and benefits will vary across countries. Countries that are net importers of intellectual property should implement the agreement in ways that promote dynamic competition and should pay attention to linkages to competition policies.

Maskus, K. (1998). “The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Encouraging Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Transfer.” Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 9(1): 109-161.

A review of globalisation which suggests that emerging countries have strong and growing interests in attracting trade, foreign direct investment, and technological expertise. In this context, IPRs are an important element in a broader policy package that governments in developing economies should design with a view toward maximizing the benefits of expanded market access and promoting dynamic competition in which local firms take part meaningfully. This broad package would include promoting political stability and economic growth, encouraging flexible labour markets and building labour skills, continuing to liberalise markets, and developing forward-looking regulatory regimes in services, investment, IPRs, and competition policy.

Masood, E. (1998). “Social Equity versus Private Property: Striking the Right Balance.” Nature 392: 537.

Nowhere do the rhetoric and the reality facing bioprospecting come into sharper conflict than in attempts by developing countries to bridge their international commitments to two separate agreements: the CBD and TRIPS. For example, the Organization of African Unity’s task force on access to genetic resources argued that TRIPS should comply with the CBD, and not the other way round. The OAU is pushing member countries to adopt its own model legislation before the first review of TRIPS next year.

Masood, E. (1998). “A Formula for Indigenous Involvement.” Nature 392: 539.

Sharp controversy over the ‘ownership’ of natural products in Africa does not seem to have dented the popularity of the International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), an expanding network of bioprospecting projects sponsored by the US government. One observer, Tewolde Egziabher, a key figure in the draft OAU convention on access to genetic resources, is sceptical about the ICBGs. On the other hand, Maurice Iwu, a key player in ICBG Africa believes that attitudes of government agencies in the industrialised world are changing, and it is up to Africa’s governments to rise to the challenge, and derive maximum benefit from this new climate of partnership.

Masood, E. (1998). “Old Scores Surface as African States Face New Opportunities.” Nature 392: 540.

Feelings about bioprospecting run high in Africa, but historical antagonism based on self-interest is starting to emerge. Even so, a task force from the Organization of African Unity has drafted a model bill on community rights and access to genetic resources. The draft seeks to penalise those who engage in unauthorised bioprospecting and refuses to recognise patents on compounds based on natural products unless the patent recognises the ‘ownership’ and contribution of indigenous peoples. However, Maurice Iwu of International Cooperative Biodiversity Group Africa argues that the bill is unhelpful because the ability to patent is integral to the concept of bioprospecting.

Mathew, R. (1997). Protecting the Biodiversity. The Hindu: 11.

Kerala is the most-biodiversity rich of Indian States, Now amid the debate over the CBD, GATT and TRIPS, concern is growing about how to protect the biodiversity and put it to good use. This article describes legislative and other initiatives by the State government and other institutions to protect Kerala’s genetic wealth and to benefit from sustainable utilisation of genetic resources.

Matthiessen, P. (1995). Survival of the Hunter. The New Yorker: 67-77.

Sympathetic account of the traditional livelihoods of the Greenland Inuit which contrasts the attitudes of the Inuit towards the hunting of whales and seals with those of environmentalists. The author finds that the harvest of sea mammals is necessary for cultural survival and remarks that Greenlanders, who have managed their marine resources so much better than the United States and Britain, must be astonished that the latter countries have awarded themselves the sovereign right to determine acceptable types of hunting for these peoples.

Maurer, J. and A. Zeigler (1988). Tourism and Indonesian Cultural Minorities. Tourism: Managing the Exotic. P. Rossel. Copenhagen, IWGIA: 65-89.

Indonesia’s huge cultural diversity is its main tourist attraction and tourism therefore concentrates on the country’s cultural minorities. For this reason the problem of tourism for cultural minorities is set out very precisely in Indonesis. After looking in detail at tourism on the national scale, the article focuses on the islands of Bali and Nias, which are the two most disparate of all the archipelago’s microcultural regions directly affected by tourism.

Maybury-Lewis, D. (1992). Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World. New York, Viking Penguin.

As the 20th century draws to a close, tribal societies everywhere are threatened by the rapid expansion of modern civilisation. Some will vanish quietly. Others will protest and gain borrowed time. None will remain untouched. At a time when our civilisation has covered most of the earth, this book shows us the wisdom to be gained from those societies that we have swept aside.

McAfee, K. (1999). “Selling Nature to Save It? Biodiversity and Green Developmentalism.” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 17: 133-154.

