Protection of Bio-rights of Indigenous Peoples in International Law

This book provides comprehensive discussions on the instruments, mechanisms and debates relevant to tackling biopiracy and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in that context. Biopiracy is one of the most controversial issues in the international society and indigenous peoples and local communities have been the main victim of biopiracy because although they have made enormous contributions to the conservation of biological and genetic resources and development of associated traditional knowledge, they have been rarely acknowledged and few benefits have been shared.

Against this backdrop, this book surveys biopiracy cases around the world, analyses and discusses the international regimes relevant to biopiracy, and suggests possible ways forward; namely the instruments or mechanisms to tackle biopiracy and protect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities based on the international regimes. It provides a comprehensive picture on the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities in the context of biopiracy by analysing international biodiversity, human rights and intellectual property regimes as a whole. Moreover, unlike others, this book also suggests how to improve domestic laws and institutions to tackle biopiracy and protect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in accordance with the international regimes by, for instance, providing the core elements of the model laws and institutions.

For these reasons, the book will be a good guide for students and researchers who are interested in laws and policies on the (sustainable) use of biological and genetic resources. Particularly, given that with the adoption of the Nagoya Protocol, scientists (particularly, biologists) need to understand international biodiversity and intellectual property laws and institutions, this book will be useful for them. Moreover, as indigenous peoples and local communities are the main victim of biopiracy, this book will help indigenous rights activists and organizations working to protect their rights.