INDIGENOUS people are at the mercy of biopirates who steal their traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. So says a report released at a meeting of the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Kuala Lumpur this week.
To protect their knowledge, native peoples are forced to make it public to comply with patent laws. But this is absurd, says the report. Indigenous people often do not have the resources to fight expensive and protracted legal battles over patent rights. And the whole notion of patenting is an affront to many cultures where such knowledge is considered both secret and sacred.
There is…
