Sowing Where You Reap; May 1996; Scientific American Magazine; by Mukerjee; 3 Page(s)

That biodiversity is valuable enough to pay for itself has long been recognized as a selfevident truth. Roughly half the drugs in clinical use are estimated to derive from nature. The Biodiversity Convention, adopted in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, tried to ensure that profits from such goods return to the place of origin to aid conservation and local communities. Despite some success, that goal remains elusive. Although bioprospectors--those who seek potential products in biota--number in the hundreds, the returns they promise to peoples in developing countries appear highly variable.

"I¿ve seen genuine outrage in parts of the world," attests Daniel M. Putterman, a consultant who helps developing countries negotiate deals with industry. The anger is cutting off parts of the world to bioprospectors. In Thailand, public ire has forced a British foundation to stop seeking the medicinal secrets of Karen tribes. In India, thousands of insects found in the luggage of two German "tourists" have prompted legislation regulating gene transfer; the Philippines recently passed just such a law.