New institutions like the CBD and the ‘green’ World Bank reflect attempts to regulate international flows of ‘natural capital’ by means of an approach the author calls ‘green developmentalism’ underpinned by a post-neoliberal environmental-economic paradigm, according to which nature is constructed as a world currency and ecosystems are recoded as warehouses of genetic resources for biotechnology industries. The author critiques and condemns this new paradigm.

McChesney, J. D. (1996). Biological Diversity, Chemical Diversity, and the Search for New Pharmaceuticals. Medicinal Resources of the Tropical Forest: Biodiversity and Its Importance to Human Health. M. J. Balick, E. Elisabetsky and S. A. Laird. New York, Columbia University Press: 11-18.

Explains how plants are used in the drug discovery process while addressing conservation and sustainable use issues.

McCue, J. (1995). Who Cares about Dickens Heirs? The Spectator: 21, 24.

Argues that the speed of modern communications is making copyright law unenforceable, and that this is beneficial. According to the author, ‘information is a vast lake. All of us dip into it, and millions of us contribute to it by the tankerful or the teaspoonful. If we try to account for every drop, and fight over the ownership of this or that gallon, all but the lawyers will drown in the flood’.

McDowell, C., Ed. (1996). Understanding Impoverishment: The Consequences of Development-Induced Displacement. Oxford, Berghahn Books.

Infrastructure development projects are set to continue into the 21st century. This volume raises many questions about ‘development’ and ‘progress’, and reveals the enormous problems and disastrous effects which accompany displacement operations in many countries. The articles strengthen the argument that development-created displacement is avoidable and that more enlightened national and international policies are urgently needed.

McGowan, J. (1991). “Who is the Inventor?” Cultural Survival Quarterly 15(3): 20.

US patent laws do not allow for the protection of discoveries of information known already by indigenous people. However, the award of patents to two companies for ‘inventions’ based on properties of the neem seed appears to be a contradiction of patent law according to this interpretation.

McGowan, J. and I. Udeinya (1994). Collecting Traditional Medicines in Nigeria: A Proposal for IPR Compensation. Intellectual Property Rights for Indigenous Peoples: A Sourcebook. T. Greaves. Oklahoma City, SfAA: 57-68.

Proposes a contract that would contain provisions for compensating local communities. The specifics of compensation mechanisms and local participation are dealt with in the proposal.

McGrath, M. (1996). “The Patent Provisions in TRIPs: Protecting Reasonable Remuneration for Services Rendered - or the Latest Development in Western Colonialism?” European Intellectual Property Review(7): 398-403.

Criticises the stance of the United States in international negotiations on IPRs and in its unilateral actions against individual countries. It is argued that for developing countries whose patent provisions seek to tread the narrow path between protecting fair remuneration and promoting national development, TRIPS seems most likely to reinstate and perpetuate dependence.

McKie, R. (1995). History’s Bones of Contention. Observer. London: 3.

Some museum curators now argue that pressure from indigenous peoples to return fossils, human remains, and cultural artifacts is endangering evidence of origins of the human race.

McLean, S. A. M. and D. Giesen (1994). “Legal and Ethical Considerations of the Human Genome Project.” Medical Law Journal 1: 159-175.

Identifies ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project in various areas, such as human identity, discrimination, medical confidentiality, data protection, insurance, and IPR.

McLean, S. (1994). “Mapping the Human Genome - Friend or Foe?” Social Science Medicine 39(9): 1221-7.

The Human Genome Project represents one of science’s most significant advances. However, it also poses fundamental questions which, it is argued, should be in contemplation now. If mechanisms for the resolution of these issues are not in place before the conclusion of the project, individual privacy may be seriously affected. The law has a key role to play in encouraging the sensible use of genetic information, whilst at the same time protecting individuals and their rights.

McManis, C. R. (1998). “The Interface betweeen International Intellectual Property and Environmental Protection: Biodiversity and Biotechnology.” Washington University Law Quarterly 76: 255.

The debate over TRIPS and the CBD Treaty has exposed a series of fault lines dividing technology-rich industrialised countries located in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, and the biodiversity-rich developing countries located primarily in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere. This Article describes two of the most visible North-South conflicts, and examines the treaty provisions that have given rise to these conflicts and the two specific issues that are at the root of these North-South conflicts. It concludes with a more cooperative vision of the interface between international IPR and environmental protection.

McNally, R. and P. Wheale (1996). “Biopatenting and Biodiversity: Comparative Advantages in the New Global Order.” The Ecologist 26(5): 222-228.

