Bioprospecting

● Biodiversity prospecting or bioprospecting is the systematic search for biochemical and genetic information in nature in order to develop commercially valuable products for pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetic and other applications.

● It will help in promotes Innovation- medicinal properties of the plants are researched and utilised- Even our indigenous medical system is heavily based on bioprospecting.

● Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 has measures to protect local communities from ensuring benefits derived are not abused by enterprises.

● Traditional knowledge is at the risk of biopiracy and intellectual property, especially for the countries who are not parties to Nagoya Protocol- which stems from CBD,1992 .