Over the last two decades, the biotechnology industry has been stretching the interpretation of patent law in order to obtain IPRs over genetically engineered living organisms. Such patent rights, coupled with moves to gain exclusive access to the biodiversity of the South, are leading to a new global order. Opposition to such ‘biotechnological imperialism’ is gaining in momentum.

McNeely, J. A. (1985). Man and Nature in the Himalaya: What Can Be Done to Ensure that Both Can Prosper? People and Protected Areas in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya. J. A. McNeeley, J. Thorsell and S. R. Chalise. Kathmandu, King Mahendra Trust and ICIMOD.

Reviews what can be done to ensure that development is carried out in such a way that both man and nature can prosper. The author explains the principles of conservation for development with particular reference to the Himalayas.

McNeely, J. (1989). “Conserving Genetic Resources at the Farm Level.” ILEIA(December): 3-6.

Argues that sustainable farming makes an important contribution to conserving nature and that the people who live around protected areas benefit from them. Future food demands have to be met by increasing agricultural productivity. This should be based on the wisdom inherent in many traditional practices.

McNeely, J. A., K. R. Miller, et al. (1989). Conserving the World’s Biological Diversity. Gland and Washington, DC, IUCN, World Resources Institute, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund-US & World Bank.

Global overview on biodiversity conservation. The book first seeks to measure economic values of biodiversity. It then explains why and how biodiversity is threatened and considers the various approaches to conserving biodiversity and the information required for effective conservation. The volume then evaluates the role of strategies and action plans and discusses appropriate financial mechanisms.

McNeely, J. (1991). Shifting Cultivation. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. N. M. Collins, J. A. Sayer and T. C. Whitmore.

Traditional shifting cultivation has been a highly diverse system for adapting to a wide variety of local environments. However, the point has now been reached in Southeast Asia where swidden cultivation is no longer a viable option except in very special circumstances. Modern agricultural development in the uplands should take existing swidden systems as starting points and use modern agricultural science to improve on the productivity of the system. Solutions will also need to be based on cultural diversity, as local knowledge is essential to the success of the system.

McNeely, J. A. (1997). The Interaction Between Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity. Indigenous Peoples, Environment and Development. Proceedings of the Conference. S. Buchi, C. Erni, L. Jurt and C. Ruegg. Copenhagen, IWGIA: 173-196.

Examples of ecologically and culturally sensible interactions between people and their environment can be found in all parts of the world. Such traditional communities often have profound and detailed knowledge of the ecosystems and species with which they are in contact and effective ways of ensuring they are used sustainably. Cultural diversity, which is provided above all by the great variety of indigenous cultures in all parts of the world, provides the human intellectual ‘gene pool’, the basic raw material for adapting to the local environment. The challenge is in applying this knowledge and, where appropriate, transferring associated techniques and thinking to conservation management systems appropriate to today’s circumstances.

McNeil, R. J. and M. J. McNeil (1989). “Ownership of Traditional Information: Moral and Legal Obligations to Compensate for Taking.” Northeast Indian Quarterly(Fall): 30-35.

When knowledge is transferred from indigenous peoples to ethnobotanists and others, the knowledge providers should be better protected by the legal system. It is suggested that existing concepts adopted by legal systems, such as property theory and contract doctrines, provide at least a model, and perhaps a mechanism, for such protection.

Mead, A. T. P., N. Awa, et al. (1994). “Misappropriation of Indigenous Knowledge: The Next Wave of Colonisation.” Otago Bioethics Report 3(1): 4-7.

Explores examples of misappropriation of indigenous knowledge, past and present. It is concluded that global trends in the environmental sciences and medical research may well constitute ‘the next wave of colonisation’.

Mead, A. T. P. and N. Tomas (1995). The Convention on Biological Diversity: Are Human Genes Biological Resources? New Zealand Environmental Law Reporter: 127-132.

Discusses the implication of the CBD, human genetic research and patents for the Maori people.

Menon, U. (1995). “Access to and Transfer of Genetic Resources.” International Journal of Technology Management 10(2/3): 311-324.

Outlines the work of FAO and the CGIAR relating to free access to the world’s plant genetic resources. Reports on various meetings held to discuss regulation and attitudes towards IPRs and the free exchange of technology, with a diversity of opinions between the developed and developing countries. Two examples of the problems are discussed in detail: India and US AID, and Costa Rica and Merck. Finally the paper suggests an approach that both recognises the need for free access to genetic resources and private rights.

Messenger, P. M., Ed. (1989). The Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Whose Culture? Whose Property? Albuquerque, USA, University of New Mexico Press.

Focuses on the ethical, legal, and intellectual issues related to the disposition of cultural property, particularly archaeological remains. Contributions from various fields discuss the issues from their unique perspectives and offer constructive suggestions for increasing cooperation. Ways of improving the protection of cultural property and resolving differences regarding cultural heritage issues are also discussed.

Mestel, R. (1994). Rich Pickings for Cotton’s Pioneers. New Scientist. 141: 13-14.

A single patent taken out by a US company gives it rights over all forms of genetically engineered cotton -- even those not yet invented. The author explains why this has proved controversial.

Meyer, C. A. (1996). “NGOs and Environmental Public Goods: Institutional Alternatives to Property Rights.” Development and Change 27: 453-74.

NGOs provide a flexible, private-sector answer to the provision of international environmental public goods. The non-profit sector can join for-profit, non-profit and private sector objectives in complex contracts. This paper examines how, for the case of INBio in Costa Rica, such complex contracts with both domestic and international parties provide partial solutions to public goods problems in the absence of private property rights over genetic resources. INBio’s monopoly position, legitimised by the government, brings in rents from genetic resources which are invested in the production of public goods.

Miller, K. R. (1996). Balancing the Scales: Guidelines for Increasing Biodiversity’s Chances Through Bioregional Management. Washington DC, World Resources Institute.

World-wide efforts to protect biodiversity have focused on setting aside discrete areas for conservation. But this strategy is under siege due to the demands of growing human populations in need of more land and resources. As a result, scientists, resource managers, and community leaders are calling for shifting the scale of wildland management programmes from national parks and reserves to entire ecosystems. This report makes the case for protecting biodiversity wherever it is found. Drawing on various case studies, the author explains the challenges and opportunities of ‘bioregional’ management.

Milstein, M. (1994). Yellowstone Managers Eye Profits from Hot Microbes. Science. 264: 655.

Yellowstone National Park contains a vast diversity of heat-resistant thermophilic microbial species, some of which could be of great value for the biotechnology industry. The national park authorities are considering whether to negotiate benefit sharing agreements with companies in exchange for access to these organisms.

Milton, K. (1993). Environmentalism and Anthropology. Environmentalism: The View from Anthropology. K. Milton. London, Routledge: 1-17.

Explores the relationship between anthropology and environmentalism, which has emerged as a distinctive social commitment.

Milton, K. (1997). Nature, Culture and Biodiversity. Cross-Cultural Protection of Nature and the Environment. F. Arler and I. Svennevig. Odense, Odense University Press: 71-83.

Examines the significance for biodiversity conservation of a fundamental opposition between natural processes and human activities, often expressed by anthropologists as a dichotomy between nature and culture. This dichotomy, when combined with a dependence on science, creates logical inconsistencies in the conservation world view. Abandoning the nature-culture dichotomy would make the conservation perspective more coherent and simpler to apply.

Minnis, P. E. and W. J. Elisens, Eds. (2000). Biodiversity and Native America. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press.

Exploring the relationship between Native Americans and the natural world, this book questions the widespread view that indigenous peoples had minimal ecological impact in North America. In fact they were active managers of natural ecological systems.

Minority Rights Group, Ed. (1994). Polar Peoples: Self-determination and Development. London, MRG.

Describes the sometimes catastrophic effects on Northern indigenous peoples of the incursions of explorers, mineral prospectors, missionaries, and bureaucrats, and outlines the awakening of native political activism and steps being taken towards indigenous self-determination.

Mispireta, M. L. d. R. (1994). Introducing Biodiversity into the Decision-Making Process of the Peruvian Government: A Utopia? Widening Perspectives on Biodiversity. A. F. Krattiger, J. A. McNeely, W. H. Lesseret al. Gland & Geneva, IUCN & IAE: 125-131.

A basic strategy for implementing the CBD in a country like Peru should include rural programmes for training, diffusion, and extension of information; an inventory of Peru’s national patrimony; and the establishment of regional agreements.

Mittermeier, R. A. and I. A. Bowles (1993). The GEF and Biodiversity Conservation: Lessons to Date and Recommendations for Future Action. Washington DC, Conservation International.

Argues that major reforms are needed if the GEF is to have a real impact on global biodiversity. The paper begins with a discussion of the scope, value and use of biodiversity, follows with the issue of priority setting, and ends with a section on recommendations for specific changes in the way the GEF deals with the issue.

Montecinos, C. (1996). “Sui Generis: A Dead Alley.” Seedling 13(4): 19-28.

A self-critical evaluation of NGO’s effortrs to devise sui generis IPR systems that really serve to protect the rights of indigenoius peoples and farming and other local communities.

Mooney, P. R. (1993). Profiteering from the Wisdom of the South. Choices